Also, my son - on cue - did this during the last episode. I didn’t realize they even knew this reference. We were rolling on the floor. Spoilered for those not on the last episode (and because it is a horrible horrible picture - I searched the internetz for it, and couldn’t find it and had to make my own. THIS IS NOT POSSIBLE - EVERYTHING HAS ALREADY BEEN DONE).
Yeah I definitely thought of Altered States during those scenes. Might be a generational thing ☺
Have fun
That soundtrack link just got me to commit to this series - fantastic.
In his post on Lake Nowhere, @tomchick writes:
And not the anodyne 1982 of Netflix’s Stranger Things with its running time of eight hours and its body count of one.
For the record, your honor, I counted 4.
Scientist in the elevator, Benny at the diner, Barb in the pool, and scientist attached to winch.
Okay, maybe it’s 2 if we don’t count the red-shirt scientists.
Anyway, the low body count is what makes it possible to watch this show with my 12 year-old daughter so I’m all for it.
P.S. What was the body count in Poltergeist? (Not counting Tweety and the Native Americans.)
This is SPOT. ON. I’m halfway through a second viewing and every time they come on I start humming Summer Lovin’.
I thought they were more like Nancy Allen and John Travolta in Carrie, which would make sense with the horror/sci-fi background.
Another great comparison! It all comes back to Travolta.
As for the body count, we can sort of add two more if we’re being generous. When the deputies come to Hopper’s door, they tell him about the disappearance of a married couple who went out hunting and haven’t returned.
Just read some Stranger Things fan theories courtesy of the AV Club. Sounds like something for Season 2 to explore.
One thing that stood out awkwardly to me in season 1 was the direct lift of the “black void” from the recent film Under the Skin and how it stands out against all the other film references which were so self-consciously from the 80s. I’m trying to think how films from that era would visualize that sort of dimension.
Body count: Are we not including people killed by Eleven? There’s at least one orderly in a flashback, and a bunch of military in the final episode.
Ah, yes! Now we’re approaching double digits.
And Brenner was eaten by the beast at the end
Well, kinda, but that moment was left ambiguous enough that they could bring him back, plus the Duffmeisters have hinted that they’ll bring him back.
> Despite last being seen falling under the claws of a monster with very little patience when it comes to people getting eaten, Matt Duffer suggested that he’ll likely be back in some form, whenever the show gets formally renewed for the second season we all know is coming. “If that was his death, that would be very unsatisfying to me,” Duff told reporters.
I love Modine but his Papa was pretty flat in season 1. He wasn’t given an arc or any good scenes to work with.
Hopefully we can get a season 2 chase scene with Dr. Brenner across rooftops at some secret government complex, and he jumps from a high precipice while someone yells his name…
…and we discover he’s plunged hundreds of feet to his own death.
Brenner’s death was off-camera and entirely too short to be a “true” 80s death. He’ll be back.
This suggestion is outstanding.
https://d25891dthrp607.cloudfront.net/image/upload/stranger-things.1.2.1424000.48.gif
“PAPAAAA!!!”
“What?”
I haven’t watched this yet, but a friend of mine showed me the intro on his iPhone. I love that 80s retro intro!
Good write up favorably comparing Stranger Things to other recent attempts to cash in on nostalgia. Comparison to Tarantino was something I hadn’t thought of.
I finally watched the first episode last night.
Yes!
Now this is a great show. So nice to actually watch a good show that’s good from the beginning, instead of having to constantly tell yourself “I’m sure it will get better” like with the last two Netflix shows I tried watching. (Daredevil, which I couldn’t make it through, and Jessica Jones, which I made it through but regretted the lost time).
Meanwhile, I finally finished this.
It was strong overall, but struggled a bit towards the end when it came to the actions of some of the kids - felt like someone was trying to shoehorn some occasionally odd ideas of how they’d act into the show (and ffs, stupid graffiti on a theater marquee in the middle of the day? Puh-leeze). That said, the portrayals were in large part quite good.