Share
11th October 2023
10:33am BST
The Fall of the House of Usher, Netflix's new series and big Halloween release for this year, is currently sitting on a very impressive 95% score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Based on an Edgar Allan Poe short story of the same name and other works by the legendary writer, the show is set in the present day and revolves around ruthless siblings Roderick and Madeline Usher, who have built their company Fortunato Pharmaceuticals into an empire of wealth, privilege and power.
"But past secrets come to light when the heirs to the Usher dynasty start dying at the hands of a mysterious woman from their youth," the Netflix plot synopsis reads.
Last month, the spooky first trailer for the series hit the web - with JOE at the time writing that it looked like "Succession if it was a horror".
Even more exciting is that the show is from Mike Flanagan, the director of the horror movies Oculus, Ouija: Origin of Evil, Gerald's Game and Doctor Sleep, and the creator of the horror shows The Haunting of Hill House, The Haunting of Bly Manor, Midnight Mass and The Midnight Club.
Here is a sample of some of the positive write-ups House of Usher has received from critics so far:
Consequence: "While Mike Flanagan's now-annual run of limited series have received their fair share of acclaim, 'What would Edgar Allen Poe have thought of the Sackler family?' proves to be a meaty pitch, elevated by a cast that has never been better."
Empire: "Before the House Of Usher comes crumbling down, Mike Flanagan builds a towering, dark-hearted horror story that’s horribly good fun."
Inverse: "By combining his signature style with Poe’s greatest hits, Flanagan creates an epic family tragedy that caps off his Netflix era with a brutally dark note."
TV Guide: "Even if it takes on a slasher-like predictability by pushing characters toward inventive kills, one by one, Usher also grows darker and more somber as it progresses and reckons with the real-world offenses mirrored in the Usher story."
Vanity Fair: "By the end of House of Usher, we feel we have made our way through something dense and rich. This is not flimsy, forgettable TV. Flanagan’s ardent belief in the power of monologue and melodrama, of complex storytelling and florid style, is infectious."
Previously made into a well-regarded 1960 movie starring Vincent Price, the cast for House of Usher features several actors from previous Flanagan projects including Annabeth Gish, Bruce Greenwood, Carl Lumbly, Carla Cugino, Henry Thomas, Kate Siegel, Michael Trucco, Rahul Kohli, Robert Longstreet, Samantha Sloyan, T'Nia Miller, Zach Gilford and Irish actress Ruth Codd.
Meanwhile, among the newcomers to the Flanagan universe in the upcoming series are Mark Hamill and Mary McDonnell.
Comprising of eight episodes, The Fall of the House of Usher will land on Netflix this week on Thursday, 12 October.
