A part of the enjoyable of watching any season of Stranger Issues is noticing the variety of references the collection pays to its key influences. For instance, eagle-eyed and nostalgic followers of Eighties movies are positive to acknowledge the clear inspiration motion pictures corresponding to Poltergeist, E.T., and The Goonies have had on Season 1 of the collection.
Every new season of Stranger Issues has equally constructed off its personal vary of influences and inspirations, containing dozens of nods to pre-existing TV exhibits, motion pictures, comics, and board video games of its day.
The fourth and most up-to-date installment of Stranger Issues isn’t any exception to this rule. Taking over a darker, extra mature tone than any season we’ve seen to this point, the present’s fourth season is full of homages to dozens of horror and sci-fi motion pictures that clearly influenced the tone or narrative of the season.
With Season 4 having solely simply wrapped, we thought we’d compile a listing of the movies that almost all clearly impressed the most recent installment as we await the subsequent one.
WARNING: THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS MAJOR SPOILERS FOR STRANGER THINGS SEASON 4.
A Nightmare on Elm Avenue
A beloved ‘80s basic and one of the in style slashers ever made, A Nightmare on Elm Avenue tells the supernatural story of Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund), a demonic serial killer capable of slip into his victims’ goals and homicide them as they sleep.
Maybe the most important affect on Stranger Issues’ fourth season, it’s arduous to disregard the apparent similarities between the dream-dwelling killer Freddy Krueger and his Stranger Issues counterpart Vecna. Each villains are capable of infiltrate their victims’ minds, inducing them right into a dream-like (or literal dream) state, and killing them whereas they’re in a defenseless trance.
The following efforts of the teenage forged to cease Vecna and beat him at his personal sport (getting into the Upside Down and killing him there) additionally owes quite a bit to the ultimate act of A Nightmare on Elm Avenue, which sees the protagonists launch an analogous plan to pull Krueger from the dream world into their very own.
The collection even has Englund seem within the recurring function as Victor Creel in a really clear nod to the slasher franchise.
A Nightmare on Elm Avenue is streaming on Netflix and HBO Max.
Halloween
Halloween doesn’t have as a lot of an overt affect on Stranger Issues 4 as A Nightmare on Elm Avenue, however the inspiration remains to be clearly there. Broadly thought-about to be the slasher that elevated the style to mainstream reputation, the film follows a masked killer who returns to his hometown after 15 years to be able to proceed his killing spree.
Early in Stranger Issues 4, the character of Victor Creel — who supposedly murdered his household with none provocation — has particular shades of Michael Myers, the principle slasher on the coronary heart of Halloween. When the principle characters describe the killings in Stranger Issues, they even point out the eerie similarities Creel’s murders needed to Myers’ rampage.
In fact, Creel seems to be simply as a lot a sufferer of Vecna as his unlucky members of the family. However it’s nonetheless fascinating to notice the comparisons one can draw between Creel and Myers — each being common individuals who at some point “snapped,” their crimes happening to turn out to be native scary tales to creep out later generations)
Halloween is streaming on The Roku Channel.
Quick Instances at Ridgemont Excessive
It might appear comically misplaced on a listing composed predominantly of horror motion pictures, however the ‘80s teen comedy Quick Instances At Ridgemont Excessive additionally serves as a principal inspiration for the fourth season of Stranger Issues.
Quick Instances follows a bunch of highschool college students in sunny southern California, all of whom are coping with their very own explicit crises, from over-authoritative academics to their advanced romantic relationships with each other.
Quick Instances’ affect on Stranger Issues could be most clearly seen with Jonathan and Argyle’s storyline within the early half of the season. Like Decide Reinhold’s character in Quick Instances, Jonathan is at a crossroads in life, debating whether or not he needs to proceed his relationship with Nancy or observe his personal path.
Much more than that, although, is the inclusion of Argyle, the perpetually-stoned worker of an area pizza joint who falls into the archetypical mould of Sean Penn’s Spicoli character in Quick Instances. Actually, that Argyle works at a spot referred to as Surfer Boy Pizza even looks like the Duffer brothers’ tongue-in-cheek nod to Spicoli.
