Stranger Things Season 3 has been streaming on Netflix since July 4th, so you've probably binge-watched the whole season at least once by now, right? If you haven't, you're going to want to avoid the following section because it contains all the spoilers.

Since its inception, Stranger Things has been all about the nostalgia. I mean, sure, there are compelling characters who have rocketed from obscurity to worldwide fame (save for Winona Ryder who has always been and will always be a shining star); macabre mysteries that literally lurk beneath the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana; and an intense sense of dread that comes from knowing that not all of our favorite characters might make it to the season finale alive. (RIP Barb, still.) But the feel-good factor that makes the bits and pieces of Stranger Things so familiar and so enjoyable have been lovingly cribbed from a myriad of beloved horror, sci-fi, and drama narratives that have come before it.

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Stranger Things Season 3 continues this successful trend by doubling down on aesthetics the previous seasons have already established: Super-powered youth, clandestine government-run experiments, other-worldly monsters crossing into our own reality, and the camaraderie of a group of childhood friends going on dangerous and often deadly adventures together. There have been nods to the works of Stephen King and John Carpenter, properties like Dungeons & Dragons and Ghostbusters, and many more. So what other pop culture icons does the new season include?

Quite a few, actually. And most of them factor into the story in a pretty epic way, from either informing the big bad beastie at the heart of the conflict or by literally appearing on the small screen, which is a pretty big deal (and probably a rather costly one, as far as licensing is concerned). But is an assemblage of pop culture references as good as those original references themselves? Is it somehow better? As Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin) puts it when talking about New Coke, "The original is a classic, but the remake ... sweeter, bolder, better." But is it really? Your mileage may vary, but here are the sources of inspiration for Stranger Things Season 3 if you want to seek them out.

Red Dawn (1984)

A lot of the 80s pop culture references in Stranger Things should be glaringly obvious to the folks who have lived through the influential decade or just really, really love all the art produced within it. But for those of you who haven't even heard of Red Dawn, here's your primer:

This 1984 movie, originally directed by one of the all-time greats John Milius and eventually remade in the sub-par 2012 film, took place in an alt-history take on the 1980s. In this world, Soviet forces have invaded a small Colorado town, and taken prisoners of war. In order to rescue their captured father, two brothers must team up with their friends and local military members to retake their town and kick some Ruski butt. ("Wolverines!")

This one should be straight-forward: It's revealed early on that a Soviet program intent on opening the rift to the Upside-Down is in operation beneath the Starcourt Mall in Hawkins (obviously). It's up to the small-town kids and their adult allies to fight back and save the town. And if the subtext wasn't clear enough, Dustin straight-up namedrops the movie title once he figures out that the Soviets are involved.

The Terminator (1984)

Speaking of the Soviets, they've employed their own version of the title terror from The Terminator, right down to the Arnold Schwarzenegger "look-alike" in Andrey Ivchenko. Dubbed "Grigori", this force of nature is introduced as a one-man killing machine, though we don't actually get to find out what makes him so strong: A production of Soviet science like Marvel's Supreme Soviets and Red Guardian? A "natural" product of Soviet training, ingenuity, and genetic selection like Rocky IV's Ivan Drago? Or actual android complete with metal endoskeleton and synthetic skin?

Probably not the last one, but Stranger Things never goes into the explanation of Grigori's freakish strength and durability. They're happy to just introduce a nod to The Terminator, which centered on Schwarzenegger's mostly mute robot assassin tasked with traveling back through time to take out the mother of a future resistance leader, as you do. (They do reveal a scene in which Grigori takes a few bullets to the chest, only to shrug them off thanks to a bulletproof vest, so we're going to cross out the robo-possibility, but the reference stands.)

George Romero's Day of the Dead (1985)

This one's less of a reference and more of a straight-up, on-the-screen appearance. Since it opened in July 1985, it's a perfect summer holiday movie for Mike, Lucas, Will, and Max to check out sneak into. (Do kids still sneak into movie theaters, or is the 2019 equivalent sneaking your parents' streaming passwords?) But there's more to this movie than just homage.

George Romero's Day of the Dead was the third installment in the writer-director's zombie film series. In it, zombies outnumber humans by an insane margin, like half-a-million to one, so humans are forced to eke out an existence in small camps and isolated bunkers. One such bunker, guarded by the U.S. military, houses scientists who are busy researching a solution to the zombie epidemic (without much success.) While you can make some thin connections between this movie and Stranger Things, the subtext of both is that breakdowns in communication, even in relatively small communities, can make progress impossible and infighting almost a guaranteed certainty. A little more overtly, the zombie plague in Day of the Dead has something in common with the citizens of Hawkins, ID who are "copied" by the Mind-Flayer in Stranger Things, but there's a better movie reference for that ...

