I'm surprised no one has thrown this one up yet.

I personally think it's flawless. It has some genuine scares; even though most of them are jump scares, and it’s also a great dramatic piece. The cast is fantastic, the writing is top notch.

One thing that really stuck out for me was the cinematography. I  think everyone involved did an amazing job.

The overarching story is excellent, with characters you can really get behind.

The finale wraps everything up quite nicely. I was left completely satisfied.

I really can’t say anything bad about it.

Top of the watch list for anyone that hasn’t seen it.

It does look good and there's a good vibe and atmosphere, and perhaps it was cause I was falling asleep, but I found it a bit slow and not a lot happening. Maybe I should give episode 2 another look.

I'm waiting for another Hush or Gerald's game.

Ozark taught me (Episode 1) to not switch off too soon. Husband went to bed and I told him the next day how it really ramped up from a pedestrian start.

So, maybe I'll give this another shot...

P.S. Jump scares get a bad rap these days but I'm a sucker for them.

Definitely worth sticking with. It is a bit of a slow burn in the beginning, but it's all going somewhere.

I personally don't think Hush and especially not Gerald's Game are in the same league as this.

Will start on this one soon, as I too thought it looked good.

Thanks for the review, Warren.

Hype is volcanic for this one. I haven't had the time to check it out. Sounds like it might be worth a look.

Not to sound skeptical, but since when did Mike Flanagan become such a household name in horror? He gets name-dropped like crazy now and seemingly out of the blue (yet somehow not?). He's never been on my radar anyway, and I had to look him up to see what films he's done. I've only seen Gerald's Game (which I enjoyed but mostly due to King's story) and Oculus, which was okay. I had two friends tell me about Hush, which they both said was horrendous. As such, was surprised to see that one pop up in his filmography.

Hush was actually quite good!

I’ve just started watching this last night.  So far so good.  Only started because Stephen King gave it such high praise.

I started last night and was not impressed, surprisingly.

Now, it was late, I was tired, and it was in bed, so maybe I need to start over and pay more attention.

Quoted from Dreamscale I started last night and was not impressed, surprisingly. Now, it was late, I was tired, and it was in bed, so maybe I need to start over and pay more attention.

I think so. There is quite a lot going on, and it is a bit of a slow burn in the beginning. I do think it’s well worth sticking with and needs to be enjoyed in it entirety.

Struggling to get through it only sticking with it because of the Missus :)
I think the episodes are hit and miss.

It starts off very slow then it picked up at Theo's perspective but I I'm at Episode 7  waiting for it to all the in

I think this show is a masterclass. Especially when it comes empathy. Even the characters I was fully aware were douchebags - STEVE - were brimming with it. If you want viewers to feel your character's pain, this is the show to take notes.

This is easily the best original show on Netflix and that says something. It's better than Narcos or Michael HeisenBluth or the MCU shows. I became swollen with emotion after the show was over like nothing I've seen in a long time. I'm watching it a second time and not a single frame disengages me. Top tier writing from beginning to end.

I've watched two eps so far and I'm bored stiff. I absolutely hate the editing where we jump between the present and past all the time. So far, there's nothing in this that will keep me watching. Also, everyone looks so similar. Drab and boring. My take.  ;D

Quoted from Grandma Bear I've watched two eps so far and I'm bored stiff. I absolutely hate the editing where we jump between the present and past all the time. So far, there's nothing in this that will keep me watching. Also, everyone looks so similar. Drab and boring. My take.  ;D

Totally agree!  I wanted to love this, but it's so dull and boring and confusing, as well.

I may try again, but doubtful.

It's not really confusing at all in terms of the bigger picture, which is the point. It all comes together in the end, everything makes sense, and no important questions go unanswered.

As I said before, this needs to be enjoyed in its entirety, you need the whole picture. Regardless, the people not enjoying this are in the minority.

Never going to please everyone, but I think this comes pretty close.

Quoted from Dreamscale Totally agree!  I wanted to love this, but it's so dull and boring and confusing, as well. I may try again, but doubtful.

Well what are you going to do. Not everyone will love a great show.

Just finished this and was thoroughly impressed. I see it isn’t for everyone but to me it was a hell of a fun ride. They really dig into these characters and all their faults that were mainly manifested from things that happened in that house. The ending was a nice emotional send off. It’s about much more than just the horror and that’s what makes it work in my opinion. Thumbs up here.

James

I'm a huge fan of the original 1963 version and was highly skeptical of this remake of a remake. I almost quit watching halfway through the first episode when they overemphasized the catchphrase "at night, in the dark" but I trudged on.

Ended up hooked and binge watched this over the last couple nights. Wow. First time in 40 years I jumped out of my seat and had audible gasps. I was so thoroughly satisfied with the arc and how they wrapped it up that I was sad it was over.

You can't please everyone but the payoff to see it through to the end is worth it.

The book is a bona fide classic.

This version is great in some respects : the casting (Steve apart), the atmosphere and the modern storytelling.

There's one thing that glares out about this new version that by episode 6 or 7 was banging at me and annoying me: they've had twenty years knowing about it and have done nothing to build defences against it.

The original story was about strangers staying in a house for a short period, and it all happened to unprepared and unsuspecting people, who were part of an experiment into the paranormal.

