10 Movies Every Stranger Things Fan Needs to Watch (Vote for Your Favorite!)

This is the holy grail. Without The Goonies, Stranger Things probably wouldn't exist. A group of misfits finds a treasure map and sets off on an adventure to save their homes, while being chased by criminals. The dynamic between Mike, Dustin, Lucas, and Will is copied directly from this group. Sean Astin (who later played Bob Newby in Stranger Things) is the leader of the gang here. It's the ultimate film about friendship and adventure.

J.J. Abrams made this film as a tribute to Steven Spielberg, and it feels like a direct cousin of Stranger Things. In 1979, a group of kids witnesses a train derailment while making a zombie film. Soon it becomes clear something inhuman escaped the train. The atmosphere is identical: lens flares, a mysterious monster, the military trying to cover it all up, and kids who are smarter than the adults.

Swap the small alien for a bald girl with psychic powers, and you immediately see the parallel. The relationship between Elliott and E.T. is the blueprint for the bond between Mike and Eleven. From the scene where E.T. gets dressed up (just like El in the pink dress) to the government vans and the bike flight scene: Spielberg laid the foundation for the entire genre here.

Stranger Things leans heavily on the works of Stephen King, and It is the clearest link. A group of kids (the "Losers Club") face off against a supernatural evil in a small town, while also dealing with bullies and difficult parents. Finn Wolfhard (Mike in the series) plays Richie here, making the link even stronger. The blend of camaraderie against pure horror will resonate with every fan of The Upside Down.

Want to know where the idea for Eleven came from? Look no further than this film, based on a Stephen King novel. A young girl (a very young Drew Barrymore) has pyrokinesis -- she can start fires with her mind -- and is on the run from a sinister government organization that wants to use her as a weapon. The laboratory scenes and the nosebleeds after using her powers come straight from here.

Four boys set off to find a dead body. There are no monsters or aliens here, but it might just be the best film about boyhood friendship ever made. The scene in Stranger Things where the boys walk along the railroad tracks is a direct tribute to this film. It perfectly captures that melancholic feeling of that one summer in your childhood you never forget.

When Joyce Byers tried to talk to Will through Christmas lights in season 1, that was a huge nod to Poltergeist. In this horror classic, a youngest daughter is abducted into another dimension through the television. It's set in a perfect suburb that slowly turns into a haunted house. The blend of sci-fi and the supernatural, and parents desperately trying to bring their child back, echoes throughout Hawkins.

Stranger Things isn't just about kids; the teen storylines (Steve, Nancy, Jonathan) are just as important. The Lost Boys defined cool, dark 80s teen horror. Two brothers move to a coastal town plagued by a motorcycle gang that turns out to be vampires. The style, the music, and the horror-comedy tone are perfect for fans of the moments Steve Harrington swings his bat.

Joyce Byers' obsession, the paranoid atmosphere, and the lights turning on out of nowhere: it all comes from this Spielberg masterpiece. Richard Dreyfuss plays a man who becomes obsessed with UFOs after an encounter. The scene where the little boy opens the door to the orange light is almost shot-for-shot recreated in the scene where Will disappears. A must-see for the mystery side of the show.

A more modern film that, like Stranger Things, looks back at the 1980s. A group of teens suspects their neighbor, a respected police officer, of being a serial killer. It starts as a Goonies-style adventure, but the ending is far darker and grimmer than you'd expect. The synth-wave soundtrack and BMX bikes complete the party.