The Haunting of Hill House - TV's first great horror series - Friday, Oct 12 on Netflix

Dream Machine · Oct 24, 2018

It was a really bad choice to open the first episode with Steven, the worst actor in the main cast, and that black lady, possibly the worst actor in the entire series, having a long, stilted conversation with each other. I can't blame people for being turned off.

Forsaken82 said:
I don't think they need to go the anthology route. if anything, season 2 can focus more on the actual books story in which Dr Montague (Nell's Shrink in the show) tries to debunk Steven's book, rents hill house out and invites fellow patients who have had so called paranormal experiences.

Would probably end up being less Drama focused though which could be a negative.

Kind of unfortunate that they took all of the names, scenes, character traits, and plot elements and mad libbed them around the entire show. That hypothetical season 2 would be a retelling of the novel without any of the content, basically. The really unfortunate part is that most of the things that they took out of context from the novel and put into the show (names, cup of stars, etc) didn't really add to the show, and could have just been new content. They pretty much kneecapped their ability to do an adaptation of the novel without it feeling like a weird retread. Eleanor from the novel is a great character, but everything about her was chopped into pieces and distributed evenly throughout the show.

They can take the basic setup of people being there to record paranormal phenomena, but everything else would have to be new. i guess they could focus more on the dreamy atmosphere of the novel and the way people seem to go in and out of different "possessions" affecting their mood in subtle ways.

Dream Machine · Oct 24, 2018

Gunslinger said:
This show is not scary at all at least not on the level of exorcist but it's a really good horror TV show. It feels like a Steven king show/movie/book for me. Unless it is based on a Steven king book. 8/10. Best TV horror made. Shits on AHS.

It's based on the Shirley Jackson novel. But as I said earlier, the show barely resembles it, and feels more like Stephen King wrote his version of the novel and then they adapted that.

kpaadet · Oct 24, 2018

Had hoped the show was scarier than what it turned out to be, most of the horror were lazy jump scares. But I very much enjoyed it once I realized it should be seen as a drama first and horror second.

Deleted member 32822 · Oct 24, 2018

EdibleKnife said:
In the first few episodes and enjoying it so far. Can't help but laugh at how they worked in both Daredevil and Devilman into the dialogue. I see you Netflix.

I was rolling on the floor when that happened. Very clever of them!

Musha_Soturi · Oct 24, 2018

Ok finally watched the final episode.

I wasn't prepared for that.

I was expecting some full on scary ass shit. I wasn't expecting to be moved and tear up.

I really felt like I got to know the characters. It wasn't really a horror show. It was clever and at points scary but mostly heartfelt and moving. It didn't just stick to one genre and I liked that. Satisfied and thankfully not scared to death so I should sleep well in my Haunted hotel tonight.

DeathPeak · Oct 24, 2018

I don't understand the distaste for the ending at all. I thought it was a satisfactory close to the story. Only thing that didn't really fit was the song that plays.

Deleted member 1656 · Oct 24, 2018

DeathPeak said:
I don't understand the distaste for the ending at all. I thought it was a satisfactory close to the story. Only thing that didn't really fit was the song that plays.

My problem at large is the execution of the ending, not so much its content.

I did think the fantasy scenarios each character had with a scary gross thing at the end were silly, obvious, and unnecessary for the most part. Luke's was the only one that feels really important to the story to me. Although so much of it is the editing, which is a problem I have with the show as a whole, not just the ending, which I criticized earlier in the context of jumpscares. The show just shows too damn much at points. If things were edited just a little bit differently my feelings about the show would change drastically. Small changes and cutting some scenes including and similar to those flashback/forward dreams would make it a lot less hokey to me.

There a lot of shots and sounds I just don't think served a great purpose.

The largest example I can give is the montage at the end of episode 5, where it flashes back to show each time how Nell was actually the Bent Neck Lady. The twist reveal was so masterful and understandable without that. It was just fancy cutting and clumsy telegraphing for idiots wouldn't get it beforehand. It was just the show, its makers, and its editors showing off. It was pointless. And there's a lot of the same kind of bullshit in the concluding episodes.

Forsaken82 · Oct 24, 2018

Kinggroin said:
Ah, yeah, pass. Everything I hear of it makes it sound like the perfect show for people who actually aren't horror fans, and an ok show for those who are.

I love horror and think it's one of if not THE best shows on Netflix.

If you are looking for something like The Conjuring in TV form, than sure, this will disappoint you. It's really not a horror show so much as it is a family drama centered around a haunted house.

Dream Machine said:
It was a really bad choice to open the first episode with Steven, the worst actor in the main cast, and that black lady, possibly the worst actor in the entire series, having a long, stilted conversation with each other. I can't blame people for being turned off.

