Stranger Things season 4 is back with a supernatural bang and with it, horror fans receive some spine-tingling surprises with A Nightmare On Elm Street easter eggs galore.
**Spoiler Warning – Below content discusses scenes from Stranger Things season 4 as well as its ending.**
The wait is finally over. After two years since season three, Stranger Things enthusiasts are tucking into the fourth season and leaving no crumbs. We are once again reunited with the gang for what seems to be the show’s biggest and best run so far.
Beneath the cool 80s vibes that includes the iconic music of Kate Bush, rollerskating and the very much missed arcades, the Duffer Brothers have also taken inspiration from cult movie classics. Nestled within the supernatural authentics, viewers will find references from The Goonies, Alien and Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
But the film that garners the most attention throughout Stranger Things season 4 is Wes Craven’s horror, A Nightmare on Elm Street. Let’s take a look at how the show paid tribute to the iconic 1980s slasher.
Stranger Things 4 | Volume 1 Final Trailer | Netflix
One, Two Freddy’s coming for you…
Let’s start with the biggest A Nightmare on Elm Street reference and that’s, of course, the appearance of Robert Englund. If you were around in the 1980s, Englund’s presence will be all too familiar for you as he portrayed the hellish child killer with blades for fingers, Freddy Krueger.
In Stranger Things 4, Englund makes a comeback as Vecna’s first victim, Victor Creel.
Wayward teen accused of murder
When it comes to the police, and townsfolk, picking someone for a crime, you can almost guarantee it’ll be the “bad boy” of the show who gets the blame. Just like Rod from A Nightmare on Elm Street who gets thrown in jail after his girlfriend Tina is found in his bedroom slashed to ribbons by the hands of Freddy, although no one believes him, newcomer Eddie Munson, who is seen to be a troublemaker in Stranger Things 4, also gets the blame when he is accused of murdering the Hawkins High cheerleader, Chrissy.
The Boiler Room
In A Nightmare on Elm Street, the boiler room was one of the movie’s most famous locations and where Krueger enjoyed chasing his prey in their dreams. Before getting caught, Freddy used to work there but when the parents of his victims finally found him, they ended up throwing the killer into the furnace, burning him to death but obviously, that wasn’t the end of his killing spree.
Towards the end of Stranger Things 4, Henry Creel is seen playing a game of chess with Eleven and slips her a keycard to the boiler room of the Hawkins lab. While down there, viewers are teleported back to the chilling feeling that the boiler room in A Nightmare on Elm Street gave with its hissing pipes and eerie atmosphere.
Two Nancy’s, one killer plot
At the end of Stranger Things season 4, we witness Nancy Wheeler seemingly become Vecna’s next target. Wheeler has been the one who loves to get stuck into the nitty-gritty of the whys and hows, just like another familiar character from A Nightmare on Elm Street, coincidentally also named Nancy.
Both characters look very similar with their brunette hair and feisty, investigative attitude so we wouldn’t be surprised if Wheeler ends up defeating Vecna just like Nancy Thompson took on Freddy Krueger. Watch this space!
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