Editorials
What if “Stranger Things” Was Based on the Nostalgia of Other Decades?
The third season of Stranger Things debuted on Netflix on the 4th of July, and, wow, is it more ’80s than ever. The neon colors, the loud hairdos, and the mall-bound settings all evoke a time that Gen-Xers recall with fondness and that Millennials can absorb vicariously. The show’s creators, The Duffer Bros., were born in 1984, and they drew from their experiences watching 1980s properties like Poltergeist, E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, The Goonies, Ghostbusters, and a host of others. 1980s nostalgia is, of course, very hip in 2019, and the decade’s media is, generally speaking experiencing a glorious resurgence in the horror marketplace (how many recent indie horror films have John Carpenter-like musical scores? More than a few).
But the culture’s current focus on the pop media of the 1980s must be, by its very nature, ephemeral, and our nostalgia will most certainly reset after a certain number of years. This naturally makes the curious mind wander over what Stranger Things might look like were it based in horror nostalgia from other decades. Each decade, after all, is rife with its own rich horror traditions, and each one could easily make for a Stranger Things-like series unto itself. Since we’re all curious here, let’s go ahead and conduct that thought experiment, shall we?
We begin with Stranger Things in the 1930s…
Stranger Things of the 1930s would have to look like it was produced by Carl Laemmle, Jr., and directed by James Whale. It would be a 65-minute film version of Stranger Things, and would star a group of young people; college students but played by actors in their early 40s. The characters, all square and bland, would stumble into a castle-like government lab – a spooky edifice made of stone and lit by torches – looking for their vanished friend Will. Will’s mother would be played by a hysterical Una O’Connor. Instead, they would find Eleven (a Zita Johann from The Mummy-type) lurking therein. Eleven would be taken back to the local European duchy, learn about the way’s of humanity from a wise old scientist (a Boris Karloff type), fall in love with a slick-haired society man, but end up going on a psychic killing spree nonetheless. Stranger Things would climax back in the lab where Eleven was found, and she would be killed by a rogue bolt of lightning that came down from a hole in the roof. The force of the lightning would cause Will to reappear.
Stranger Things in the 1940s…
The horror trends of the 1940s were based heavily in classic literature, as they were imitating a lot of the success of 1930s horror films (Dracula, et al). As such, the 1940s Stranger Things would pay homage to producer Val Lewton, and appear to come out of RKO. It would be inspired very directly by, say, Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights. Set in Haiti, Eleven (a Simone Simon type), is a local psychic who runs her own business reading minds and floating objects for wealthy travelers. She is the analogue for Catherine. Will, a bitter local raised in luxury and suffering from lung ailments, is the stand-in for Heathcliff. Will’s mother is, in this version of things, an embittered Miss Havisham type (who, I know, is from Great Expectations; don’t @ me). When Will is sucked into The Upside Down by an ancient local curse, Catherine is destitute and flees into the arms of Dustin (a Dwight Frye-in-his-final-role-type). Fast-forward a generation, and Eleven’s young daughter, also psychic, makes good with Will’s less bitter son. Will returns just in time to see the inter-generational reconciliation. The last shot is a Demogorgon eating Will.
Stranger Things in the 1950s…
The supreme shock sensation of our time! Teens in trouble! Girls caving to temptation! The nuclear threat producing monsters never seen before in cinema history! The 1950s Stranger Things would be made on a shoestring budget and evoke the work of Tarantula! director Jack Arnold. Set in a small town, the lead kids would definitely be high schoolers (played by actors in their 30s) who go to drive-ins and race around town in their hot rods. One of their races causes Will to crash into a large nuclear facility, causing him to vanish. Radiation from the accident causes their friend Florence to develop psychic powers, and she is kidnapped and held in a facility. It’s up to Mike to lead the gang into the facility. They have a Demogorgon as a guard dog, and it’s played by a crewman in an unconvincing rubber suit. The film ends with a large explosion and lots of stock footage of the military. A lot happens in Stranger Things, but it’s boring nonetheless. Several generations later, in an epilogue, hipsters will find it on a 50-in-one DVD box set at a closing Best Buy.
