Summary: In the past, the Crain family is haunted by paranormal experiences in Hill House. The mother, Olivia, loses her mind and tries to kill her children with rat poison, but her husband Hugh saves them by taking them out of the house. Olivia commits suicide and Hugh is separated from his kids, but he never tells them about what happened. In the future, the kids are all grown up but struggling in their lives. The youngest, Nell, is in a dark place and returns to the house where she commits suicide. The other siblings all process her death in various ways. Everyone reunites for her funeral and they all argue, especially Hugh and Steven, who disagree about the nature of the house. Eventually, Hugh tells Steven the truth and he begins to believe it. Luke goes to Hill House to burn it down but falls into the house’s trap. The others come to save him but they are also trapped by the house in its mysterious red room, which “digests” their minds. Hugh cuts a deal with Olivia’s ghost to let them be free, since she is the one calling them back. Hugh dies and stays in the house with Olivia and Nell while the other kids go back to their lives and find happiness with one another.
The Good: I enjoy horror as a genre, but it’s a difficult genre to make something special out of, so I have some reservations with the genre. Often, horror movies and shows get bogged down in trying too hard to be scary, or they become over reliant on jumpscares. This leads to subpar entertainment because I have no reason to be invested, and if I’m not invested, it’s impossible for me to be genuinely scared or at the edge of my seat. That’s why the most impressive and striking thing about this show is the fact that it focuses on telling a compelling story about characters you will care about above anything else. The horror comes after, but this show crucially nails its foundation to make sure that whatever scares happen, they will affect you. The character drama in this series is exceptional. The whole show is focused on the Crain family, who lived in Hill House for a short time years ago, but are still suffering from that time in the present. This show takes the “Lost” approach of prioritizing characters through character-centric episodes with a storyline in the present day that raises mysteries about the characters that are answered through character-centric flashbacks of Hill House. This format works wonders to make me invested in this family and what they went through, elevating both the characters and the mysteries as the show went on. I have always said that the key to good television dramas is to create compelling characters that we can care about, and this show understood the importance of that. By the end of the show, I cared about every character in this family and what they went through. Nell is probably the stand-out character for me. Poor traumatized Nell had the hardest upbringing and struggled the most with the death of her mother and with the horrors she saw at Hill House. Her inability to move on, and her sadly fractured relationships with her siblings led her back to the house, and to her death. Her story is crushingly sad, and her bad fate left me concerned for every other character because I prayed that they would not end up like her. Luke is another tortured individual, and his story is extremely well-written. I thoroughly appreciate that this show took the time to properly explore the pains of drug addiction through his eyes, showing us what led him to this path and how his actions led to a rift within the family. Beautiful storytelling. Theo and Shirley are a bit less interesting as standalone characters, but what drew me to them was the story they had with each other. The controlling Shirley and carefree Theo had a stark contrast with one another, and it was interesting to see their relationship evolve through struggle and reconciliation throughout the show. While this may have been one of the show’s weaker storylines, it was still interesting and featured a number of great moments. The show’s main character is probably Steven, and amusingly he is probably the least likeable character in the family. But this doesn’t end up being a bad thing because he was written perfectly. As the eldest son, he felt hurt by the actions of his father in covering up what happened at Hill House, and this led to him developing bitterness towards the idea of paranormal activity and people who believe in it. His stubborn beliefs consistently lead to arguments and problems with his siblings, a sad example of how childhood trauma lingers within people and drives others away from them. In the end, his arc is about accepting the reality of what happened in Hill House and learning to take responsibility oh his family instead of pushing them away, and it leads to a highly satisfying conclusion, especially between him and his father Hugh. Hugh is a very interesting character. We’re never quite sure of what to make of him until the end, but he ends up clearly being the most heroic character of the show, a parent who prioritized his children above anything else to a fault. It was his love for his family that led to him keeping secrets, and letting them fall to the curse of Hill House for a second time, but heroically, he redeems himself in the end by reconnecting with his kids and saving their lives. It’s a simple, yet beautiful story. Lastly, there’s Olivia. Olivia’s story is a sad cautionary tale about how the house took over the mind of a sweet, normal woman and turned her crazy. Olivia carried a lot of mystery throughout the show until we finally got her full story in “Screaming Meemies”, one of the show’s very best episodes. Outside of the characters and story, this show still has so much that I have to praise it for. The casting choices for everyone were fantastic. Each and every