The Fall of the House Usher: A TV Series Review - A Gripping Addition From Netflix's Horror Royalty

The Netflix Horror Machine

The Fall of the House of Usher is Netflix's latest offering from director Mike Flanagan. The show marks the sixth collaboration between the horror mastermind and streaming juggernaut. Previous titles you might recognize from his catalog include The Haunting of Hill House, The Haunting of Bly Manor, Midnight Mass, and Gerald’s Game.

Flanagan has established himself as the go-to director for crafting suspenseful and haunting stories that appeal to all horror fans. I could write an entire article solely on the works of Flanagan and his influence on the current horror landscape. His ability to constantly create quality content in such a short amount of time makes him one of the most impressive creatives working in Hollywood. 

Since 2016, Flanagan has directed ten horror projects, including five films and five TV shows. Though his newest entry may not be the spine-chilling experience one might expect, The Fall of the House of Usher is still a show that deserves attention even if it is less horror and more drama mystery. 

The show is unique as it takes inspiration from a multitude of works by Edgar Allan Poe. While it shares most of its inspiration with one of Poe’s short stories of the same name, the show is not a direct adaptation of any particular book or poem. Instead, it weaves together characters and plots from Poe's literary universe including the poems “The Raven” and “Annabel Lee,” and several short stories such as “The Premature Burial,” “Morella,” and “The Masque of the Red Death,” creating a narrative that feels both old fashioned and modern.

“Spoiler Warning”

One of my ultimate pet peeves when I watch a movie or show is when they give away too much in the trailer. It takes out all the fun of trying to guess what will happen during the movie or show. 

Several years ago when I wanted to be the next Roger Ebert, I went through a phase where I refused to watch the trailer of any film as it would completely ruin the viewing experience for me. Over the years, I have become a lot more lenient on watching trailers but there is still one thing that I consider a cardinal sin when I watch a new show or movie: when the opening credits deliberately spoil key plot points or scenes. 

The perfect example of this is the Mission: Impossible franchise. Every installment of that series features opening credits where we see important action scenes from the second and third act. I understand it is supposed to make me excited for the rest of the movie as the catchy Mission Impossible theme is playing while we watch Tom Cruise run for his life through the streets of a foreign city, but it leaves me repeating the same question over and over again. Why? Why does a film need to spoil scenes that audiences will literally watch in an hour? 

Unfortunately, The Fall of the House of Usher commits this very offense. Since it is featured in the opening credits, I feel it is not a spoiler to disclose the reveal that all the Usher children die. The show goes as far as to not only show how they meet their end through a series of newspaper articles, but also has the audacity to start at the funeral of all the children, which doubles down on this tactic before jumping back in time to show how it all happened.  

This upfront disclosure drains almost all of the suspense from the series, making it feel like a tedious procession of inevitable events building up to a conclusion we already know. All throughout the first half, I found myself wanting to skip ahead to when all the children were finally dead as there was no sense of suspense. Imagine the shock to someone not knowing that the Usher children die one by one. Each death would be more shocking than the last as the show kills off main character after main character. 

In Flanagan We Trust

To the show's credit, around the fourth episode, it takes an unexpected turn as the series begins to interweave multiple storylines from different time frames over the past 60 years. This change breathes new life into the narrative, offering a more complex and intriguing storyline. The way the House of Usher rose to power becomes a central mystery that compels you to keep watching. This back and forth between the Ushers in the present day and the past becomes the beating heart of the show. This creative decision casts a spotlight on the stars of The Fall of the House of Usher, as many characters are portrayed by two or more actors during different stages of their lives, and all excel in their roles. 

Familiar faces from Flanagan's previous Netflix projects, like Bruce Greenwood, Mary McDonell, and Henry Thomas, all shine as members of the Usher family. Another Flanagan regular, Carla Gugino, gives one of her best performances as the intentionally mysterious character named Verna. Additionally, Mark Hamill and Carl Lumbly’s performances as Arthur Pym (inspired by Poe’s only novel “The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket”) and Auguste Dupin (inspired by Poe’s short story “The Murders in the Rue Morgue”) add much needed depth to the ensemble. In fact, both Hamill as the family’s lawyer and Lumbly as the prosecutor against the Ushers are scene stealers whenever they are on screen. 

Another positive is the direction from Flanagan. The biggest compliment I can write about Flanagan is the way he decides when to reveal another piece of the puzzle of the greater story and when he plays coy on holding back that one piece of information the viewer has been trying to figure out. It is also a given at this point in his career that Flanagan is a seasoned professional at setting up death and despair. The deaths may not be a surprise, but the way Flanagan shapes these scenes in a drawn out, calculated way make each of them as memorable as possible. 

The Case Against the Ushers

For those expecting a horror series on par with Flanagan's previous works, The Fall of the House of Usher might disappoint. As I mentioned earlier, it lacks the truly terrifying scares that fans have come to expect from his productions. The script is not as engaging or well-written as previous works, resulting in a rather straightforward approach and conclusion. Perhaps the show is stronger if not compared to the rest of Flanagan's catalog, letting the show stand on its own. However, any true fan can not help but compare.

There are a few specific scenes that could have been left on the cutting room floor. For example, some scenes attempt to tackle social commentary but often come across as heavy-handed, like one featuring the Usher family being photographed with Donald Trump. This feels completely out of place in such a fictitious setting. There are several times when real life celebrities like the Kardashians and Clintons get name-dropped and each time this occurs, it took me right out of the show. 

Moreover, the predictability of the plot becomes evident midway through the series, and a few more twists and turns would have kept the audience more engaged. 

The Final Verdict

In the end, I would recommend The Fall of the House of Usher primarily for its acting prowess and sheer display of bonkers behavior from the Usher family as they start dying off one by one. There is a guilty pleasure of watching terrible people meet their demise in some of the worst ways imaginable. 

The overarching mystery surrounding the Usher family that lingers till the final moments of the show provides a satisfying pay off but can not quite deliver on all the promises set up in the first episode. However, there are enough redeeming factors to make The Fall of the House of Usher the kind of show to recommend when a friend comes to you with  nothing to watch and needs several hours to kill.