5 Reasons ‘Stranger Things’ is Great

It knows how to uses homage

I was excited about “Stranger Things” from the moment I saw the first preview. I grew up on a steady diet of Steven Spielberg films and Stephen King novels, and the show looked like the ’80s collaboration they should have always had. I’d say the balance shifts more to John Carpenter in the show’s back half, but a mention of those three gives you a great idea of the show’s tone.

There’s no denying the influences. The plot — with its creepy monsters, kids in the hands of evil government researchers, and parallel dimensions — is vintage King (King himself picked up on the references, and approved). The emotional core with the kids and Eleven owes a heavy debt to E.T. and the films from Amblin. That synth-heavy track is pure Carpenter, as are many of the film’s creepiest beats. You can catch references to “Jaws,” “The Goonies,” “Poltergeist,” “Alien” and more throughout the film without straining too hard. It’s not just film geeks who will pick this stuff out; the common thing I hear from friends who love this show — who aren’t always as well-versed in movie nerdery — is how much it feels like the movies they loved growing up.

The Duffers re-create the look, feel and tone of several ’80s classics very ably. But it takes more than referencing to make a story like this work. This isn’t “Super 8,” which ably recreated the look and feel of an Amblin movie without finding much else to do with the idea. The Duffers know how to homage without simply saying “this is like that thing you liked before.” They weave it into the narrative, surround it with characters we love and find just enough of a different take to make it feel familiar but fresh. It adds to, combines and subverts the material it’s pulling from. So Will Byers might be pulled into a household appliance like Carol Anne from “Poltergeist,” but its use and emotional hook are completely different. Eleven’s story fuses bits of “Firestarter” and “E.T.” to become something new. The Stephen King homages are there, but more in tone and style, the way he finds the creepiness in everyday life. The Duffers take their original story and then tell it through the filter of the things they love; they don’t set up reference points for the plot to hit.

The only time I felt the nudge in the ribs a little too hard? The moment with the bikes and the van. And admit it: that was badass.