– Billy’s Mind Flayer transformation has a distinctly lycanthropic vibe, as does his loping off into the night. The hair on the back feels especially pointed in the American Werewolf in London direction.

– The song playing at the end is Vera Lynn’s “We’ll Meet Again.” Which also plays at the end of Stanley Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove, a film all about Cold War tensions escalating in bizarre ways.

Stranger Things Season 3 Episode 5: The Flayed

– Mike isn’t thrilled to be sitting in the “way back,” as station wagon passengers often called the third row seating. The sideways-facing fold-down seats were a common feature in the family vehicles of the 80s even though they’d never meet today’s safety standards.

– “I’ll shoot the daylight out of you” feels like a nod to Timothy Dalton’s first James Bond movie, The Living Daylights (1987), which had its own super tall, evil Russian henchman.

– More directly, though, the Russian’s “policemen have rules” is a direct quote from Die Hard.

– The way evil Russian henchman composes himself and fires his gun looks like Arnold Schwarzenegger in The Terminator (1984).

– The Russians’ lair beneath the mall looks straight out of one of Ken Adam’s many bad guy layers from Bond movies with Russian villains, most evocatively You Only Live Twice (1967) and Moonraker (1979) with its bad guy shuttle bus service (although they weren’t Russian in those).

– The Heathers allusion is confirmed when they break into Heather’s home and find chemicals on her counter. Our heroes note no one could drink these and live… no one human. The first Heather is killed in the Winona Ryder film by drinking chemicals Winona passes off as hangover medicine. She then begins choking and dies… but you know, in a funny way!

– Todd, the driver of the yellow convertible commandeered by Hopper at the gas station, is wearing attire that’s definitely taken from Crockett on Miami Vice.

– Dustin mentions that the green goo found in the containers might be a power source similar to Prometheum, which in DC Comics Victor Stone used to create the bionic components of Teen Titans (and later Justice League and Doom Patrol) member Cyborg. Nerd bonus points to Robin who recognized the reference.

– Dustin is an OG Brony, although that term did not exist in the ‘80s. His knowledge of My Little Pony lore might be unusual for boys his age in the 1980s, but Dustin clearly is no first level nerd. And he’s right to call Erica out on her equally geeky obsessions.

– Well done with the Kit Kat Kash Giveaway label in the hospital snack machine! The contest which gave away $150,000 in prizes via stickers inside the foil wrapper with a $25,000 top prize did indeed run in 1985. Also visible, of course, are Reese’s Pieces, which had their greatest popularity thanks to the ultimate product placement in E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial a few years earlier.

– Speaking of junk food, Hopper guzzles the legendary Jolt Cola in the convenience store. Nice touch.

– The news editors combining to form a giant blob is very reminiscent of, well, The Blob, and also The Thing where the human you know turns into an evil monster.

Stranger Things Season 3 Episode 6: E. Pluribus Unum

– As has been used before, the slime-oozing Mind Flayer screaming inches from Nancy’s face is straight out of Alien 3. It’s technically not an 80s movie itself, but the franchise certainly was.

– The Russians call Hopper “Fat Rambo.” Rambo: First Blood Part II came out on May 22, 1985. That’s the one where he goes back and wins the Vietnam War for us. What a sweetheart.

– A worker at the Independence Day Fun Fair is shown wearing a 1982 World’s Fair t-shirt, a quite believable circumstance considering that year’s festivities was held in the not-too-distant city of Knoxville, Tennessee.

– The Gravitron was a very popular carnival ride in the 1980s and is still around today, though less common. Besides spinning riders until they puked, there was plenty of unsafe daredeviltry to be had on this ride, and those who would attempt to sit up or come away from the wall were likely to injure themselves, a fate Hopper is lucky to have avoided. (Seriously, some editors recall the floor dropping out from under them and still being forced to the walls.)

– Pointer Sisters’ “Neutron Dance” plays as Alexei almost drives away from his captors and was recorded in 1983, but it became a top ten hit in 1985 after being featured on the Beverly Hills Cop soundtrack.

– The Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade vibes are strong with Steve and Robin tied back to back on a chair in this episode.

– It appears that the creepy ass torture doctor is named Dr. Zarkov, which could be a reference to Flash Gordon‘s Dr. Hans Zarkov (who was not a creepy ass torture doctor, but a charming genius and loon, especially when played by the brilliant Topol).

– The R. Crumb illustrated poster for “The Conspiracy Stomp” is a perfect item to be hanging in Murray’s kitchen. It may not be of the ’80s, but neither is Murray. The 1969 concert featured the likes of Abbie Hoffman, the cast of Hair, and – no joke – fifty live turkeys.

Stranger Things Season 3 Episode 7: The Bite

– This applies to earlier seasons too but the fair is the Roane County fair. There is no Roane County, Indiana. There’s a Roane County, Tennessee.

– Trees moving in the distance that only the little girl mentions feels like a broad reference to the Jurassic Park movies, and The Lost World: Jurassic Park, in particular.

– The opening sequence of an attack at the cabin in the woods is right out of The Evil Dead with shades of Night of the Living Dead too (which was the movie that eventually led to 1985’s Day of the Dead). The boarded up windows look like George Romero’s 1968 zombie classic while Nancy and Joanthan grabbing axes and boomsticks is pure Sam Raimi. What does Ash suggest in Army of Darkness? Oh yeah, get an axe.

– The deer head on the wall takes on an Evil Dead II vibe this time.

