Mike Flanagan Heads To The World Of Edgar Allan Poe With The Fall Of The House Of Usher Trailer
"What if 'Succession' but Edgar Allan Poe?" is a pretty damn fine pitch for a horror series if you ask me, especially when it's coming from Mike Flanagan. The modern horror maestro has been a practical machine for Netflix these last several years, churning out hit after hit like "Gerald's Game," "The Haunting of Hill House," and "The Haunting of Bly Manor." He's since secured a deal to develop projects for Amazon Studios, but before he leaves, he's gifted Netflix with one final offering. Titled "The Fall of the House of Usher," the show sees Flanagan turning his eye to the works of the father of Gothic horror fiction, Edgar Allan Poe, as filtered through the modern-day world of cutthroat corporate culture and familial dynasties. So, yeah, it's "Succession" with a whole lot more literal bloodshed.
Such is the vibe of the trailer for "The Fall of the House of Usher," which features Bruce Greenwood (who replaced Frank Langella after the latter was booted from the series upon being found liable in a sexual harassment investigation) as an aging patriarch not so much cut as firmly ripped from the same cloth as Logan Roy. The official synopsis reads as follows:
From Mike Flanagan, the creator of "The Haunting of Hill House" and "Midnight Mass," a wicked horror series based on the works of Edgar Allan Poe. Ruthless siblings Roderick and Madeline Usher have built 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.
You can watch the trailer for yourself below!
Watch the Fall of the House of Usher trailer
Much like "The Haunting of Hill House" and "Bly Manor," "The Fall of the House of Usher" is far from a cut-and-dry adaptation of the titular Poe story that most of us were required to read in high school (not that I'm complaining; Poe's original tale is a deliciously nasty piece of work). It also incorporates elements from across the writer's oeuvre, although the trailer wisely limits its focus to the references that people are most likely to be familiar with. Specifically, Poe's poem "The Raven" doesn't get a shout-out here so much as a co-author byline, between the multiple shots of ravens and Greenwood ominously chanting "Nevermore!" at the end.
Directed by Flanagan and his frequent collaborator Michael Fimognari, "The Fall of the House of Usher" features a shocking number of talented character actors, many of whom are now established members of Flanagan's acting troupe. Joining Greenwood are Carla Gugino, Mary McDonnell, Carl Lumbly, and Mark Hamill, as well as Michael Trucco, T'Nia Miller, Paola Nuñez, Henry Thomas, Kyleigh Curran, Samantha Sloyan, Rahul Kohli, Kate Siegel, Sauriyan Sapkota, Zach Gilford, Willa Fitzgerald, Katie Parker, Malcolm Goodwin, Crystal Balint, Aya Furukawa, Daniel Jun, Matt Biedel, Ruth Codd, Annabeth Gish, Igby Rigney, and Robert Longstreet. Kohli, in particular, seems to be having a ball playing the Roman Roy of the show's "Succession" riff, interrupting the trailer's rapid-fire montage of macabre and bloody imagery with a darkly hilarious rant about satin being "silk for poor people." Next month can't get here soon enough!
"The Fall of the House of Usher" premieres October 12, 2023, on Netflix.