Horror filmmaker Mike Flanagan doesn’t do things by halves. After bashing out a string of genuinely great scary movies (Oculus, Hush, Before I Wake, the underrated Ouija: Origin Of Evil and Gerald’s Game all arrived in the span of five years), he then went on to helm all 10 instalments of his absolutely brilliant The Haunting Of Hill House series for Netflix, and then followed that up with a lengthy, textured, ethereal film adaptation of Stephen King’s The Shining follow-up Doctor Sleep. And now, he’s going in on a new Netflix limited series which will once again see him direct every episode.
Today, Flanagan posted on Twitter to mark the first day of shooting on Midnight Mass – a seven-episode show that reunites him with plenty of his regular cast members, including wife Kate Siegel, Henry Thomas, and Annabeth Gish. The project is largely under wraps, but a brief synopsis reads as follows: “An isolated island community experiences miraculous events – and frightening omens – after the arrival of a charismatic, mysterious young priest.” Going by Flanagan’s previous work, expect ruminations on grief, loss, emotional trauma, and inter-generational family relationships, wrapped up in cleverly-handled (potentially supernatural) scares.
While Midnight Mass is currently shooting, Flanagan also has The Haunting Of Bly Manor ticking along in the background – the next run of his Haunting anthology series following Hill House. Based on legendary ghost story The Turn Of The Screw, The Haunting Of Bly Manor sees Hill House cast members including Siegel, Thomas, Oliver Jackson-Cohen and Victoria Pedretti return in new roles, and is expected to arrive on the streaming service some time later this year – the smart money would bet on it dropping near Halloween. While Flanagan has produced the whole series, he’s only written and directed episode one of this run – with the full season due to consist of nine instalments. But hey, come on – the man's been very busy.