The Haunting of Hill House was a miniseries originally airing on Netflix and maybe Paramount Plus, but I saw it on DVD. It contains ten episodes all around the one-hour mark give or take a few minutes. Written and directed by Mike Flanagan who is also responsible for Absentia and Oculus, the miniseries is based on the book by Shirley Jackson, albeit loosely. The story follows the Crain family from the time they move into Hill House to long after they move out. Olivia Crain is played by Carla Gugino (Sin City, Watchmen, and Lisa Frankenstein) who is the matriarch of the family. Olivia is married to Hugh Crain who is played by both Timothy Hutton (Ordinary People, The Dark Half, and Secret Window) and Henry Thomas (E.T. The Extra Terrestrial, Doctor Sleep, and Gangs of New York). Thomas plays a young Hugh while Hutton portrays an older modern-day version of Hugh.
The couple move into the house with their five children. Each child is portrayed by two different actors as they are shown in two different stages of their lives focusing on different time periods. Playing the younger versions of the children are Paxton Singleton as the oldest child Steven, Lulu Wilson (Ready Player One and Sharp Objects) is Shirley Wilson, an obvious nod to Shirley Jackson, the eldest daughter. Julian Hilliard (Color Out of Space and Doctor Strange: In the Mouth of Madness) is Luke, the youngest boy and the older brother of his twin Nell. Nell is portrayed by Violet McGraw (Black Widow, M3GAN, and Doctor Sleep). The third oldest is Theodora or Theo as she is called is played by Mckenna Grace (Young Sheldon and Ghostbusters Afterlife). Now I’m not one to fawn over child actors but the kids here do a fantastic job with their roles.
Let me introduce you to the adult version of the children now: Steven is played by Michael Huisman who has also appeared in World War Z, The Age of Adaline, and The Invitation. Portraying Shirley is Elizabeth Reaser (The Twilight series of films). Playing “Theo” is Kate Siegel (Hush, Oculus, and Ouija: Origin of Evil), who is also the wife of Flanagan. Victoria Pedretti (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Origin, and Shirley) and Oliver Jackson-Cohen (The Invisible Man, What’s Your Number?, and The Lost Daughter) play the twins Nell and Luke. The adult versions are played well enough, but they pale in comparison to the child versions IMO. Anabeth Gish (Mystic Pizza, Sons of Anarchy, and Double Jeopardy) co-stars as a caretaker of the house who also helps renovate the mansion.
Now let’s talk about each character a bit, shall we? First up is Steven; an author who became famous after writing a book about his family’s experiences (much to the chagrin of his family) in Hill House. Olivia, along with Nell the youngest, are the two who are most effected by the paranormal activities of the house. Hugh is estranged from his children after they all move out of Hill House. Hugh is a house flipper, and he originally bought Hill House to fix it up and resell it as is his usual practice, but this wasn’t your normal house. Shirley, the eldest daughter, was the least effected by the house and a denier or at least a nonbeliever longer than any other member of the family.
As an adult, Shirley owns and runs her own funeral home and mortuary with her husband Kevin. They have two children. Theo, who is the exact “middle” child is also very “sensitive” like her mother. Whenever she touches something, she gets psychic images from it. She wears gloves nearly all the time to block these images. As an adult she is a child psychologist. Luke, the older of the twins, battles with heroin addiction which helps him forget what happened in the house when he was a child. His sister Nell, the baby of the family, has never fully recovered from what happened to her while she lived in Hill House.
Now some people criticize the miniseries for it being too gray and drab. Which it is, but I wouldn’t say it’s a bad thing, it brings back memories to me of films from the bygone era when movies were only made in black and white. The color pallet for the series is nearly a character in and of itself. It’s certainly a vibe and it gives nearly every minute that otherworldly feeling where you are constantly questioning what you are seeing. Is it real or is it an illusion or is it a dream? Several minutes go by at times before I realize which one I am watching. This left me on uneven footing and kept me on edge. All if this is of course the mark of a great storyteller, which Flanagan most certainly is. The makeup and effects often feel like something out of a fever dream and sometimes I had to remind myself to take a breath.
I have nothing to criticize this for and it’s damn near perfect. To point out one episode out of all of them as my favorite episode, except for the last one that is, I need to point to the fifth episode “The Bent-Neck Woman” which might be the most incredible episode of television I have ever seen. It’s frightening, sad, beautiful, shocking, and virtually a story within the story. If haunted house horror and family drama is your thing then this is for you, and I wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone. Four and a half Red Rooms out of five for this modern-day masterpiece.
No comments:
Post a Comment