Kind of unfortunate that they took all of the names, scenes, character traits, and plot elements and mad libbed them around the entire show. That hypothetical season 2 would be a retelling of the novel without any of the content, basically. The really unfortunate part is that most of the things that they took out of context from the novel and put into the show (names, cup of stars, etc) didn't really add to the show, and could have just been new content. They pretty much kneecapped their ability to do an adaptation of the novel without it feeling like a weird retread. Eleanor from the novel is a great character, but everything about her was chopped into pieces and distributed evenly throughout the show.

They can take the basic setup of people being there to record paranormal phenomena, but everything else would have to be new. i guess they could focus more on the dreamy atmosphere of the novel and the way people seem to go in and out of different "possessions" affecting their mood in subtle ways.

Well sure, I wouldn't expect them to make a 1:1 adaption at this point, but yeah, this is pretty much where I could see them going, and it would likely feel more like a horror story than season 1's focus on drama.

J-Wood · Oct 24, 2018

I just finished episode 5 and said oh my god out loud.

Like, holy. Fucking. Shit.

Lynchian Anomaly · Oct 24, 2018

Just watched the first episode there. Really enjoyed it. The cast seems really good and the camera work is stellar. I love all the ghosts hidden in the background of shots. That particular kind of scare freaks me out.

I'm alone in my flat now am spooked heavily.

-Tetsuo- · Oct 24, 2018

Kinggroin said:
Is this scary? Or more along the lines of Poltergeist.

Nope

Imran · Oct 25, 2018

The more I think about it, the more I feel like the ending was framed incorrectly, and that change in perspective basically makes it unsatisfying.

The moral of the story is the Crains lost. Everyone lost. People lost. The house won. It got to feed on as many people as it could and let a few kids get away but Mrs. Dudley dying there was just a message that no one ever really escapes the house. It used the mother to kill Abigail to trap Mrs. Dudley there, as it had been trying to do since her first daughter's death.

The problem is that the ending frames this as being about bonds and love and that the father, mother, and nellie were happy to be stuck there. It tried to frame malevolence as good, which I guess makes sense from the perspective of the survivors, but the sappy music and voiceover makes it seem like a positive thing.

HiLife · Oct 25, 2018

The ending of ep5...well I didn't expect that lol.

laminated · Oct 25, 2018

Episode 6 is hilarious. Shirley's mannerisms and facial expressions crack me up. The actress is great. And the family awkwardness is so naturally funny. So far I love this show.

hendersonhank · Oct 25, 2018

Imran said:
The more I think about it, the more I feel like the ending was framed incorrectly, and that change in perspective basically makes it unsatisfying.

The moral of the story is the Crains lost. Everyone lost. People lost. The house won. It got to feed on as many people as it could and let a few kids get away but Mrs. Dudley dying there was just a message that no one ever really escapes the house. It used the mother to kill Abigail to trap Mrs. Dudley there, as it had been trying to do since her first daughter's death.

The problem is that the ending frames this as being about bonds and love and that the father, mother, and nellie were happy to be stuck there. It tried to frame malevolence as good, which I guess makes sense from the perspective of the survivors, but the sappy music and voiceover makes it seem like a positive thing.

One thing to keep in mind is that the ending framing is from Steven's perspective, who sounds like he is writing another book. So he's not necessarily a reliable narrator. He might be describing it as he wishes it were. When the red room door closed on Olivia, Hugh, and Nell, Nell looked horrified and Olivia stared past Hugh at Steven in a psycho way, like "we'll get you yet".

WrenchNinja · Oct 25, 2018

RumbleHumble said:
https://twitter.com/flanaganfilm/status/1055096306648133632

Don't know if it's been posted yet, but, according to Flanagan, any Season 2 of Haunting of Hill House won't be about the Crain family again. He says they've been through enough.

That's good. This works well as a self contained story. It wouldn't be satisfying seeing what's left of the family be dragged back into this horror.

I wonder what they could do though. The Hills owned the house for a long time so I don't know if you could do something further in the past. And it's unlikely you could do something in the near future since Steven isn't going to sell the house. Maybe something in a different continuity.

BlackFyre · Oct 25, 2018

hendersonhank said:
One thing to keep in mind is that the ending framing is from Steven's perspective, who sounds like he is writing another book. So he's not necessarily a reliable narrator. He might be describing it as he wishes it were. When the red room door closed on Olivia, Hugh, and Nell, Nell looked horrified and Olivia stared past Hugh at Steven in a psycho way, like "we'll get you yet".

I agree. He saw what he wanted to see. His character has been setup as unreliable the entire show. No reason to believe he wouldn t be embellishing it.

BlackFyre · Oct 25, 2018

Dream Machine said:
It was a really bad choice to open the first episode with Steven, the worst actor in the main cast, and that black lady, possibly the worst actor in the entire series, having a long, stilted conversation with each other. I can't blame people for being .

The first episode is the worst episode and I can see people being turned off.

Is that black lady a Paramount exec or something? She was jarringly bad! Bad acting just feels natural.

