Spooky season is almost upon us, and that can mean only one thing. No, not how excited we are to start ordering Pumpkin Spice lattes, tasty as they may be – it’s new Mike Flanagan time, people! Having scared up a storm with streaming offerings The Haunting Of Hill House, The Haunting Of Bly Manor, Midnight Mass, and The Midnight Club already (not to mention films like Doctor Sleep and Gerald’s Game), the maestro of the macabre is back back back with hotly anticipated Edgar Allan Poe adaptation The Fall Of The House Of Usher. Check out the chilling first trailer below:
Opening with a raven and climaxing with a grave repetition of the bird’s famous quote “Nevermore,” it’s safe to say that the psychological terror of Poe’s literature is a perfect match for Flanagan’s skillset. And the story being told here – of familial dysfunction, deep-rooted trauma, long held secrets, and restless spirits – is certainly well within the director’s wheelhouse. The plot, framed around a fireside confession, centres at first around siblings Roderick (Bruce Greenwood) and Madeline (Mary McDonnell) Usher, twins who’ve built an empire of wealth, privilege, and power from their business Fortunato Pharmaceuticals. However, the arrival of a quite literal ghost from the past, Carla Gugino’s shapeshifting Verna, who’s intent on picking off the Usher siblings one by one, threatens to instigate… well.. the fall of the house of Usher. Hey, that’s where the title comes from!
Spooky skull masks, corroding corpses, and Gugino glamorously gadding about as the physical embodiment of guilt and death await the Usher clan, whom her Verna charmingly describes as “a collection of stunted hearts.” Among the scythe-dodging Usher children are Frederick Usher (Henry Thomas), Tamerlane Usher (Samantha Sloyan), Victorine Lafourcade (T'Nia Miller), Napoleon "Leo" Usher (Rahul Kohli), Camille L'Espanaye (Kate Siegel), and Prospero "Perry" Usher (Sauriyan Sapkota). They’re joined for this grim gathering by Mark Hamill’s slick Goth looking no-nonsense attorney Arthur Pym. Forget “Nevermore”, we just plain want more.
The Fall Of The House Of Usher is streaming on Netflix from 12 October.