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Stranger Things creators the Duffer brothers name the '80s horror franchise they'd reboot (and it's got a lot in common with their show)

Stranger Things pays homage to a whole slew of '80s horror movies, but there's just one classic franchise the series creators would like to tackle

Stranger Things creators Matt and Ross Duffer know their stuff when it comes to the horror movies and genre films of the '80s, having channeled their share of it into their beloved streaming series. Though they're a little reluctant to say so at first, there is in fact a classic '80s movie series that Matt Duffer in particular has thought about taking a shot at rebooting.

"This is nasty, because it's just meant to make some sort of fuckin' headlines," Matt Duffer joked on Happy Sad Confused. "The problem is, when a film is classic, I really don't wanna mess with it. Like, why am I messing with perfection?," adds his brother Ross.

As it turns out, the Duffers have had offers for some unnamed '80s reboot projects though they've seemingly passed on all of them so far. Interestingly enough, the franchise Matt Duffer says he's intrigued by is A Nightmare on Elm Street, a horror movie series with more than a little in common with some concepts present in Stranger Things.

"I think if I had to, I would have a lot of fun with A Nightmare on Elm Street, because it just hasn't been done well in a while," Matt says. "And I think there's just so much potential with, not just the character of Freddy [Krueger], but the dream logic aspect of it that Frank Darabont, who we worked with, tapped into in [the third movie in the series] Dream Warriors. So there's a lot of fun that you could have with that. The rights are really messy though. I've tried man, I don't know. I don't think so."

1987's A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors expands the tale of supernatural killer Freddy Krueger into a whole mythos involving psychic dream powers and an overarching battle between Freddy and the kids he's haunted over the years. The concept of kids fighting a bizarrely mutated villain in a dreamlike alternate reality is, of course, central to the plot of Stranger Things through the Upside Down and the main series villain Vecna. In fact, the Duffers also confirm that Freddy Krueger provided some inspiration for Vecna, along with Hellraiser villain Pinhead.

There may be a bit of connective tissue between A Nightmare on Elm Street and Stranger Things, and while that might mean the Duffers' theoretical take on the classic horror series could strike some of the same notes, it would certainly be interesting to see what they could do by leaning full on into R-rated horror, especially if they were to focus on the Dream Warriors aspects of the story rather than a simple reboot of the hard to top the 1984 original.

Stranger Things is streaming on Netflix now.


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George Marston

George Marston: George Marston is a media critic and journalist who has specialized in superheroes and comics for nearly two decades. Along with focusing on comics and superhero media at Newsarama, George has honed a critical voice exploring TV, movies, and video games with bylines at Total Film, SFX Magazine Online, Space.com, GamesRadar+, and more. During George's time at Newsarama, the site received the 2020 Tripwire award for Best Comics-related Website / Publication. (They/Them)

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