Quick Instances At Ridgemont Excessive is obtainable to hire on-line.
Carrie
Based mostly on Stephen King’s best-selling debut novel of the identical title, Carrie tells the tragic story of Carrie White (Sissy Spacek), a misunderstood, withdrawn highschool scholar bullied by her classmates and bodily abused by her non secular zealot mom (Piper Laurie). When she features the supernatural talents of telekinesis, nevertheless, Carrie turns the tables towards her former tormentors.
Typically thought-about one of many biggest horror motion pictures ever made, with out Carrie, there could be no Eleven. Along with El and Carrie’s powers basically being the identical, each feminine characters are recognized for his or her shy demeanors and for saying little or no.
Whereas Carrie has had a bearing on Stranger Issues all through a lot of the collection’ run to this point, season 4 appears to extra immediately channel its internal Stephen King by exhibiting El being relentlessly bullied by her fellow college students in California.
Very like the eponymous Carrie too, the infinite bullying causes El to snap again at her aggressors — though, in contrast to Carrie, she doesn’t depend on her powers to get revenge.
Carrie is streaming on Prime Video and Paramount+.
The Nice Escape
A movie name-dropped by David Harbour that impressed his character’s storyline in Season 4 is The Nice Escape, a World Conflict 2 epic that options dozens of Allied troopers making an attempt to flee from a heavily-fortified POW camp in Nazi Germany.
The money owed Season 4 pays to The Nice Escape could be seen in quite a few situations all through. Confined to a Kamchatkan jail camp within the barren Russian northeast, Hopper plots a number of escape makes an attempt that in the end meet with failure time and time once more.
Nevertheless, like Steve McQueen’s gung-ho protagonist in The Nice Escape, Hopper isn’t deterred, instantly planning his subsequent escape try moments after his earlier one fails.
At one level within the season, his Russian ally, Yuri, even refers to him by the moniker “The Cooler King,” likening him to McQueen’s character within the movie.
The Nice Escape is streaming on YouTube, The Roku Channel, Pluto TV, and Tubi.
The Amityville Horror
Season 4 of Stranger Issues makes intelligent use of the well-known “haunted home” motif that may be noticed in dozens of well-known horror movies and TV exhibits, starting from Poltergeist to The Conjuring. In true Stranger Issues style, somewhat than specializing in extra trendy haunted home movies, the Duffer brothers as a substitute regarded to an early entry within the haunted home subgenre, utilizing 1979’s The Amityville Horror as some extent of reference.
Based mostly on a “true story,” The Amityville Horror follows a small household who strikes right into a supposedly haunted mansion in Amityville, New York. Earlier than lengthy, the household begins to suspect a mystical presence in the home is starting to have an effect on them because it had the home’s earlier homeowners — all of whom had been brutally murdered by the top patriarch of the household.
Debates proceed to reign over the truthfulness behind the real-life story of The Amityville Horror home, however there’s no denying its affect on the horror style as we all know it at this time. When it comes to its mark on Stranger Issues, the story of the Lutz household intently resembles that of the Creel household.
Like The Amityville Horror’s Lutzes, the Creels moved right into a seemingly idyllic residence that slowly poisoned their minds, forcing them to see issues that weren’t there. Early within the season, too, it’s established that the Creels’ patriarch, Victor, killed his household whereas below the home’s affect, very similar to the earlier homeowners of The Amityville Horror mansion, Ronald DeFeo Jr.
The Amityville Horror is streaming on Starz.
Spies Like Us
The Duffers take inspiration wherever they will get it — whether or not from motion pictures, video video games, or D&D — so it shouldn’t be too shocking they packed components of the ‘80s cult basic Spies Like Us into Stranger Issues Season 4.
Within the movie, Chevy Chase and Dan Aykroyd star as two bumbling, low-level CIA brokers utilized by their superiors to distract Soviet spies in order that actual, certified brokers might do their work in secrecy.
To place the movie’s premise one other approach: Two common people who find themselves fully out of their factor journey to the Soviet Union on a borderline suicide mission. Sound acquainted?
