Featured Image Credit: Netflix
Topics: Netflix, TV And Film
Jess Hardiman
Netflix’s terrifying new horror series from the creator of The Haunting of Hill House lands today, and it looks nothing short of INCREDIBLE.
Watch the trailer below:
Mike Flanagan is the horror maestro behind the likes of The Haunting of Hill House, The Haunting of Bly Manor, Midnight Mass and The Midnight Club.
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And he’s not done freaking Netflix viewers out just yet, as he’s got another trick up his sleeve in the form of ‘wicked’ new series The Fall of the House of Usher, which drops today (12 October) on the streaming site.
A synopsis says: “She's coming for them all. In this wicked series from Mike Flanagan (The Haunting of Hill House) and based on the works of Edgar Allan Poe, ruthless siblings Roderick and Madeline Usher have built Fortunato Pharmaceuticals into an empire of wealth, privilege and power.
“But past secrets come to light when the heirs to the Usher dynasty start dying at the hands of a mysterious woman from their youth.”
The series features a number of faces fans of Mike Flanagan will recognise from previous projects, with the cast including the likes of Mary McDonnell, Willa Fitzgerald, Carl Lumbly, Mark Hamill, Henry Thomas, Crystal Balint, Kyliegh Curran, Samantha Sloyan, Matt Biedel, Kate Siegel, Rahul Kohli, Daniel Jun, T’Nia Miller, Paola Núñez, Sauriyan Sapkota, and Ruth Codd.
Then there’s Carla Gugino who has promised ‘crazy’ things in store.
She told Netflix fan site Tudum during production: “It’s bats**t crazy in the best possible way.
“It has quite a lot of very dark humour, but also really touches the soul.”
Carla plays shapeshifter Verna, whose origins can be traced back to a ‘very famous Poe character’.
“There is a fantastical supernatural element to the story, and she is the manifestation of that,” she continued, adding: “You could say she’s the executor of fate or the executor of karma.”
After the positive reviews started flying in from critics, the series already has a very respectable 94 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Vanity Fair’s Richard Lawson wrote: “By the end of House of Usher, we feel we have made our way through something dense and rich. This is not flimsy, forgettable TV. Flanagan’s ardent belief in the power of monologue and melodrama, of complex storytelling and florid style, is infectious.”
The Hollywood Reporter's Dan Flenberg described the show as 'bluntly entertaining', while the Metro's Rebecca Sayce wrote: "It feels like no exaggeration to say that Fall Of The House Of Usher is Flanagan’s magnum opus. It is a masterclass in how horror, suspense, and drama should be done and is sure to become a landmark piece across genres."
Kristen Baldwin, of Entertainment Weekly, said the series even gave her an 'actual nightmare', writing: "It did give me an actual nightmare, one in which I was keeping my brother's severed head in a cardboard box - very much against his will, I should add."
Watch The Fall Of The House Of Usher on Netflix from 12 October.