Los Angeles (CNN) Netflix is trying something a little different with "Stranger Things," an eight-episode series throwback to horror movies of the 1980s, minus the burden of acquiring the rights to remake one.

It's a fun idea, but this monster mash-up doesn't quite coalesce into more than nostalgia. Set in 1983, the show presents a world filled with plucky kids, shadowy government experimentation and a near-silent girl known only as Eleven (Millie Brown), who harbors strange secrets and possesses extraordinary powers.

Press materials describe the series as a "love letter to '80s supernatural classics that captivated a generation." Clearly, there are touches of "Poltergeist" and "The Goonies" baked into the idea, as well as "The Fury," Brian De Palma's 1978 psychic thriller.

Still, "Stranger Things" ultimately has to stand on its own. And too often the pacing just limps along -- spooning out story in a way that practically demands bingeing, and even then never really disgorging all its secrets.

Sibling series creators Matt and Ross Duffer, working with director Shawn Levy ("Night at the Museum"), have an obvious feel for the genre and period. Still, if stranger things have happened in this genre, better ones have too.

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