Mike Flanagan's "THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER"

Series Review by Dennis D. McDonald

Having enjoyed Flanagan’s DR. SLEEP and MIDNIGHT MASS I was looking forward to USHER despite how it sounded a bit like a spooky version of SUCCESSION.

Boy, was I wrong. USHER turns into one of the creepiest and most horrifying tales I’ve seen depicting human depravity and evil. It is well seasoned with healthy doses of death, blood, cruelty, supernatural weirdness, and Edgar Allan Poe.

There are few laughs. If you do pay attention, the words will occasionally bring a smile to your lips, especially if you are familiar with the works of Edgar Allan Poe and the images they conjure.

Casting in this series is nearly flawless. The members of the Usher family are universally cold, cruel, heartless, and nasty—deserving of their fates, you might say. Poor Lenore is wonderfully portrayed by Kyliegh Curran (who excelled in DR. SLEEP). A real standout is Mark Hamill who imbues his “Arthur Pym” family-fixer-lawyer character with an absolutely delicious sense of cold creepiness.

You also cannot avoid perceiving the series’ take on capitalism and greed. You may wish that you could say, after watching this series, “Oh, people aren’t really that evil!” Well, here is how patriarch Rodrick Rusher explains what you do if life hands you a lemon:

Review text copyright (c) 2023 by Dennis D. McDonald