character was believable and compelling, and the actors embodied the roles perfectly. I was especially impressed by Victoria Pedretti, who was so heartbreakingly tragic as Nell. The child actors were also incredibly impressive. Usually child actors can be wooden and unengaging, but these kids all performed exceptionally well and captured the feeling of a real family. The filmmaking was always immaculate. This show is very cinematic with terrific set design, creative camera shots and transitions, and great makeup effects to make the ghosts look realistic. Embodying all of this, the episode “Two Storms” is the pinnacle of great filmmaking in this show, and it is a remarkable achievement that everybody involved should be proud of. The mystery in this show is so good right from the get-go. We are never able to piece together what is happening until the season finale since there are so many twists and turns that are almost impossible to predict because of how creative they are. And since the ending was known since the very beginning, the story was able to include tons of subtle and creepy hints towards future plot details in the early episodes. This resulted in me having tons of questions that I wanted to have resolved since the first episode (just look at the size of The Unknown in all of my episodic reviews!), and that was a great hook to keep me watching the show to experience its great story. Much like with “Lost”, the mystery of the show comes secondary to its great character drama, but it’s fascinating and engaging to follow it. Of course I have to talk about the horror elements in this show; I can only put it off for so long. I think that the horror is handled well enough that this would still be a good TV show even if it didn’t have great storytelling. There is a refreshing lack of jumpscares, as most of the horror in the show comes from the creepy atmosphere of the show. The long scenes, panning shots, and genuine tension helps create a chilling atmosphere that will give you goosebumps. Adding the scares on top of this is perfect. Few of these scares are genuine jumpscares, but rather the fear comes from the presence of a ghost or something you can’t explain, which is more scary than a silly jumpscare anyways. Hell, even the few jumpscares usually work quite well too. It’s amazing that this show manages to make you feel fear so effectively and in ways that align perfectly with the story, since fear is often a crucial emotion experienced by the characters in these times as well. A small thing that I loved about this show was the presence of hidden ghosts in all of the episodes. If you look carefully, a lot of shots at Hill House end up having blurry figures or faces in the background, which only adds to the horror and mystery if you are astute enough to notice them on first watch. I was unsettled by a few of them, but after looking it up, there were so many more that I never even noticed. These are the little details that made this show so scary. It’s not about being startled by a jumpscare, it’s about being afraid of something you can’t explain lurking around you; you just haven’t noticed it. That is much more primal and terrifying than any other type of horror that I have seen. The Bad: This show is remarkably consistent and I have very few complaints to level at it. The early episodes, especially on rewatch, feel a bit at odds with the rest of the show; the first two especially. They are adequate episodes that set up the story nicely, but it’s undeniable that they are less interesting and more cheap with their horror than the later episodes of the series. I’m not sure if this is a case of the show finding its footing as it went on, or if the story in the first two episodes just didn’t click the way it should have. Best Episodes: E05 The Bent-Neck Lady: The bent-neck lady reveal is one of the show’s most memorable moments. Of all the episodes focused on the siblings, Nell’s story hits the hardest simply because of how relatable and painful it is. E06 Two Storms: This show’s centerpiece episode. This one is a marvelously directed spectacle that maintains its hold over you with its extreme emotional weight. This is the first time we see the family coming together in the present day, and seeing the conflict they get into is devastating and thought-provoking. E09 Screaming Meemies: Olivia’s story is utterly heartbreaking, and features some of the most horrifying content in the show through depicting her gradual mental collapse. With this episode dedicating its whole runtime to her personal tragedy, it’s an easy highlight. Worst Episodes: E01 Steven Sees a Ghost: This isn’t a bad episode and it provides a solid hook for the series, but there’s no doubt that it’s missing an emotional spark that is present in future episodes. E02 Open Casket: The weakest episode of the show. Despite telling a decent story for Shirley, this episode is a bit boring and overly reliant on scares to hold your interest. Character of the Season: Nell. Conclusion: “The Haunting of Hill House” is an excellent TV show. I’ll admit to having reservations about watching it due to my general reservations for modern day horror films, but this was a very well done series. It was beautifully thought out, focused on characters, and utilized horror in a chilling and creative way that left a lasting impression on me. This TV show is damn good, and if you are a horror fan then this is absolutely a must-watch for you. Even if you don’t care for the genre, I’d still argue that this is worth watching because this isn’t just a very good horror TV show; it’s a very good TV show overall.
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Aaron DhillonJust a university student who loves to watch TV. And analyze it way too much. Archives
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