The new Netflix series arrives on October 12th, The Fall of the House of Usher Of Mike Flanagan And Michael Fimognariinspired by the works of Edgar Allan Poe. A diabolical horror film in 8 episodes starring the ruthless siblings Roderick and Madeline Usher, played respectively by Bruce Greenwood And Mary McDonnell. The two have transformed Fortunato Pharmaceuticals into an empire of wealth, privilege and power, but suddenly the heirs of their dynasty will begin to die, one by one. So a mysterious woman met by her brothers in her youth and involved in this horrible extermination will come into play, little by little the secrets of the past will come to light.
The plot
The first episode opens on the beautiful soundtrack of the song “another Brick in the Wall” of the Pink Floyd and quickly transports us to a funeral, that of old Roderick’s six children. They then alternate past flashes, Images of a disturbing woman, distressing masks, party And killings.
A church and the presence of ghosts from the first minutes immediately envelop the viewer in the right atmosphere. Shortly after, we see the protagonist in the company of a lawyer, August Dupin (played by Carl Lumbly), inside a disused and gloomy house. A black and a white, thefacing each otherwhich talk about their life and gods their skeletons. Here, Roderick, driven by an evil impulse that we will only understand later, decided to tell his story to the lawyer who put his company, Fortunato, on trial.
Therefore, through a long series of flashbacks, starting from 1953, the plot of the story comes to life which, as the episodes progress, reaches up to 2023. In each episode the death of each of the family members will be addressedwhich all take inspiration from respectively individual stories by Edgar Allan Poe, as shown by the titles that introduce each chapter of the TV series. The deaths of the protagonists leave the viewer doubtful about the causes of the deaths, are they really supernatural agents or is there a rational explanation? Each character, in fact, presents himself as very disturbed on a psychological level thus making us believe that most of the events that happen are actually visions of each of them.
We will only find out by making our way through these strange episodes.
Unstable and complex
A fundamental role will be played by a mysterious woman, Verna, who she seems to be the demon who holds the reins of the whole storya kind of Death angel. Played by Carla Gugino, the actress expresses herself in many different facets, wearing different clothes each time depending on the member of Usher she is dealing with. A disturbing and sensual smile, and a look full of mystery, however, remain the fixed points that characterize her, earning her a very high score among other performers.
Bruce Greenwood also stands out, deceiving the viewer with his good air and his warm and deep voice, actually hiding a negatively complex character until the end under the influence of his sister, with whom he seems to have almost a love relationship morbid. All very good actors however in interpreting and characterizing a psychologically unstable family with crazy obsessions. Drugs, medicines, sex and diseases are lived to excess, showing themselves as a contemporary backdrop for the adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe’s stories to today.
A very aesthetic work
There are many monologues present within the story. The series is in fact a succession of long, intense and fairy-tale monologues, with a philosophical spark, which manage to give a lot of mystery to the series. Moving towards the end this poetic-evocative style increases more and more, offering many artistic paintings (not only with words but also with photography) at times with glossy and novelistic colors.
There are many splatter and dreamlike representations, which in addition to outlining the genre, give a glimpse of the brilliant mind of the director and screenwriters. Each death is presented in a very dramatic and aesthetic way and this is certainly great to see on screen, but, at the same time, it creates a sort of distance.
The arrival of the “But”…
There is a clear distance with the characters and the story: we empathize little and don’t get very emotional. The idea of the adaptation and the product itself are very interesting and everything is certainly well constructed, but what shines through is how if you never wanted to go all the way in conclusion to things and emotions, with the exception of the last episodes, where we finally manage to grasp the weaknesses of the two brothers and their human depth. It is certainly a directorial choice to present the story as an unharmed picture that gradually loses its pieces, however, being a horror film, it would definitely have been much stronger to show certain details, which are often skipped, exposing the before and after without giving much attention to the while. It’s an aspect that actually presents itself more in the first episodes and less in the last ones, a choice probably made to proceed with more caution, but not all viewers are willing to wait if there isn’t a strong enough suspense mechanism.
What is certain is that this The Fall of the House of Usher offers many food for thought and for horror lovers it is certainly a curious product.
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