31 Days of Halloween 2018: The Haunting of Hill House S1E1

2018, Mike Flanagan (Occulus) -- Netflix

If you are going to write reviews (?!?!) about things you should never admit you might not be the best at articulating why you like something, or do not like, for that matter. As I have mentioned before, in one of my never-ending inward looking paragraphs as to why I do this thing, I mentioned that I find it hard to consider these posts are reviews and just more as blog posts. That excuse allows me to ramble on about nothing in particular and be forgiven. You forgive me, right?

Also, I never claimed to be good at this, but I continue to do it as much or more for me, than for you Random Anonymous Reader. Reader? OK, fine just me. And occasionally Kent.

So, I like Mike Flanagan. We have enjoyed almost all of his movies. But when I think about why I like what he does, nothing concrete comes to mind. I like the way he builds characters -- in that it reminds me to lofi Stephen King from the 70s & 80s when his books were as much, or more, about characters than they were about the scary situations they were in. And yet, in paradox, I cannot say that his characters stand out. He does not intend them to be flamboyant or have characteristics beyond their role in the movie, as King did, and thus they don't exactly stay in the memory. But I do remember that as he establishes them, I am attentive and interested. Which is more than most horror movies ever accomplish with backstory.

The Haunting of Hill House is a horror staple. There was the novella from 1959 and the two movie adaptations, one faithful one not so much. Flanagan does not attempt to be faithful to the exact plot (people investigating a so-called haunted house) but re-works the story and characters in two time periods: a family being haunted by the house, and the family's return due to tragic circumstances, many years later. He takes the names and makes the family his own.

The Crain family, with dad Hugh (Henry Thomas / Timothy Hutton) have moved into infamous Hill House. He and his wife are house flippers, renovating difficult spaces and re-selling them. His wife Liv (Carla Gugino) has the architectural eye and Hugh manages the reconstruction with a convincing, "I can fix it..." The five kids tag along. But, as expected, Hugh cannot fix what is wrong with this house.

At first things are fun, as the house is massive with all kinds of rooms and stuff for the kids to explore. But then we jump to That Last Night, where Hugh is waking his kids and demanding son Steven get them to the car, now !! We get a car full of kids screaming, "Where's mom?!?!?" but we get no answer as he speeds away.

Flip to the future. Steven is a writer, who made a hit off a novel about That Night. Shirley runs a funeral home, Luke is an addict, Theodora wears elbow length gloves and picks up strangers in bars (always short hand for trauma on TV), Dad is estranged. What about Mom? Nell ? Steven returns home after a long day, home to an apartment, not his wife's house, and finds Nell there, quiet and in the corner. And then dad calls, "I am at the house, Nell is here, she is dead." Jump scare.

Flanagan does a wonderful job establishing something horrible has happened in their past, and it left an imprint. And it was centred around mom. Immediately the house is a villain, which is obviously from the gothic depiction and details. Immediately we see the events have imprinted themselves on the family forever. The tension builds, and the jump scare is almost a release. I knew I was in for a good ride.