The Haunting of Hill House (2018)

Up to this point, Mike Flanagan (writer, director) was on a roll. Of course, this isn’t the most recent of his series, but I still have yet to see his newest one (Bly Manor). THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE debuted on Netflix couple years ago and dang, I hadn't gotten such chills from spooky scenes in a while. Flanagan is also known for Doctor Sleep, Gerald’s Game, and Hush, among others, so he is no stranger to the genre. This series is an adaptation of an older horror novel and while I didn’t read the novel, I must say what we got as a series was pretty effective. It revolves around a dysfunctional family and the series jumps back and forth from when they were kids and adults. It’s revealed the mother of the family was lost years prior (when the adults in present timeline were kids), and we get both flashbacks and current events showing how the family deals with that and other issues. First point, the casting. If one were to tell me they started filming this 20 years ago, and then used the same actors today, I’d believe it. The casting for the younger versions of the adults were fantastic; they looked exactly like the present-time actors would. Additionally, the story overall is pretty great but if I had to knock it, it would be that the finale was a bit underwhelming. Compared to the rest of the series, I wanted a shocking thrills-fest endgame but ultimately was let down minorly by too much melancholy and dourness. I get what they were trying to do, but after several great thrills I didn’t want to end on such a down note. As it is though, check out the series…you’ll be haunted for weeks to come.

SLASH SCENE: The Bent Neck Lady

SLASH SCORE: 4/5