Mike Flanagan's (Haunting of Hill House, Haunting of Bly Manor, Midnight Mass) next horror series with Netflix was announced several weeks back, and today they announced the first cast members:

https://gizmodo.com/mike-flanagans-edgar-allan-poe-netflix-show-adds-mark-h-1848188076

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Netflix's master of horror is teaming back up with a few of his regularsand Luke Skywalker, too. Mike Flanagan, executive producer-writer-director on Netflix's The Haunting of Hill House, The Haunting of Bly Manor, and Midnight Mass, is getting ready to shoot his latest horror show for Netflix: The Fall of the House of Usher, based on the work by Edgar Allan Poe. And today Flanagan announced the first members of his cast: Frank Langella, Carla Gugino, Mary McDonnell, Carl Lumbly, and Mark Hamill.

"This miniseries is a modern remix of some of the most iconic works of Edgar Allan Poe," Flanagan said on Twitter. "To tell this epic tale of greed, horror, and tragedy, we have assembled the largest ensemble cast in the history of Intrepid Pictures [the company Flanagan runs with his partner, Trevor Macy]."

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Plus, this is just the first wave of the "largest ensemble cast" in Flanagan's history, with more names coming soon. The director tweeted "We have MANY more names to share, and will unveil the next wave tomorrow, right here at 10am PST. Some familiar faces, some new ones, all incredible performers coming together to bring the world of Poe to life as it's never been seen before. Cannot wait to tell you more!"

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More announced: https://deadline.com/2021/12/the-fall-of-the-house-of-usher-michael-trucco-tnia-miller-paola-nunez-henry-thomas-cast-1234888760/

A bunch were in Midnight Mass, with a few in the Hauntings

IGN obviously not what it used to be in regards to being critical in their reviews, but they give the series a '10' Masterpiece: https://www.ign.com/articles/the-fall-of-the-house-of-usher-review-netflix-mike-flanagan

I'm extremely excited for it. I love Poe's work, and I've ultimately become a Flanagan fanboy. That's not to say everything he touches is great, but I would say everything he touches is at the very least well done.

Ouija was far better than it had any right to be.

Gerald's Game is an excellent adaptation of a story that really didn't fit the screen well.

Hill House was a masterpiece.

Doctor Sleep took what amounted to a King side-story and made it into a competent film.

Bly Manor bored me a bit but it was still done very well.

Midnight Mass I didn't love at first, but on re-watch it's approaching the classic category for me. My only real dislike is it borrows a bit too heavily from Salem's Lot (and Flanagan admits his love for that book). But that soundtrack of Neil Diamond and Harry Chapin.... *chefs kiss*

The Midnight Club I set myself up for failure getting a little too excited about without fully understanding that Flanagan was crafting what was ultimately a series for young adults. In that light I think it was a success.



And if Usher lives up to the hype, next on his plate post-writer's strike is the white whale of all Stephen King adaptations...

Looking forward to this.

And his Dark Tower adaptation. I know, I know it's not official yet but I have to hope and pray he gets his shot. King trusts him and if he can deliver a solid pitch and find the right studio I think it could be incredible.

Looking forward to some quality horror!

If you missed Haunting of Hill House, do yourself a favor and watch it in October.

Might be because I grew up with Christopher Pike and R.L. Stine and all those other horror series, but I really enjoyed Midnight Club for what it was.

I also appreciate that after it got canceled with a lot of unresolved threads, Flannigan actually made a blog post detailing their plans for the series so folks could at least have closure.

bluefire579 said:

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Might be because I grew up with Christopher Pike and R.L. Stine and all those other horror series, but I really enjoyed Midnight Club for what it was.

I also appreciate that after it got canceled with a lot of unresolved threads, Flannigan actually made a blog post detailing their plans for the series so folks could at least have closure.

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Yeah like I said I definitely appreciate what he was doing, it just didn't resonate with me and I was hoping for something a little more "adult".

I'm assuming you caught Fear Street on Netflix? That was another "had no business being this good"... Went into that one with super low expectations and thought all 3 were great.

Did not know about this.

This is probably my favorite of his short stories.

