Netflix describes its new series as “a love letter to the supernatural classics of the ‘80s,” and it’s certainly got that feeling all the way down to the Wes Craven-style font and Alan Howarth-worthy score. Premiering July 15, Stranger Things is the tale of a small-town boy who disappears without a trace, which the trailer seems to indicate is the result of either some kind of alien contact or some kind of government coverup.
Still, the pacing and lighting is awesomely reminiscent of 1982’s Poltergeist (and a salient reminder that it should never have been remade); hinging a supernatural thriller on a wide-eyed, scared-looking child plays into our all of our most primal, irrational fears and vulnerabilities, and Winona Ryder as a character who seems to be the boy’s mother is on perfect pitch, frazzled and desperate and ready to fight. “Maybe Will… saw something that he shouldn’t have,” a cop played by David Harbour ominously suggests. This is gonna be a great summer binge-watch.
