The Duffer Brothers enjoy taking influences and wearing them on their sleeves. The social media accounts forStranger Thingshave announced a new weekly post called Video Store Fridays. The purpose of these weekly posts is to share movies that have been recently watched by the Duffer Brothers and their writing team, while stating that they will have an impact onStranger Thingsseason 4. From the looks of things, these guys are all over the map for the upcoming season.
TheStranger Things Season 4 Premiere Titleis referencing X-Men, which was definitely a comic book in the 80s, but the movie didn’t come out until the 2000s. The first episode is titledThe Hellfire Club, named after a group of villains who made their big screen debut in 2011’sX-Men: First Class. It looks like the Duffer Bros. may have exhausted their ’80s era references, as they go looking towards other decades in genre films.
Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journeywas one of the first movies to be announced during the Video Store Fridays as Stranger Things Season 4 production starts to ramps up. The 1991 sequel is a classic, but how is it going to factor intoStranger Thingsseason 4? Are we going to see Eleven play chess with Death? Will Characters be going to hell? Will Steve and Dustin have a run in with a wild Easter Bunny? Or will there be Evil Robot versions of the kids? Who knows.
The first movie listed in the weekly posts is 1985’sThe Peanut Butter Solution. This is a deep cut from the 1980s and a quick glance at the trailer reveals why. The story centers on an eleven-year old boy who loses his hair and starts putting a peanut butter potion on his head, which makes his hair grow uncontrollably. It looks pretty crazy, and in actuality, you could see plenty of riffs being pulled from this obscure gem.
The Peanut Butter Solutionis straight up bonkers, so it will be interesting to see how it fits intoStranger Thingsseason 4. There are also movies that one would come to expect, likeHellraiser 2andThe Silence of the Lambs. Elsewhere, there are bizarre comedies likeAce Ventura: Pet DetectiveandPineapple Express. The Duffer Brothers are pulling from everywhere with these movies, which should lead to a good time for hardcore fans of the show who are looking to keep up. Not in the list isFast Times at Ridgemont High, though there arenew Stranger Things 4 characterscoming, and one has been referred to as Sean Penn’s Jeff Spicoli.
1991’sDrop Dead Fredis another one of the weirder movies on theStranger Thingsseason 4 mix. The movie centers on a woman who starts to lose everything in her life and reunites with her imaginary friend, Fred. Carrie Fisher is even in this and you can watch her attempt to beat up the imaginary friend in the trailer. Other movies listed thus far areAmelie,Paradise Lost,The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,Young Sherlock Holmes,Hackers,The Good Son,Billy Madison,The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift,Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets,Black Swan,The Fisher King,You’ve Got Mail, andOrdinary People.
It is totally possible that the Duffer Brothers are trolling their audience with some of these picks fornew Stranger Things episodes.The Peanut Butter Solutionis pretty out there and so isDrop Dead Fred, but you never know what elements of these movies and stories that the directing and writing duo are going to latch on to. Regardless, Video Store Fridays already has fans trying to figure out the mystery and season 4 hasn’t even started production yet. You can check out the official list of movies below, thanks to theStranger Things Writers Twitteraccount. You can also enjoy trailers for some of these selections.