Cannot wait to this.

Will revive my Netflix subscription

Proposition Joe said:

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bluefire579 said:

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Might be because I grew up with Christopher Pike and R.L. Stine and all those other horror series, but I really enjoyed Midnight Club for what it was.

I also appreciate that after it got canceled with a lot of unresolved threads, Flannigan actually made a blog post detailing their plans for the series so folks could at least have closure.

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Yeah like I said I definitely appreciate what he was doing, it just didn't resonate with me and I was hoping for something a little more "adult".

I'm assuming you caught Fear Street on Netflix? That was another "had no business being this good"... Went into that one with super low expectations and thought all 3 were great.

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Absolutely. I was completely surprised with how well those movies turned out, just a great job of paying homage to both the series and to three completely different styles of horror movies

Tanya 93 said:

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Did not know about this.

This is probably my favorite of his short stories.

Cannot wait to this.

Will revive my Netflix subscription

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Based on the trailer and early reviews, it really looks like it has only the loosest of connections to Poe's works. Flannagan seems to only have borrowed a few names Lenore, Rue Morgue, Griswold, etc rather than actually adapt upon his themes. I like Flannagan (mostly), but this feels like it could be an unearned use of a Poe title for a bog-standard revenge story.

I feel the opposite. The way he weaves in great family drama into these short stories is fantastic, and is the reason Hill House and Bly Manor were so enjoyable for me. Anyone can do a standard horror jump scare fest.

Best example of this is seeing the jump in quality from Ouija to its prequel, which Flanagan directed.

Don't misunderstand, I like Flannagan's work and think Haunting of Hill House is the best horror series of all time. But if someone wasn't a previous fan of Flannagan, but was a massive EAP fan, I think they might be disappointed with House of Usher.

Gotcha.

I'm unfamiliar with the source material, so really have no expectations going in other than what his past work has shown.

Correct, it is not a retelling of The House of Usher.

However I wouldn't go so far to say it's loosely based on it either. From what I've read, many of the same themes will exist.

I'd like to get more of the House's POV this go round. Like John Gardner did with Grendel.

All eight episodes dropped. Anyone given it a whirl thus far?

As long as someone says take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door in an exasperated tone I'm good.

I'm five episodes in, and enjoying it thus far. The mystery aspect of it particularly engaging for me. And it's cool seeing all the actors from past Flanagan projects in this.

I also like how it's weaving in different Poe stories, in addition to the House of Usher.

I wouldn't say it's quite reached Hill House or Midnight Mass levels for me yet, but still got some episodes to go.

So far so good, 4 episodes in…

javajaws said:

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OMG the "lemon" monologue is gold!

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That was amazing

Finished it up last night and I enjoyed that one. Carla Gugino in particular I thought was great. Not a perfect show but I thought it was worth the time investment. A fun modern take on Poe's material and I thought the last episode tied up everything fairly well. It's not scary, more suspenseful and you can see some of the twists coming from a mile away.

I kept wondering when nevermore was going to be said and the timing at the end with the AI texting for Lenore was great.

I usually like this kind of stuff but this is abysmally awful. Stopped watching after three episodes.

I quite enjoyed. I now know the Flanagan style like the back of my hand, after 4 series, but I'll be coming back for more and more. I'll have to check out his movies next.

Can't recommend Doctor Sleep enough.

I agree. I kinda chalk it up to how unrepentant Madelyn was, even after all this death and destruction. You can rant and rave all you want but it's kind of weak posturing as you're only minutes away from death. Or maybe hours, in her case.

Probably my least favorite Mike Flanagan offering...I mostly enjoyed it but zero desire to go back and watch it again. Also a tough one for me because I think Midnight Mass is one of the best things to hit TV this century (I realize it's a very divisive work) and Hill House is a modern classic.

Ultimately worth the watch but forgettable

I would rank it ahead of Midnight Club personally (which I never finished), but definitely below Midnight Mass and both Haunting shows.

Certainly not bad, but not quite on the level of those for me. I think the reason is we don't spend too much time with the six Usher siblings and don't end up caring about them as much as the characters in those other shows.