• Director: Mike Flanagan
• With: Michiel Huisman, Carla Gugino, Henry Thomas, Elizabeth Reaser, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Kate Siegel, Victoria Pedretti, Lulu Wilson, McKenna Grace, Payton Singleton, Julian Hilliard, Violet McGraw, Timothy Hutton, Samantha Sloyan, Annabeth Gish, Robert Longstreet
• Music by: The Newton Brothers
• Duration: approx 10h
• My rating: 10/10

Synopsis:

Explores a group of siblings who, as children, grew up in what would go on to become the most famous haunted house in the country. Now adults, and forced back together in the face of tragedy, the family must finally confront the ghosts of their past, some of which still lurk in their minds while others might actually be stalking the shadows of Hill House.

Review:

I haven’t seen a scarier and at the same time such a beautiful and stylish series in a long while…

Mike Flanagan has a gift to scare the people watching his creations… Oculus, Before I wake, Midnight Mass, Ouija: Origin of Evil… those are all incredible things he made so far… but.. by far, of all his works I’ve seen so far (I still have a few to watch), this has been my favourite! No doubt about it.

To scare me is not an easy feat… but damn to hell, I was scared out of my pants while watching this ten episode mini-series! In every corner of every screenshot in Hill House there was (or could be) a ghost watching the inhabitants (and us spectators) hidden among the shadows or the many reflections in the house! That gave the serie an eerie feeling, something I never before felt, something inhuman!

I also loved how Flanagan managed to build up a story by first parallel the different lives of the children, opening up the mystery and having us question all things that happened, giving few answers to what is going on in the house and later in their lives… and after episode 5 we start to see an unravelling of these questions by giving the answers slowly and slowly working towards a climatic final episode where all is revealed and finally explained!

That red door… (well red room) is the scariest place (the stomach of the house… says it all… how consuming it is!) I’ve ever seen in a scary movie! (The only recent movie(s) that created a similar feel for me where It and It Chapter Two… (remember that library scene in It where the woman in the background is watching young Ben, before he meets Eggboy? that creeps me out, still today!)

I plan on immersing myself further into the Flanaverse with rewatching some of his movies and finally watching his remaining movies and series… Bly Manor, Midnight Club and at last Doctor Sleep (long overdue!) but I’m sure they’ll have to do real good to match this one! 10/10 for me!!!