Reviewed By: Arya Aamber Ameen
“A ghost can be a lot of things. A memory, a daydream, a secret. Grief, anger, guilt. But most times they’re just what we want to see.” It’s not what we expected, it’s not something we were waiting for, but it flew in like a train and hit us at full speed. And oh boy was it breathtaking! Netflix makes up for an October without a new season of Stranger Things by gifting audiences with the beautiful, terrifying, gothic family drama–yes, drama–that is, The Haunting of Hill House.
We’ve seen director Mike Flanagan’s previous works, from Oculus to Gerald’s Game, and it’s clear with his work on Hill House that he’s becoming a top dog of the horror film industry. His intricately laced-in details that we see in Hill House, ranging all the way from the sets to the characters, are what really tie together the series not just as a beautiful story but also as a terrific example of visual flair and excellent production design.
The Haunting of Hill House tells the story of the Crain family- a family of seven, through dual (but is it really dual?) storylines of when the family moves into a gothic mansion one summer in the 1980s and of the present where the kids are grown up. Dad’s gotten old, and everything is falling apart just as it once had. We have the parents : Olivia and Hugh (yes, Elliot from E.T. has grown up.) Next come siblings Steven, Shirley, Theodora and twins Luke and Nell. The family has plans to renovate Hill House within the summer so they can sell it and use the money to build their “forever house” so they don’t have to move around again. However, Hill House itself seems to have plans (and a strange room with a red door that doesn’t have a key) that begin to overpower those of the Crains’, leaving each family member awfully scarred even twenty years later when Daddy has been estranged. Steve is making “blood” money off of his family history through dramatised novels, Shirley is a not-so-perfect homemaker and mortician, Theo is a child psychologist prone to constantly wearing gloves and pushing people away, Luke is a heroine addict and Nellie is plagued all too much by her encounters in Hill House.
The ten, hour-long episodes begin with an episode being dedicated to each sibling. This along with the repeated back-and-forth between past and present allows for audiences to not only be able to connect to each character but also see the depth of the trauma that haunts each of them between childhood and adulthood, that also shapes each of their adulthoods–even if the characters themselves won’t admit so.
Hill House itself is a gigantic symbol of home and family, and this show definitely left nothing to the imagination with the work on its central location, thanks to the production team bringing Shirley Jackson’s words, “Silence lay steadily against the wood and stone of Hill House,” to life. Not only is the set drop-dead (pun intended) gorgeous, but it is most definitely what will materialise when one wishes to combine gothic horror, homeliness, and so, so much detail; almost making you wish you could be there, feel that eerie chill on your skin, constantly fear something may be standing behind you. The same can be said for the rest of the visual flair. Yes, there are ghosts–and my are they beautiful. Each appearance, jumpscare or no, shoot terror through every inch of your body, and yet at the same time, it will captivate you to the point where you don’t even want to blink in case you miss even a second of it. Even with these ghosts, it’s important to pay attention to detail in Hill House, because it seems Mike Flanagan has turned several scenes into easter egg hunts: look closely at the blurred backgrounds–no, those aren’t shadows, they’re the not-so-former residents of the house.
So why has Hill House created such an uproar among audiences? Because, pun intended again, it hits home. Each character, each relationship within the family is so normal, so relatable, that not only has it created deep-seeded empathy among us all, but it also makes us wonder–could this happen to me, or my family? That is the real horror factor in this show. Of course on top of that, especially for fans of horror or film in general, this is what’s considered to be a treat. From the visual appeal to the attention to detail and casting, this is one of those works of art that happen when Hollyword really tries hard–which doesn’t happen very often these days, especially when it comes to horror.
The Haunting of Hill House is a classic horror fan’s dream come true. Its elegance and lavish style brings it to ranks as high as Alfred Hitchcock’s Rebecca; while its neverending suspense, that easy grip that it keeps on audiences from start to finish, can be paralleled to the works of Stephen King, the king of horror; who in fact has stated that Hill House is “a work of genius.” This show, within just ten episodes, paints a devastatingly beautiful picture of family, loss, mental illnesses, and addictions through the limitless powers of horror, expressing that ghosts aren’t just scary monsters but our own insecurities; and at the end of the day, that is what leaves us heartbroken over this story.
Rating: 9/10