Netflix’sStranger ThingsfromDufferBrothers(Matt and Ross) lived up to its description of “a love letter to the supernatural classics of the ‘80s.” Fans and writers from around the Web have been quick to point out the many movie references hidden within, but Vimeo userUlysse Thevenonput together a supercut featuring side-by-side shots from the series and shots from their inspirations.
Among the films he pointed out wereThe Goonies,Alien,E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial,Firestarter,Close Encounters of the Third Kind,A Nightmare on Elm Street,The Shining,Stand By Me,Carrie, andPoltergeist. (To be fair, not all of these films are from the ‘80s.) Publications likeVulturehave cited more references, but the side-by-side scenes make for a visually compelling analysis.
Watch the supercut below:
In an introduction toStranger Thingspublished byEW, the Duffer brothers wrote:
We grew up particularly obsessed with the movies ofSteven SpielbergandJohn Carpenter, as well as the novels ofStephen King. Although their stories have a wide range of tones, we think they share something essential in common: They all explore that magical point where the ordinary meets the extraordinary.
Describing how these works influenced them, they confirmed a couple of the comparisons spotted by fans: “Maybe tomorrow we would find a treasure map in the attic [Goonies], or maybe one of us would vanish into the television screen [Poltergeist], or maybe there was a clown in that sewer grate down the street [It].”
Stranger Things, starringWinona Ryderand a crop of unknown but pretty talented kid actors, is available now to stream on Netflix. Here’s the official plot synopsis:
A love letter to the supernatural classics of the 80’s, Stranger Things is the story of a young boy who vanishes into thin air. As friends, family and local police search for answers, they are drawn into an extraordinary mystery involving top-secret government experiments, terrifying supernatural forces and one very strange little girl.
