9. Poltergeist (1982)
The X-Files is known for its use of poltergeists throughout the series in multiple unsolved cases, but it’s the episode ‘Shadows’ where a direct reference to the 1982 film is made. Mulder theorizes that the victim of the case they’re working on is being followed by a poltergeist, to which Scully replies with the infamous line from the film “They’re hereeee”, to which Mulder replies “They may be”.
Produced and written by Steven Spielberg but directed by Tobe Hopper, Poltergeist tells the tale of a family living in a California suburb whose home is subject to an invasion of ghosts, of whom abduct the family’s young daughter, Carol Anne. The use of Carol Anne as a conduit for the ghosts is also used in the episode ‘Conduit’, to which aliens communicate through a television to a young boy after his sister is abducted.