Television

Director Mike Flanagan has been slowly making his mark on the horror genre. With movies like Hush, Oculus, and Oujia: Origin of Evil, he has shown off his talent behind the camera, especially in the horror department. People took notice of his talent and he landed the gig to direct an adaptation of Stephen King’s Gerald’s Game for Netflix, which is currently one of their best horror films on its streaming service. With all of this success, Netflix decided that a movie was not enough for Flanagan to spread his wings and hired him for a 10-episode horror TV series called The Haunting of Hill House. Here is my full review, spoiler free, of course.

Based on Shirley Jackson‘s 1959 horror novel of the same name, this series revolves around a family of seven dealing with consequences from their past in the present. In the past, the father remodels and flips houses for a living. Hoping to make one last big score before building their permanent dream home, the family moves into a mansion located somewhere on the outskirts of Massachusetts, where they soon find out that this is no ordinary mansion. As adults in the present day, the family is brought back together when one of the siblings goes back to visit the mansion for reasons unknown. Each episode jumps back and forth from past to present, revealing how the haunted happenings of Hill house have affected each character, for the mansion has many spine-chilling secrets.

Flanagan once again shows us that he knows how to craft a tight horror narrative. Every episode is a mixture of high tension, jump scares, and creepy imagery, spread between interesting characters and an intriguing plot. Despite being scared straight at the end of some episodes, my desire to see what came next outweighed my fear of what I was going to experience. I was really impressed with the way the structure of the narrative was handled. Jumping back and forth between timelines can be jarring at times. This show did it seamlessly.

I do have to single out the 6th episode, which might be Flanagan’s greatest technical accomplishment of his career. The entire episode is comprised of four long, unbroken takes. The episode unfolded as if I were watching a play. The staging of the actors and the way the camera moves around to keep the tension present was very impressive, and definitely shakes things up from a technical standpoint in the series.

The child acting in this series is also something to behold. About half of this series takes place in the past when the five siblings are all little children. With much of the story being told from their perspective, Flanagan had to rely heavily on five child actors to help the show succeed. I am always impressed what little kids are able to accomplish on screen. All of them shouldered some weight to pull off some of the more frightening, as well as tender moments of the series. While I am always skeptical about a show with kid actors, their performances reassured me that when given the right director, they really are able to sell their scenes.

For all the praise this show deserves, it is not without its flaws. The only material part of the show that upset me in the end, was in fact, its ending. Without giving spoilers, the last episode is not only the least scary of them all, but it also dampens its re-watch value. I feel that any great horror story will still be able to terrify you, despite knowing its ending. This series was unable to do that for me. I didn’t hate the ending, but I felt that the ultimate reveal, in retrospect, somewhat diminishes a lot of the terrifying sequences in the previous episodes. Maybe it’s the cynic in me, but I just feel that it wrapped up a little too nicely and should have ended on a different note. Not every horror story needs to have an ending like Hereditary, but I also don’t expect to be left with a nice, tender feeling inside me either. The ending may not bother most people, but for me, it just didn’t hit home.

Despite my minor misgivings regarding the ending, this series is not one to be missed. If you are looking for a solid show to get your horror fix, or you are just looking for some good TV, you will find it here. As I said, maybe the ending hits home for you. But even if it doesn’t, your time will not be wasted giving in to the story and investing in these characters. Flanagan might be one of the best horror directors working today and I can’t wait to see what he does with Doctor Sleep, the long-awaited sequel to The Shining. Until then, sink your teeth into this series. You won’t regret it.