- Stranger Things: Season 1

Ah, yes, I'm talking about this show which the majority of you are either probably sick of hearing about already or are watering at the mouth just waiting for the next glimpse of season 2 to come out. However, I'm mainly writing this in hopes that my opinion will sway any dissenters who spit at the name Stranger Things  into rethinking their life choices and actually sitting down to watch these series. After all it is a smartly written sci-fi horror with some of the best character relationships and builds I've seen in a while on TV. Also, I normally despise television series as I normally find the acting cringing and some of the plot holes too harsh to forgive, but I'm not finding any excuses for Stranger Things. 

If you couldn't tell by the neon lit sign that serves as the logo for the series, Stranger Things is highly influenced by 80s films and directors including Steven Spielberg's, John Carpenter's, Stephen King's, and George Lucas' highly acclaimed works. To make the homage to classic films even more solid, the Duffer brothers have stated that they originally produced and pitched Stranger Things because Warner Bros. denied their request to direct the It reboot. Too bad, so sad, they lost out because now we have Stranger Things and this will probably be better than any fucking It reboot we will ever see. 

The series follows the mysterious disappearance of a small boy named William Byers and the following widespread manhunt conducted by his mother Joyce Byers, his brother Johnathan Byers, the police force led by Chief Jim Hopper, and his best friends Mike Wheeler, Gaten Matarazzo, and Caleb McLaughlin. When the appearance of a psychokinetic girl named 11, government conspiracies and cover-ups, further disappearances in the town, and an even darker force than predicted make their way into the picture, everything gets a little more...Stranger. 

The first thing I'm going to point out is the absolutely amazing soundtrack done by experimental synth quartet S U R V I V E. Everyone knows that if you are going to be copying the Saints of horror and sci-fi you are going to need an outstanding soundtrack; people hum along to the Star Wars theme song, they get chills up their spine when they hear the familiar piano ballad of Halloween, and what    S U R V I V E has done for Stranger Things is readily comparable to those giants. Take a listen to the theme song for yourself below: 


The Duffer Brothers were absolutely amazing at creating tense and terrifying moments. Simple camera tricks and panning shots, as well as shots where a character stands at the end of a long, long darkened hall were used excellently. I know that some of these shots sound standard for the genre, but this is perfection and it never feels as if any of the shots took too long to pan out. 

Each character in the series did a great job showing off their terror and concern when needed, as well as happiness and care. The two actors who went above and beyond would be Gaten Matarazzo as Dustin Henderson and David Harbour as Chief Jim Hopper. While Gaten is the reasonable, understanding member of the four boys who keeps them all glued together and isn't afraid to call them out on their bullshit, Hopper is a tough boulder of a man who's willing to do anything and everything to get to the roots of the disappearance - even if that means bashing a few heads in along the way. 

I had very, very few problems with the series as a whole, but one of them would be that the special effects were a little too cheesy at times. I'm not talking about 11's powers, as those moments were done fantastically, I'm talking about the creature within the series. While it did look good at most times, when the action became a bit more frantic I felt as if the overall quality of the CGI dipped down a LOT. That and Winona Ryder as Joyce Byers could got annoying at times. I understand that your youngest boy is gone and has disappeared and you're seeing things, but constantly being in a panic 24/7 got tiresome. 

Long story short: Stranger Things is fantastic, you aren't. Watch it. 
Sep 14 2016