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)

Sure, it's not technically an 80s movie, but the Pod People vibe is strong in Stranger Things this season. Originally a 1956 film adapted from Jack Finney's 1954 sci-fi novel, The Invasion of the Body Snatchers was remade in 1978, starring Donald Sutherland. The story centers on an invading alien race that is able to replicate human beings by growing them from seed pods; the only difference is that the alien copies lack human emotion.

While there's plenty of context to mine from that story, the part is has to play in Stranger Things is more of a literal one. The Mind-Flayer, happy to hide in the shadows while it gathers its strength, manages to infect anything in its reach--from rats to humans. Why? So it can turn it into goo from the inside out, which it then incorporates into its own monstrous form, for reasons unknown. It's basically building itself a bigger body out of diseased, goo-ified creatures. So while the zombified humans are just means to an end, there's a trio of 80s creature features that act as a mashup of monsters to form the Mind-Flayer itself.

Alien (1979) / The Blob (1988) / The Thing (1982)

Give those movies a watch if you haven't yet; I'll wait.

(Five-and-a-half hours later): Awesome, right? Now you can see why the Duffer Bros wanted to make the Mind-Flayer a horror/sci-fi movie mash-up monster. It's obviously got the Dungeons & Dragons name, but the mechanics of it pull from Xenomorphs, The Thing, and the Blobs. The Demogorgon and Mind-Flayer both have a big of the H.R. Giger look to them, a visual style that became famous thanks to the creature and production design in Alien. The Mind-Flayer also borrows from the Xenomorph's preferred method of infection/reproduction by attacking the host's mouth/face and, shall we say, imposing its will once attached. The Mind-Flayer also has the interesting ability to change phase, shifting from a chunky solid to a goopy liquid when the need arises (and occasionally leaving behind the odd bone when dripping back into the sewers). That peculiar effect may have been borrowed from The Blob, a nigh indestructible alien menace that oozed over anything and anyone in its path; the 1988 film, which was a remake of the 1958 original, may have been after this timeline in Stranger Things, but I'll never miss an opportunity to drop a Blob reference.

But there's a more iconic villain which directly inspires the Mind-Flayer: The Thing! This generically yet fittingly named beastie has a long history in fiction. First, there was the 1938 novella "Who Goes There?" by John W. Campbell, which was first adapted in 1951 as The Thing from Another World. The most famous adaptation comes courtesy of John Carpenter's 1982 take, with a worthy follow-up/prequel in 2011. The title terror is an alien parasite that's able to take the shape of any creature it assimilates, including humans. The horrific shifting nature of The Thing is quite similar to the grotesquery that is the Mind-Flayer, even if its methods are a little more varied.

Back to the Future (1985)

Okay, enough of the thinly veiled references to 80s pop culture; here are some very overt titles included this season, starting with Back to the Future. This movie not only shows up on the screen in earnest when Steve, Robin, Dustin, and Erica bust into the movie theater while on the run from the Russians, its theme song also plays during Dustin's emergency radio call. Steve and Robin also converse about the movie's time-traveling plot and the confusion that comes from it, a conversation that should be familiar to folks of any age who have questions after seeing the movie for the first time.

Stand by Me (1986)

Sure, much of Stranger Things is inspired by Stand by Me and similar 80s stories that saw kids adventuring together to take on tough tasks. But one specific line of dialogue seems to be directly inspired by the Rob Reiner classic. When Billy Hargrove, still in his right mind, is busy attending to his lifeguard duties, he calls a kid at the pool "Lardass." That's got to be a pull from one of the all-time classic side-stories in one of the all-time greatest drama movies, right?

The Karate Kid (1984)

It's hard not to conjure The Karate Kid when you reference 80s culture, but this specific instance saw Eleven smitten with a signed autograph of movie star Ralph Macchio circa 1985. And who wouldn't be, really? If Cobra Kai is your only cultural touchstone for this reference, do yourself a favor and go back to the original Oscar-nominated film.

First Blood (1982) a.k.a. Rambo

In 1985, Rambo: First Blood Part II arrived in theaters, but Soviet scientist Alexei was likely referencing the first movie in the franchise which debuted back in 1982. It's a quick reference, but the Russian scientist calling Hopper a "fat Rambo" is one of the funniest moments in this series.

Pee-Wee's Big Adventure (1985) and Firestarter (1984)

This is a "blink and you miss it" moment, but a poster for the 1985 absurdist comedy Pee-Wee's Big Adventure can be seen on the movie theater marquee. Meanwhile, displays for the King adaptation Firestarter can be seen in the video rental store at the end. The pyrokinetic protagonist, played by a young Drew Barrymore, serves as a sort of spiritual super-powered sibling to Stranger Things' own Eleven.

The NeverEnding Story (1984)

Breaking up one of the most tense moments of this season is the duet between Dustin and his totally real science camp girlfriend Suzie. That song comes from this classic 1984 movie and its theme by the same name, courtesy of Limahl and vocalist Beth Anderson.

Sing along, won't you?