Netflix's Stranger Things Review: 8 Ups And 3 Downs

5. Perfectly Captures The 80s Vibes

Close Encounters. E.T. Jaws. The Thing. IT. The Body/Stand By Me. The Goonies.

They're just some of the movies that Stranger Things is paying homage to, and they do a wonderful job of fuelling that nostalgia and really capturing the look and feel of the 80s and those classics, and in particular Messrs Spielberg, Carpenter, and King.

The series, with its big supernatural mystery, cast led by kids, and small-town aesthetics, accompanied by characters riding everywhere on bikes, discussions held on rotary phones, scenes lit by flashlight, and the suburban setting, it really does look like it was a show made in the 1980s, only given a modern-day sheen with the production values.

There are moments where these inspirations feel like they're being directly lifted - Eleven hiding out in Mike's basement is a reworking of E.T., with Egos instead of Reese's Pieces, and at one stage a character actually asks "Have you read any Stephen King?" (to which the Duffers no doubt scream YES) - but it's all very well done, and with so much heart, that any lack of originality is easy to overlook.

It sounds that way too, with a title sequence backed by heavy synths, and a soundtrack featuring the likes of New Order and Foreigner, and The Clash's Should I Stay Or Should I Go forming part of the narrative.