If you’ve finished “Stranger Things” Season 4, you know the Netflix sci-fi thriller includes callbacks to many famous films from the 1980s, leaning heavily into horror inspirations from “Hellraiser” to “Carrie.”
The series also looks to its predecessors in the fantasy genre in the latest installment. Toward the end of Season 4’s epic finale, the series draws similarities to the 1982 film “Conan the Barbarian” in a scene where David Harbour’s Jim Hopper slices the head off of a Demogorgon at a Russian prison.
According to Harbour, the sword he used in the scene was also wielded by Arnold Schwarzenegger 40 years ago for that very film.
“I don’t know if you saw this, but that sword I pick up — it’s the actual prop sword they used in ‘Conan the Barbarian,’” Harbour said during an interview with British GQ. “It’s the sword that Schwarzenegger swings in the movie.”
The “Stranger Things” stars are fans of 1980s films. In fact, prior to the release of Season 4, several of the cast members dished on some of their favorite horror films from the era.
“‘The Fly.’ That one’s up there for me,” Eduardo Franco told TheWrap, explaining that his mom showed him the film for the first time when he was younger. “She was like, ‘It ruined me, so now you’re going to watch it.’ I watched it, and it was the craziest thing I’ve ever seen.”
Charlie Heaton admitted he hadn’t seen “The Fly,” but he did remember his older sisters watching “Poltergeist” when he was a child.
“The freaked me out,” he told TheWrap, adding that one of the scenes that stuck with him involved a mirror. “He’s shaving in the mirror, and his skin just starts peeling off,” Heaton said.
“Stranger Things 4” is now streaming on Netflix.
