First Impressions: The Fall of the House of Usher

 

The Fall of the House of Usher is another ambitious project helmed by Mike Flanagan.

After Haunting of Hill House, Haunting of Bly Manor, Midnight Mass, and The Midnight Club, this time Mike Flanagan adapts the works of Edgar Allan Poe.

The Fall of the House of Usher appears to be more of a tribute to the famed author and poet of the 1800s.

Even some of the show characters are named after the author's characters in his works.

Mike Flanagan makes impeccable and proper use of Edgar Allan Poe's oeuvre in the series although for some it can be an overload of goth literature and not enough of an originality.

Edgar Allan Poe's works were mostly about disturbed minds, murder, and loss. There was a darkness about the stories and poems that captured you.

The stories showed just how fragile a mind can be, and how close we are to the boundaries that stop us from committing a sin.

Mike Flanagan has developed his own voice when it comes to story-telling, and that became evident with his critically acclaimed show The Haunting of Hill House.

The show can appear to be dragging and the episodes may be longer than they should be. But there was no doubt about his approach to horror stories encased in family dramas.

The Fall of the House of Usher does follow the same pattern as Mike Flanagan's shows. We see an older character, narrate a story about his childhood, growing up with his sister, and doing whatever it took to change the world.

But the mistakes of his past have come to haunt him and his six children are killed in gruesome incidents.

The show retains Mike Flanagan's original style and manages to scare you with the clever twists in the story.

The stories may be inspired by Edgar Allan Poe's works but THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER is an amalgamation of the author's works and Mike Flanagan's clever execution and take on the stories.

The stories are given a modern twist and work because of the prolific cast.

Many of the cast members are Mike Flanagan's favorites and it is interesting to see them play roles completely different from what they have played in previous shows. It is as if they have been instructed to push the envelope and so it is fun to see them play these daring characters.

The Fall of the House of Usher definitely makes a good first impression and is this season's must-see show.

THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER is streaming on Netflix.