Stranger Things in the 1960s…
Inspired by Mario Bava, the 1960s version of Stranger Things would be ultra-colorful, feature a hip electric jazz soundtrack, take place in Europe, and be dubbed into English. The psychic powers would be represented by extended hallucinatory sequences set at an underground rave. The rave would be the Upside Down, and the lead kids all visit there on the regular. Will takes acid and finds he cannot leave. The Demogorgon is a mute human man played by a Joe Dallessandro type who occasionally appears in monster makeup. A vampire woman occasionally appears in dream sequences. This is Eleven. All the scenes outside of the Upside Down would take place in libraries and dorm rooms where the kids would be wearing turtlenecks and smoking cigarettes. The theme song would evoke the work of The Cyrkle or some other 1960s psychedelic rock band.
Stranger Things in the 1970s…
In the 1970s, horror trends were all over the place. There were early slashers, a lot of Satanic panic, drug-inspired freak-outs, experimental art house fare, and enormous horror blockbusters like The Exorcist and Jaws. It follows logically, then, that the 1970s Stranger Things would pay homage to it all. The leads kids would be, essentially, all Tommy Doyle from Halloween, helpless as they watch their teenage counterparts get murdered by various things. The Upside Down is indeed a dark dimension of monsters, but also the source of demons that can possess your body. When Will is there, it’s black-and-white, industrial, and very Eraserhead-inspired. Barb, meanwhile, is being stalked by a masked killer. Eleven lives out the story of Carrie White almost identically, until her mom calls an exorcist. The whole season takes place at Christmas, and in a German dance studio run by witches. The lead witch is a transvestite alien.
Stranger Things in the 1990s…
When the 1980s drew to a close, the slasher genre was staling, a general cultural cynicism was reigning supreme, and the wonderment of Spielberg’s hits crashed into the ground with misfires like Hook. Horror started to skew away from fantastical undying supervillains, and toward serial killers and crime thrillers. Metatext also became the word of the day, and the decade saw a slew of self-aware horror films like Wes Craven’s New Nightmare, In the Mouth of Madness, and of course Scream. As such the 1990s Stranger Things would have to be about the writers of Stranger Things locked in a room, trying to come up with as many ’80s references as they can. We see the characters enacting the story of Stranger Things as it appears on Netflix, but with interjections and commentary as to what’s being referenced. In place of the last episode, however, the writers are attacked and killed by the Demogorgon.
Stranger Things in the 2000s…
It would be a found footage film, natch. Also in Japanese. And there would be at least eight horrendously grisly torture scenes. Lots of blood, viscera, and bone marrow. And, because the horror films of the 2000s were so aggressively nihilistic, none of the characters would survive. But the photography would be painterly and slick and gorgeous.
Editorials
Before ‘The Blair Witch Project’, ‘Alien Autopsy’ Showed How Real Found Footage Could Feel
The line separating artist from con man is a lot thinner than you might initially believe. While I think we can all agree that lying for the sake of profit is actively malicious behavior, isn’t it also true that the faux documentary aspect of The Blair Witch Project is half the reason why that film became such a cultural phenomenon? After all, if there’s one thing filmmakers have in common with stage magicians, it’s that misleading and misdirecting audiences is simply part of the job.
That’s why I’ve developed a habit of mostly ignoring the moral quandaries behind many of film and television’s biggest “hoaxes” in favor of appreciating the narrative elements that drive productions like Mermaids: The Body Found and even Animal Planet’s highly underrated The Cannibal in the Jungle. However, if there’s a definitive case of a highly publicized broadcast fooling the world into taking it seriously, it has to be Fox’s infamous 1995 TV special Alien Autopsy: Fact or Fiction.
It’s been over three decades since that eerie footage first haunted television screens right at the peak of the ’90s ufology craze, and in that time, the video has taken on a life of its own. From countless parodies and references in everything from The X-Files to Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater (as well as John Dower’s recently released tell-all documentary The Alien Autopsy Scandal, which I’d highly recommend to genre fans everywhere), there’s no denying the legacy of the Alien Autopsy video. However, I rarely see the tape discussed as what it truly is: a highly convincing found footage film directed by a passionate stage magician and brought to life by masterful practical effects work.
That’s why I’d like to invite readers to join me on a deep dive into one of the most infamous broadcasts of all time in an attempt to reevaluate the footage as a fascinating narrative experience rather than a complete hoax.
