This article contains spoilers for season 4 vol. 1 of Stranger ThingsWhile fans had to wait a long time to watch volume 1 of season 4 of Stranger Things, the show definitely makes up for it with a visually stunning and exciting group of episodes. Since the show is set in the 1980s, it's often clear that the Duffer Brothers have been influenced by many parts of popular culture. As soon as fans saw the main characters riding their bikes around Hawkins, people immediately said that they were reminded of a Stephen King story.
After watching these seven episodes, it seems like some characters and storylines have been inspired by some classic and beloved movies, and it's fun to think about what likely inspired some of the best moments from the first part of this strong season.
The Ring (2002)
Although Will's Stranger Things character has problems, season 4 does start off and finish strong, with the story of the new villain Vecna being told expertly and carefully. Vecna is absolutely one of the scariest Stranger Things creatures with a horrible face that no one would ever want to stare into and many vines coming out of its body. Vecna Dungeons & Dragons game, which is why the kids seem to understand him right away.
When Vecna kills his victims, it looks like something inside of them is causing their bones to break, as their bodies contort into all kinds of strange positions. This is also what it looks like when the characters in The Ring watch the cursed videotape and then, seven days later, die a terrible death.
In both cases, the death scenes are unpredictable and shocking and a lot more powerful than typical, uninspired ones. The characters in Stranger Things can't believe the weird things that Vecna can do to someone's body, and watching Chrissy Cunningham (Grace Van Dien) and Fred Benson (Logan Riley Bruner) is really powerful. It's no wonder the main characters are so freaked out by Vecna after seeing what he can do.
'80s And '90s Kids Movies Like Home Alone (1990)
Some big things happened in volume 1 of Stranger Things season 4... but there is also an adorable scene in the sixth episode called "The Dive Curse" that deserves to be discussed. Will Byers (Noah Schnapp), Jonathan Byers (Charlie Heaton), Argyle (Eduardo Franco), and Mike Wheeler (Finn Wolfhard) travel to Salt Lake City, Utah to see Dustin Henderson's (Gaten Matarazzo) girlfriend Suzie (Gabriella Pizzolo).
The scene is absolutely chaotic, and from the moment the characters step into the house, it's clear that this is a very loud and wild place to grow up. Suzie's younger siblings are out of control, from her younger brother carrying around a bow and arrow and randomly turning off the power to her brother and sister cooking in the kitchen (and saying no salt because of "father's kidneys"). Mike and his friends are shocked at what they see and this is a fun, light moment in a dark season.
This setting feels inspired by Macaulay Culkin's famous character Kevin McAllister's Home Alone traps and other busy kids' movies of the '80s and '90s. There is no adult supervision and the kids are running wild, doing whatever they want and having a great time. Fans also see that Suzie does her best to ignore her wacky family and focus on her love of computers and she has worked really hard to block out the noise and distractions in her life.
A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984)
There are a few ways that the classic '80s horror movie A Nightmare On Elm Street plays into season 4 of Stranger Things. Vecna is a villain like Freddy Krueger, as Vecna makes his victims have horrible visions before he kills them. Vecna looks for people dealing with guilt and grief and makes them realize that something weird is happening before he ultimately claims their lives. This feels similar to how Freddy visits people in their dreams and kills them.
Robert Englund also appears in Stranger Things as Victor Creel, a man who has been living in an institution for several decades ever since Vecna killed his wife and children and who has been haunted by this ever since. Having the actor who played the iconic Freddy Krueger play such an important character here is awesome and exciting for horror fans.
Dustin also makes fans laugh when he talks about Freddy and says, “He’s a super burned up dude with razor fingers. And he kills you in your dreams.” When Mike's younger sister Holly (Anniston and Tinsley Price) gets scared, Dustin says that it's a movie and not real, but fans know that Vecna is very much real so Dustin isn't actually right.