Back in 1971 when Peter Bogdonavich released The Last Picture Show it received mostly rave reviews. One of the few dissenting opinions was the late critic John SImon who said it was a patchwork of other directors shots-a Hitchcock shot here and a Ford scene there, etc. I am reminded of this when I first watched Stranger Things seasons 1-3. The obvious influence is Stephen King whose fingerprints would seem to be all over it, though I know he was not involved. The boys banding together, the evil government agency holding a little girl because of her "powers", an absentee Dad and even the nose bleeds El has when she uses her power are right out of Firestarter. There are also allusions to John Carpenter (especially his film "The Thing") and Steven Spielberg. In the season 2 there has also been scenes lifted right out of The Exorcist and in season 3 The Terminator. This not to say that the show isn't entertaining. It's a lot of fun and keeps your attention going from episode to episode. The acting is uniformly good-nice to see Winona Ryder back , same with Paul Reiser. Special effects are very good too. I watched it as a guilty pleasure and just to see how many movie influences I could name.