Mike Flanagan's Netflix Horror

 

Mike Flanagan's Netflix Horror

Introduction 

I've always been a fan of Mike Flanagan. I liked Hush, and I was also extremely impressed by Ouija : Origin Of Evil. During the past week, I finally got down to watching his three horror series on Netflix ; The Haunting Of Hill House, The Haunting Of Bly Manor, and Midnight Mass. After finishing all three series, Flanagan has risen up in my favourite directors list, and he is now one of my favourite directors. Period. Through these three series, Flanagan displays his immaculate attention to detail, amazingly gripping dialogue and monologues, as well as his ability to weave in different themes and genres into horror, to make his creation more nuanced. Today, I will briefly discuss these three series, keep on the lookout for in-depth reviews later on! 

The Haunting Of Hill House 

The Haunting Of Hill House was the first out of three series that I watched, and is my personal favourite. I also regard it as the most well-made. The series follows the Crain family, allowing to audience to have a deep understanding of the different characters, particularly the Crain children, through dedicating an episode to each child. That alone was a very important part of making this series as great as it is, because it allowed for the characters to be very well-realised and fleshed out. The character work is so deep, and so well written. Every single character in the show is done so well, and as a result of this, the series is much more emotionally impactful and investing. 

I particularly loved the characters Nell and Luke, they were a really interesting duo as they are twins in the series, and that relationship between them comes into play multiple times. At its core, The Haunting Of Hill House is a familial drama and an exploration of grief and trauma, and Flanagan expertly weaves elements of horror into it to create a very compelling story. The scares are incredibly well done, with none of the scares being cheap and undeserved. That's one thing that Flanagan does so well, not including lousy, cheap jump-scares. The scares are carefully crafted and specific to each character, most of the time relating to their individual trauma. The horror in this series feels real and grounded, and it is absolutely fantastic.

The Haunting Of Hill House's Episode 6; Two Storms

The Haunting Of Bly Manor

The Haunting Of Bly Manor follows Dani, an au pair, as she starts work at Bly Manor and takes care of two children, Miles and Flora. For this series, Flanagan crafts a gothic horror/ romance, and does it to perfection. Flanagan yet again takes a deep dive into his characters, with some characters getting an episode for themselves to further allow us to understand and feel for the character. The series also features very strong performances, particularly from T'Nia Miller, Victoria Pedretti and the young Amelie Bea Smith. Similar to Hill House, the horror is very much grounded, although slightly more supernatural than Hill House. Although it does deal with more supernatural elements, Flanagan of course does not resort to cheap jump scares. The horror is yet again very smart, and succeeds greatly. This series will not fail to send chills down your spine. 

For Bly Manor, Flanagan uses reverse dramatic irony to keep the audience captivated and in suspense. By revealing certain things that we have no idea what to make of, while certain characters do know what is going on, Flanagan keeps us in a constant state of confusion. When it is later revealed why he presents what he does, it makes it all the more shocking and interesting. The reverse dramatic irony was written beautifully for this series, and the direction during those scenes are amazing. Of course, besides the horror, there is a romance at the heart of this story, and it could not be any more heart-warming and wholesome, even though the romance is tragic. 

Rahul Kohli and T'Nia Miller in The Haunting Of Bly Manor

Midnight Mass

Midnight Mass is Mike Flanagan's latest Netflix project. In this project, Flanagan veers away from the grounded drama that he had presented in the past in favour for a religious thriller. I will not spoil anything since this is a spoiler-free post, so I will go further in-depth into Midnight Mass in a future analysis post. Although this series got off to a slow start (Episodes 1 and 2), it picks up incredibly well once episode 3 rolls around, and it NEVER loses your attention after that. Powerful performances are a must for these kinds of shows, and powerful performances are, of course, of abundance. Hamish Linklater, Samantha Sloyan and Rahul Kohli absolutely steal the show for me. 

Hamish Linklater shines in Midnight Mass

Conclusion 

Mike Flanagan has been making great horror for a very long time, but with these three series, he cements his title as a master of horror. I'm really glad that he's starting to get more recognition because of his Netflix projects, and I absolutely cannot wait to see what he has in store for us next.