Although Stranger Issues maintains a notably darker tone than the cartoonish wackiness of Spies Like Us, the movie clearly had some bearing on Joyce and Murray’s journey to the USSR to rescue Hopper. As with Spies Like Us’ principal brokers, the hilariously underqualified duo get approach in over their heads on their mission, barely managing to remain one step forward of the Soviets all the time.
Spies Like Us is obtainable to hire on-line.
The Monster Squad
The Goonies has served as one of many largest inspirations behind Stranger Issues, particularly regarding the first two seasons when the principle forged was youthful. Nevertheless, there’s one other, similarly-veined film that will have additionally influenced the present.
In 1987’s The Monster Squad, a bunch of younger, horror-obsessed associates battle well-known horror characters like Rely Dracula, Frankenstein’s Monster, the Gill-man, the Wolf Man, and the Mummy to avoid wasting their suburban neighborhood from destruction.
On paper, The Monster Squad is basically a extra horror-centric model of The Goonies, placing a extra heavy emphasis on scares and thrills than the aforementioned film.
With how deeply-rooted season 4 of Stranger Issues is in horror, it shouldn’t be a shock to see The Monster Squad on this record.
Whereas it doesn’t have as robust a bearing as another motion pictures additionally talked about right here, it nonetheless makes for a enjoyable look ahead to any Stranger Issues followers on the market. The younger teenagers’ quest to cease Dracula from destroying their city even appears extremely much like the youthful principal Stranger Issues characters’ valiant makes an attempt to thwart Vecna earlier than he has an opportunity to decimate Hawkins.
The Monster Squad is streaming on Starz.
Poltergeist II: The Different Aspect
The principle premise of the unique Poltergeist is just about immediately tailored into Stranger Issues’ inaugural season. In each situations, Poltergeist and Stranger Issues give attention to a household making an attempt to get better a lacking youngster who’s been teleported right into a horrifying mirror dimension.
Whereas they reach each circumstances, the supernatural creatures connected to the kids (in Poltergeist’s case, Carol Anne; in Stranger Issues’ case, Will) proceed to hang-out them from past their otherworldly realms.
In some ways, Vecna owes quite a bit to the recurring antagonist of the Poltergeist collection, Kane, who plagues Carol Anne all through all three movies within the trilogy. Like Kane, Vecna was as soon as a twisted, psychopathic human being earlier than changing into a strong specter who makes use of his huge powers to prey on harmless individuals.
With their associates’ assist, love, and help, Vecna and Kane are additionally each defeated by their respective collection’ protagonists, who ship the villains again to their parallel dimensions. Nevertheless, it’s extraordinarily uncertain the heroes have seen the final of Vecna, who will cease at nothing to realize his finish objectives, very similar to Poltergeist’s ever persistent Kane.
Poltergeist II: The Different Aspect is obtainable to hire on-line.
The Empire Strikes Again
Any time a collection will get a darker remedy than its earlier installments, the go-to description is saying the showrunners went for an Empire Strikes Again-style tackle the collection. The sequel to 1977’s unique Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Again takes a considerably extra mature strategy to the trilogy, with the heroes barely managing to outlive towards the continual onslaught of the villainous Imperial forces below Darth Vader.
Except for the apparent nods Stranger Issues pays to Star Wars — corresponding to El vanishing for a lot of the season to hone her supernatural talents a la Luke on Dagobah — Stranger Issues’ fourth season additionally provides the grittiest entry within the collection to this point.
Like in The Empire Strikes Again, there’s no blissful endings right here, the characters failing to fully defeat their antagonistic counterparts and solely quickly slowing them down. Nevertheless, like George Lucas’s collection, the characters of Stranger Issues by no means settle for their dire conditions, resolving to combat one other day — or on this case, one other season — someday sooner or later.
The Empire Strikes Again is streaming on Disney+.
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Richard Chachowski is a contract author primarily based in New Jersey. He loves studying, his canine Tootsie, and just about each film to ever exist (particularly Star Wars).