By adding the family and extending the time frame there's a giant crater in the middle of the plot : when at least some of them know they are dealing with a spiritual problem, why have they taken no spiritual recourse against it?

I get we are living in a secular world, but once confronted with these type of events, there is no other possible course of action.

When two characters are seeing the same evil spirit crawling about the floor, is it not time that at least one of them says 'Maybe we should call someone that actually deals with this kind of crap?'.

That's always a problem when an average writer attempts to adapt the work of an all time great.. they reduce it to their level.. and in this instance it created a situation whereby as much as I grew to like the members of the family, you are dealing with absolute imbeciles and that lessened any care I had for them and thus killed the sense of horror.

It's a really good show, but it has a few flaws. In some ways it works really well, and it's genuinely scary at times (episode 8 has the best jump scare), scary enough that I had trouble sleeping and that never happens. The tone, the camera work, the effects, the sound, the lighting, and the acting all work beautifully together to hook you in and envelope you in a thick atmosphere of tension and dread while fully engaging you with story. In many ways it is truly excellent.

The things that bug me are the rules of the ghosts (there's a really big cheat in the first episode or maybe the second that exists for the sake of a creepy scare), some things that never pay off (the dogs?), and the last two episodes contain almost no tension or scares whatsoever, an odd choice for a show that delivers them consistently and so well and that's what we're watching for. Sure, they wrap up a pretty darn good story and make sense of everything, but it's like watching the third act of a movie stretched out for almost two hours. Sacrificing scares for story is something I can get behind, but over the span of two episodes surely there was room for one or two heart-skipping moments if not heart-stopping. I felt let down.

Still a solid recommend.

Oh dear.. What happened at the end?

Absolutely laughable ending that completely undermines the entire series.

Unless, of course. ..

SPOILERS Ahead




... They've not actually left the house and they're all still stuck in a dream.

Otherwise the story is incredibly inconsistent.

Nellie goes from being stuck in a cold, numb, never ending darkness to suddenly becoming wonder woman able to rescue everyone at will? She also willingly wants to spend all eternity stuck in her parents bedroom when she's got a dead husband out there she loves?

The insidious influence of the mad woman in charge the whole time is able to be overcome by one simple command from the woman who was totally under her control previously?

The lurking evil of the house is suddenly turned into the idea that the place is really heaven where everyone gets to live happily ever after?

The way the kids have all suddenly miraculously healed.


The Dudleys, strong Christians who won't step foot in the house, suddenly want to move into the house for their daughter and wish to ignore the actual afterlife for this silly parody, despite having first hand experience the after life is real? No.

Liv, whose whole Schtick was based on protecting her children would choose her husband over all her kids? No, don't be silly.

I could go on all day... It fell apart completely at the end and I had to mutter a silent apology to the great Shirley Jackson before I went to sleep.


A pity.

Maybe, like I say, the whole thing will turn around if there's another series and they're all really still trapped in the house and everything we saw was simply wish fulfillment.

Apparently not.

Damn: They were so close, just dropped the ball at the very end. One simple choice undid all that fine work and turned what could have been a classic, existential Gothic horror into a lame Mary Sue parody.

Such a fine line.

https://comicbook.com/horror/amp/2018/11/01/haunting-of-hill-house-alternate-ending-explained-mike-flanagan/

Polar opposite opinions on this made me intrigued. I admit I was tired before starting watching... but I'm joining the extremely BORED camp.

I think I get where this is going. You start to piece together the events that turned these people into the messed up adults they are. The house never really left them, scarred them forever, etc.

I do like the adult characters. The major problem for me is the child characters are bland to the point of being indistinguishable. Who you are 5 is not who you are 40. Especially in this case of horribly traumatized adults. The children need to be just as well defined as the adult versions otherwise I don't care.  

I honestly could not tell them apart. They wander around hallways. They chatter about seeing things. None of it illuminates character, creates conflict, or does anything else necessary for my enjoyment of a scene.

Maybe I was just too tired. Don't think I'll give it a second chance though.

Finished it last night due to the wife. It had it's moments and some episodes where clearly superior to others.
Tied itself up in a nice bow at the end but as Rick says there were quite few loopholes.

I just felt happy of spotting an extra ghost in the back ground when the Dad was puling away the bricks in the basement and he falls back... I think around ep 5 or 6

Found it Ep7 around 49 mins when he goes back to look in the hole, look in the background lol

I saw a Youtube video that points out 43(!) extra ghosts throughout the series. I caught a few but not THAT many!

Watched this with the wife over the last week or so. It was pretty damn good. I liked the characters and I thought most of the scares were set up very well.

However, I also found that it got consistently less scary and gradually more sappy as it went on, which I feel is something that taints a lot of "haunted house" horror.

I didn't mind the happy ending. In fact, there were a few years when downer endings in horror media became increasingly overplayed, even at the expense of sense and plot (IMO anyway).

Some other cons for me: the ghost effects, at times, were absolutely awful, especially the one scene near the finale when somebody tears their face off. Still, it wasn't enough to deter my overall enjoyment.

I also loved the ghostly easter eggs throughout; didn't even catch a quarter of them!