Mike Flanagan's The Fall Of The House Of Usher Has Officially Begun Production
This steady routine of Mike Flanagan filling us with dread is, oddly enough, quite comforting. The filmmaker behind "The Haunting of Hill House" and "The Haunting of Bly Manor" has become a reliable source for anyone who likes their horror to pack an emotional punch. So far not one of his Netflix miniseries has failed to walk that line between eerie and empathetic. Last year he kinda swerved on us with "Midnight Mass," which, unlike the "Haunting" series, was a wholly original story. But that didn't keep the seven-episode saga from matching up to its predecessors.
While I certainly appreciate having time to take in the existential blow of "Midnight Mass," it's also a relief to know that the next projects from Flanagan are just around the corner. The writer/director has already wrapped production on his series "The Midnight Club," adapting the Christopher Pike novel of the same name. But thanks to the power of Twitter, we also know that filming has officially begun for "The Fall of the House of Usher." Flanagan commemorated the occasion with a simple "And we're off."
And we’re off. pic.twitter.com/UWT9mMPnMH
— Mike Flanagan (@flanaganfilm) January 31, 2022
Getting back to the director's literary roots, "The Fall of the House of Usher" takes its plot from the Edgar Allen Poe short story of the same name. One of the famed horror writer's wilder works, this one is known for themes of madness, incest, and the fragility of the human psyche. It's basically tailor-made for a Flanagan miniseries, with all kinds of psychological darkness and a crumbling family at the center of its narrative.
What We Know About The Fall of the House of Usher
Story details for the series have been scant and, based on his approach to "Hill House" and "Bly Manor," there's no reason to expect a direct adaptation. Flanagan no doubt has tricks up his sleeve for retelling the Poe classic, but a look at the story's plot will give us a few hints to go on. Poe's short story follows the Usher siblings, Roderick and Madeline, after they fall ill and invite a childhood friend to come to visit them for help. The unnamed narrator arrives to find the atmosphere itself is diseased with decaying trees, murky ponds and, of course, the manor itself is similarly spooky. Roderick believes the house is alive, which becomes a source of horror throughout the story.
While this sounds perfect for another slow-burn horrorfest, Flanagan has hinted at a seriously different tone for "The Fall of the House of Usher." On an episode of The Kingcast, he told co-host and /Film writer Eric Vespe that if "Hill House" and "Bly Manor" were carefully constructed symphonies, "Usher" is hard rock. On a similar note, he told Bloody-Disgusting:
"A lot of the stuff I do is a slow burn. The Fall of the House of Usher is a brush fire. It is an explosion. It is as aggressive and rock 'n roll and over the top and just violent and insane and horrific as anything I have ever done... by a lot. We're gonna pull all the all stars from the Intrepid group of actors and some great new faces and we're just gonna f***ing jam."
Uniting an all-star cast of familiar faces from previous Flanagan projects, the series stars Carla Gugino, Frank Langella, Mark Hamill, Kate Siegel, Rahul Kohli, Samantha Sloyan, Henry Thomas, Zach Gilford, Annabeth Gish, Mary McDonnell, Kyliegh Curran, Willa Fitzgerald, Carl Lumbly, T'Nia Miller, Katie Parker, Igby Rigney, Matt Biedel, Malcolm Goodwin, Michael Trucco, Paola Núñez, and the great Robert Longstreet.