– The mouth-within-a-mouth effect of the Mind Flayer is very evocative of H.R. Giger’s Alien designs.

– Cutting off a piece of the Mind Flayer which then crawls around the floor of the cabin in the woods is also like Ash’s hand in Evil Dead II.

– John Mellenkamp’s “R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A.” (1985) is an appopriately patriotic musical cue.

– Back to the Future takes a central role in this episode. On the marquis in the lobby, you might also notice that Cocoon, Fletch, D.A.R.Y.L., The Stuff, and Return to Oz are playing in other theaters. There is also a Pee-wee’s Big Adventure poster.

– You can also spot an Atari sign in the movie theater.

– Steve refers to Michael J. Fox in Back to the Future as Alex P. Keaton, which is the name of snot-nosed yuppie in Family Ties, the sitcom he was on before going back to 1955.

– There is fun use of Alan Silvestri’s Back to the Future sting when Dustin is dropping some plot revelations to Mike on the radio, but this is in the actual series as it is playing on the movie screen behind him.

– Robert D. Orr, who was governor of Indiana from 1981 to 1989, has his name on the sign upon entering Indiana.

– Mr. T cereal was popular in the ‘80s, but it was when Pee Wee Herman ate some in Pee-wee’s Big Adventure in 1985 that it really became popular. Other entertainment tie-in cereals spotted: Smurf-berry Crunch, Ghostbusters Cereal, G.I Joe Action Stars Cereal, Rainbow Brite Cereal, Pac Man Cereal, and Donkey Kong Cereal. Various members of the Den of Geek staff have tasted ALL of these.

– When El is blindfolded and focusing at the grocery store, she’s in front of a freezer with Eggo waffles.

– Lucas actually takes time to debate the aforementioned New Coke vs. Classic and Carpenter’s The Thing vs. the original. Nevertheless, the idea that he likes New Coke is the most far-fetched thing in this entire series. NOBODY liked New Coke.

– Time Out, the classic arcade chain from the ‘80s, shows up in the background as Steve, Dustin, Robin, and Erica flee the Russians.

– Big Top Funhouse where Hopper leads the Russians is a classic maze of obstacles that will be familiar to many carnival-goers of that era. It’s actually still around today!

Stranger Things Season 3 Episode 8: The Battle of Starcourt

– Removing the “parasite” in El’s leg is very Alien and maybe even a little bit Prometheus.

– Steve and company are jamming to is Howard Huntsberry’s “Your Love,” which is also a tune used to save the day by the heroes of Ghostbusters II (1989).

– Hopper and Joy going behind enemy lines while dressed as Russians feels like it’s taken out of a dozen ‘80s comedies, including Stripes (1981).

– Murray Bauman crawling under the enemy as Hopper seals him into his vent looks a lot like Lance Henriksen’s Bishop in Aliens being sent on a mission via sliding through a pipe.

– Hopper turns down a date on Friday night with Joyce because that’s the night Miami Vice comes on and it is apparently El’s favorite show. If only (sobs) Hops could be there to watch it with his daughter. (wails)

– Is it me or does the Mind Flayer look like a Resident Evil boss in this episode the way it drops down from ceilings and what not?

– Dustin gives those in the Wheeler station wagon the code name “Griswold Family,” no doubt because their vehicle of choice bears a striking resemblance to that used by the Griswolds in National Lampoon’s Vacation, which came out in 1983.

– Dustin and Suzie perform a rousing rendition of Limahl’s “Never Ending Story” from the movie of the same name, a 1984 fantasy classic.

– Evil Russian receives similar scars on his face as Arnold Schwarzenegger in Terminator 2 (1991) while battling Hopper at the end. But the fight between Hopper and this guy feels very much like Indiana Jones vs. the giant Nazi mechanic in Raiders of the Lost Ark, the one who he backs into a propeller. The Russian even meets a similar fate here.

– The newscast at the beginning of the coda starts on a clocktower, which is a nod to Back to the Future.

– News cast also shouts out the Satanic panic of the ‘80s.

read more: Stranger Things Season 3 Ending Explained

– The Family Video store employee is the arcade employee from season 2. His name is Keith and he’s played by Matty Cardarople.

– There is a Firestarter (1984) poster at the video store where Steve and Robin are applying for jobs. The movie is of course the Stephen King adaptation that was also a pretty major influence on Eleven in the first season.

– The movies Robin names as her favorites are Billy Wilder’s masterpiece The Apartment (1960), Akira Kurosawa’s Hidden Fortress (1958), which was a major influence on Star Wars, and Marcel Carné’s Children of Paradise (1945).

– Steve’s favorite movies are Animal House (1978), Return of the Jedi (1983), or the new one with the teddy bears, and Back to the Future (with another Alex B. Keaton/Family Ties shoutout). The video store clerk also refers to Star Wars as “A New Hope,” which he would have been very unlikely to do in 1985.

– Oh look, it’s Phoebe Cates in her Fast Times at Ridgemont High glory! That cardboard cutout in a video store would cause some triggered tweets today… as would a video store still being open.

– There is also a Breakfast Club (1985) poster at the video store, which is fast work for ‘80s VHS given it opened on Feb. 15, 1985.

– Dustin saying Max and Lucas should be on Carson is of course a reference to Johnny Carson, the host of The Tonight Show from 1962 until 1992.

– The season closes in Russia with a look at one of Stranger Things‘ most enduring villains: the Demogorgon. We wrote more about what that could mean right here.

Listen to our analysis of Stranger Things on the Sci Fi Fidelity podcast: