The Haunting of Hill House - The Haunting of Hill House

I avoided this series for a long time because Mike Flanagan's work doesn't really suit me, but I gave it a chance, and unfortunately, my skepticism towards was confirmed. It took me less than three weeks to watch it, while I usually manage to watch series in two days. You’ll probably crucify me, as I know how much people love this series, but I didn't find anything positive in it that would entertain me. On the contrary, I have never been annoyed by so many things as here. The series is primarily a drama, and the horror genre plays a secondary role, which is my first criticism. I'm not going to wait two episodes for a jump-scare. The characters are unlikeable and annoying. No one is funny, smart, or entertaining. All the characters seemed interchangeable, and I didn't care about their fate at all. The intertwining of the past with the present didn't sit well with me, as the atmosphere of the mansion was quite good, and I liked the setting, but when that atmosphere is suddenly replaced with family drama (do we really have to deal with accounting in a horror??) and a funeral that would last five minutes elsewhere is stretched to an incredible two episodes, it was the final nail in the coffin for me. I can praise the ghosts – the lady with the crooked neck and the man with the hat could easily fit into The Conjuring universe – but in those ten hours, they were shown less than three times, and that is pitifully little. It is funny that the story ends where it should have started. So, if the whole series had taken place in the mansion, with the ghosts wreaking havoc there for a full ten hours, I would have been satisfied, but the director chose the drama genre and relied on emotions, and that's not what I seek. The sleep-inducing pace, where not much happens in an episode, didn't really help me with watching. I will avoid the second season like the devil avoids crosses. I believe that women like this series because of the drama, the emotions, and children, but for me, it was a chore. Story***, Action>No, Humor>No, Violence>No, Entertainment**, Music***, Visuals****, Atmosphere***, Tension**. 4/10. (28/12/2020)

Since "a ghost can be a memory", as one character says, this series is 100% ghostly. It's also such a throwback to the good horror days, with characters who, while not always shying away from cliché, were able to work it so cleverly that no one minded. I have to admire Mike Flanagan for the great, honestly old-fashioned atmosphere he was able to create, and for the way he tells it at the same time. The story is cleverly constructed, each episode and scene another stroke for the overall picture, the characters are perfectly written and acted to a tee – I couldn't help but think of Six Feet Under. And then there are the ghosts... the ghosts... they are definitely ghosts! The bowler-hatted long man quickly ranked among the best I've ever seen, not to mention the lady with the bent neck (brilliantly punctuated in episode five). The way they appear beautifully defies everything we've been served in horror films of recent years – no cheap boo and noise, just a chilling revelation of something that's suddenly there... and deal with it. I was really pleased with everything, and since Flanagan made it clear, especially in the final episodes, that he was very fond of Kubrick's The Shining, I'm convinced that Doctor Sleep is in good hands. (04/11/2019)

J’ai beaucoup aimé les décors soignés, la distribution judicieuse et tout le renversement de l’histoire originale de La Maison du diable (The Haunting) dans une direction entièrement différente. Je peux m’imaginer Mike Flanagan approcher les gens de Netflix et dire : « Je vous apporte un super thème pour une minisérie en trois parties ». Et Netflix de répondre : « Effectivement, le thème est super, mais vous allez nous en sortir dix épisodes ». Et c’est là que le bât blesse : The Haunting of Hill House est si pauvre en action que pour pouvoir tenir le coup jusqu’à dix épisodes, il a fallu soutenir l’ensemble avec toutes sortes d’ajouts, notamment cette multitude de flashbacks clichés. Et je dois dire qu’après l’apothéose que constitue l’épisode 5 (dans lequel les connaisseurs sont gâtés avec le choix de Russ Tamblyn), j’ai eu du mal à continuer jusqu’au bout. Quand vous regardez une série qui se déroule dans un laps de temps très court, dont vous connaissez le dénouement dès le début et dans laquelle vous attendez juste quelques anecdotes et motivations des personnages ainsi qu’une scène effrayante ci et là, le format paraît alors impossiblement étendu. Et quand, après avoir sacrifié cinq longues heures de votre temps, vous arrivez enfin à ce final qui va vous en mettre plein la vue, voilà qu’on vous envoie du mélo pour vous faire pleurer à chaudes larmes. Ça se laisse regarder, mais c’est si long ! (01/02/2021)

I rarely happen to be so pleasantly surprised by a horror series. Sure, it wasn’t strictly a horror story, and much of its success was due to the family drama, but that makes no difference to me. The whole thing had a great atmosphere, well-managed suspense, interesting characters and, most importantly, an engagingly written story. I enjoyed it very much. (06/12/2020)

I would have liked the American series The Haunting of Hill House to be a bit shorter and for the plot to be denser. Six episodes would have been fine. Ten is a bit much, there's so much going on that the pace suddenly gets sloppy and the beginning may not grab you, and the middle may bore you. But then comes the finale and a great build-up where it becomes clear how well-written the characters actually are. (10/08/2019)