Creators:
Mike FlanaganCinematography:
Michael FimognariComposer:
The Newton BrothersCast:
Bruce Greenwood, Carla Gugino, Mary McDonnell, Mark Hamill, Willa Fitzgerald, Carl Lumbly, Kate Siegel, Zach Gilford, Annabeth Gish, Samantha Sloyan (more)VOD (1)
Episodes(8)
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A Midnight Dreary (E01)
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The Masque of the Red Death (E02)
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Murder in the Rue Morgue (E03)
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The Black Cat (E04)
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The Tell-Tale Heart (E05)
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Goldbug (E06)
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The Pit and the Pendulum (E07)
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The Raven (E08)
Plots(1)
To secure their fortune — and future — two ruthless siblings build a family dynasty that begins to crumble when their heirs mysteriously die, one by one. (Netflix)
Videos (1)
Reviews (6)
I liked Flanagan's Doctor Sleep a lot (despite its slightly excessive running time), and Poe's stories, while I'm not very familiar with them, have an attractive aura for readers and viewers alike, so The Fall of the House of Usher was a pretty obvious choice. After watching it, however, I have to say that I have mixed feelings. Personally, I would have shortened both the running time of the episodes and the miniseries as a whole, as it was a really slapdash and unnecessarily drawn out in places. You watch a whole cast of characters who are disgusting and who can’t help but die. The creators could have easily increased the cadence of the deaths, which were always foreshadowed anyway (a less suspenseful variation on Final Destination?), and thus reduce the overall running time. I was also struck by the overly obvious inclusiveness – as if the creators had taken an imaginary RAL formula and just ticked off ethnicities and sexualities: the unwritten rule of "less is more" certainly applied in this case. Of the characters, I most enjoyed the older versions of the siblings played by Bruce Greenwood and Mary McDonnell, and of course the "devilish" Carla Gugino. If The Fall of the House of Usher as a whole had ridden on the atmosphere of the last episode, which I enjoyed immensely, I wouldn't have hesitated to give it a higher rating, but the nice finale was unfortunately preceded by seven poorly crafted episodes.
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The Haunting of Hill House was for me average through its tedious chatty pace, I had to turn off Midnight Mass in the middle out of boredom and I didn't even bother with The Midnight Club. But I decided to give The Fall of the House of Usher a chance and in the end I didn't make a mistake. Mike Flanagan has finally figured out the ideal ratio of bullshit to action, and his new series will please all camps: both mainstream viewers and his fanatical fans who can appreciate several hours of talking about scented shit. Moreover, from the start, it cleverly hooks us with the excellent idea of the children of a rich pharmaceutical company manager dying off, and you just want to know what's going on at all costs. It's a fact that the series touches horror rather only marginally, bringing in only detailed elements and leaning more into the poetic plane (nice incorporation of Edgar Allan Poe into the modern story), the unraveling of the story and the mystical-mysterious hints, but as a whole it works. I don't want to say it’s excellent and unnecessarily overpraise, but it’s certainly better than Flanagan’s previous works. It's a shame that it lacks more drive and momentum, but thankfully the series retains its atmosphere beautifully and in the last episode comes a quite satisfying final reveal of the cause of all the evil and horrific events of the past. Nothing groundbreaking or that you outright have to see, but as a combination of Poe and symbolic filmmaking with an ambitious creator, wrapped in a horror package, this series works decently.
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With Mike Flanagan, it's always a bit of a rollercoaster for me. Hill House was a huge surprise back in the day, making me think a new genius was emerging. However, his subsequent projects didn't quite hit the mark for me. I had high expectations for this one, especially since he tackled Edgar Allan Poe. And honestly, it delivered. If you get through the first two average episodes, it really picks up. There are some fantastic scenes that might set a new standard in horror. Unfortunately, these are interspersed with more mediocre ones that unnecessarily stretch the series. But when I realized how much effort went into integrating all of Poe's stories into this narrative, naming each episode after one of his tales and weaving them seamlessly into the plot, I was happy to give it a fourth star. If this series had been trimmed to four or five episodes, it could've been perfect. As it stands, it's still pretty solid.
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When I hear that a Netflix project is taken on by Mike Flanagan, I have the assurance that it won’t fall short in terms of quality. And fortunately, The Fall of the House of Usher is no exception to that rule. Over the course of 8 hours, he delivers a formally flawless piece that is also engaging story-wise. I also really appreciate how he relies on his trusted actors, so while watching his work, you repeatedly encounter the same faces. I don’t mind at all because everyone involved delivers a truly professional performance (especially Bruce Greenwood as the head of the Usher family was a delight). As for the plot? Yes, I enjoyed it thoroughly. The mysterious character of Carla Gugino had something about her; I was curious to see how it would unfold and what motives she had for her occasionally brutal actions. The ending nicely laid its cards on the table. Yes, it could have had a faster pace (shortening it by 2 episodes would have helped), but even so, I’m very satisfied with the result. A nice watch. I’m giving it 7.5/10.
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Well, Flanagan disappointed me here. I have read all of Edgar Allan Poe’s work, and “The Fall of the House of Usher” is quite possibly my least favourite. This miniseries, however, has nothing of Poe's aesthetic, it just glues together selected elements of his works in a very clumsy way in the form of the execution of the unsurprising murders of minor characters, and ties it all together with a main storyline whose final denouement is very weak. For as much as I enjoyed Flanagan's brilliantly plotted Midnight Mass two years ago, I had a hard time finishing this one. And the hamfisted all-encompassing inclusion in Netflix shows eye is starting to get solidly annoying, too.
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