The TV Special That Convinced Millions It Was Real
Ray Santilli next to Extraterrestrial replica in ‘The Alien Autopsy Scandal’
For starters, regardless of whether or not you believe that there was in fact an extraterrestrial crash in Roswell during the summer of 1947 and that some form of autopsy was performed on the victims, the producers behind the black & white recordings, Ray Santilli and Gary Shoefield, insist that their video was a “restoration.” Though I’d argue that the proper word is “remake”of genuine footage that was too damaged to air on television. That’s why the duo went on to recruit filmmaker and eccentric magician Spyros Melaris and sculptor/monster designer John Humphreys to bring their version of the autopsy to life and sell it to the highest bidder.
This is where the story of the Alien Autopsy as a narrative experience really begins. Melaris claims that his approach to the faux recording consisted of striving for extreme period accuracy in both shooting equipment and setting while also planting subtle details that would initially seem like mistakes but could later be revealed to actually fit the time period. That being said, the filmmaker was under the impression that the short would be released for free as a PR stunt, with the team later producing and selling an informative documentary chronicling exactly how the footage was faked and commenting on how easy it is to manipulate public perception with a good old-fashioned magic trick.
This obviously isn’t how things went down, and that’s likely the reason why Melaris has since distanced himself from everyone else involved with the project. Yet, no amount of behind-the-scenes drama can undermine the genuine effort that went into making the short as impressive as it is. From the sourcing of real animal organs from a local butcher to make the organic part of the creature more lifelike to the highly detailed sculpt that made use of a hollowed-out underlayer that could be filled with fake blood and assorted viscera, there’s a reason why so many Hollywood specialists are still impressed with the artistry on display here.
Of course, the believability is only half the story, as I think that the best part of the autopsy is how Melaris builds on the existing tension by obscuring certain details and often embracing the chaos of what a real examination of extraterrestrial life could feel like. The camera often goes out of focus at just the right time to make certain effects hit even harder, and we can only speculate as to what the hazmat-suited doctors are gesticulating about during the operation. There’s a real air of mystery to the whole thing that almost makes it feel like a cosmically terrifying, cursed film containing forbidden knowledge that civilians were never meant to see.
So when Fox’s Fact or Fiction brings in the specialists to comment on the film and its otherworldly subject, it’s no surprise that we end up with one of the most memorable mockumentaries of all time – albeit one where the participants are unaware that the footage they’re commenting on is basically a large-scale practical joke. A joke that the network was obviously in on, as many participants claim that the TV special cut out significant portions where guests point out that they believe the footage to be an elaborate hoax.
The Lasting Impact of the Hoax Turned Cultural Event
Regardless, I remember going to bed terrified after watching reruns of the special and thinking about the respected pathologist who claimed that the body was almost certainly inhuman, with even effects maestro Stan Winston commenting on how difficult it would be to recreate some of these visuals through practical puppetry. That’s not even mentioning Jonathan Frakes’ dramatic hyping up of the disturbing imagery as if he was talking about the tape from The Ring, with his spooky demeanor here likely being responsible for his later role as the host of Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction a few years later.
Personally, I’d argue that the Alien Autopsy phenomenon had just as much of an impact on me as a horror fan as The Blair Witch Project, a film that was almost certainly influenced by the success of this immensely popular hoax (to the point where they even produced their own TV special commenting on Heather’s found footage). Even if Fox didn’t intend to produce a narrative feature about the aftermath of the Roswell crash, the end product still holds up remarkably well as a highly entertaining mockumentary exploring the idea that we may not be alone in the universe.
While neither Santilli nor the rest of the production team has ever commented on this, I also think it’s very likely that the idea of a faux Alien Autopsy could have been influenced by Dean Alioto’s The McPherson Tape/UFO Abduction. I’ve already written about how this granddaddy of found footage was co-opted by rogue ufologists who began selling bootlegs of the tape at conventions as if it were real evidence of a close encounter, so it’s not that much of a stretch to imagine that Santilli and company could have heard about this phenomenon and been inspired to come up with their own highly profitable hoax.
At the end of the day, it’s unlikely that the Alien Autopsy film is recreating any real footage from Roswell, but I can still appreciate the short and the accompanying television event as a standalone horror story that still influences the way we see found footage to this very day.
After all, the possibility that something could be real is often much scarier than finding out for sure – and that’s why I think Alien Autopsy: Fact or Fiction is still worth revisiting three decades down the line.
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