Same goes for Michael Huisman. He's best enjoyed in short bursts when He's next to another terrible actor (like Emilia Clarke Game of Thrones) but he really stood out as the worst actor of the family - especially in episode 6.

Deleted member 48205 · Oct 25, 2018

I watched the first 2 episodes. I'm impressed! I didn't find it scary but i'm digging the atmosphere so far.

BlackFyre · Oct 25, 2018

WrenchNinja said:
That's good. This works well as a self contained story. It wouldn't be satisfying seeing what's left of the family be dragged back into this horror.

I wonder what they could do though. The Hills owned the house for a long time so I don't know if you could do something further in the past. And it's unlikely you could do something in the near future since Steven isn't going to sell the house. Maybe something in a different continuity.

I would love to see Steven as an old man unable to keep payments and lose the House. Bank puts it on the market and another family buys it.

Steven, like a raving lunatic tries to get the family out of the house but then is drawn to the house by his 3 family members who reside there. I don't know. I'm not a writer. Lol

andycapps · Oct 25, 2018

WrenchNinja said:
That's good. This works well as a self contained story. It wouldn't be satisfying seeing what's left of the family be dragged back into this horror.

I wonder what they could do though. The Hills owned the house for a long time so I don't know if you could do something further in the past. And it's unlikely you could do something in the near future since Steven isn't going to sell the house. Maybe something in a different continuity.

Could be a prequel covering previous inhabitants, or something could happen to the responsible party where the property is on the market and someone buys it at auction.

Kyuur · Oct 25, 2018

Thought the ending was fine but thought they were going to go somewhere far darker with:

Abigail and the reason the dad took 3 hours to call the police. I thought perhaps he decided to hide the body so no one would ever find it and tarnish his wife's reputation. They set up the staff remaining at the house in the first episode or so so it doesn't bother me.

Also RIP Abigail, the true tragedy of the show.

rjinaz · Oct 25, 2018

andycapps said:
Idk, Patrick Klepek is a big horror fan and likes it a lot. Guess it depends on what you're expecting from horror. That covers a pretty wide range of content.

Same with Stephen King. He loved it.

If death (bodies, funerals), and ghosts scare you, and the vulnerability of young children, this will be scary to you, or at least it should be, but, scary is completely subjective. It's not gory or brutal, and it's not really going out of its way to scare you, that's not really the point.

OnanieBomb · Oct 25, 2018

Yeesh, that second episode was rough. The way they handle jumping between characters and timelines continues to be sloppy, the scares are too predictable.

CesareNorrez · Oct 25, 2018

I didn't have a problem with any acting. It was clearly heightened, and once you adjust to that, which takes 1 episode, it felt like everyone did a good job.

Fallout-NL · Oct 25, 2018

Ending was weak, but overall I really enjoyed it. Highlight being the bent-neck-lady payoff. That was pretty fucking horrible.

Disgraced said:
The largest example I can give is the montage at the end of episode 5, where it flashes back to show each time how Nell was actually the Bent Neck Lady. The twist reveal was so masterful and understandable without that. It was just fancy cutting and clumsy telegraphing for idiots wouldn't get it beforehand. It was just the show, its makers, and its editors showing off. It was pointless. And there's a lot of the same kind of bullshit in the concluding episodes.

Strongly disagree. The way it was done is what drove home the horror of it. I thought it was inventive, not just clumsy explanation.

andycapps · Oct 25, 2018

Fallout-NL said:
Strongly disagree. The way it was done is what drove home the horror of it. I thought it was inventive, not just clumsy explanation.

Agreed. Showing the different appearances drove home how tragic the outcome was, IMO. That episode was just brutal, not gory or violent, but I just felt horrible for the character. Kind of the same for Luke.

bill crystals · Oct 25, 2018

andycapps said:
Agreed. Showing the different appearances drove home how tragic the outcome was, IMO. That episode was just brutal, not gory or violent, but I just felt horrible for the character. Kind of the same for Luke.

Meh, I thought it was corny as fuck, and kind of insulting to the viewer. "HEY DID YOU PICK UP WHAT WE'RE DOING HERE? Just in case here it is laid out EXPLICITLY for you. More is more is what everyone always says, isn't it?"

Would've been a much stronger reveal if it was done with 100% more subtlety. That was a real "Oh right this is a TV show made for TV audiences" moment for me.

Lynchian Anomaly · Oct 25, 2018

Ahhhhh unmarked spoilers I'm bailing.

meow · Oct 25, 2018

I have a small question about episode 5 (which I just watched last night)

Don't we see Shirley wake up and say "Nellie's in the red room"? But then in episode 5 I didn't see Nell actually go into the red room. The landing at the top of the spiral staircase isn't the red room. I only remember seeing that door once so far and it wasn't here.

Or is the answer is in a different episode? (don't tell me which if so)

JakeD · Oct 25, 2018

rjinaz said:
Same with Stephen King. He loved it.

If death (bodies, funerals), and ghosts scare you, and the vulnerability of young children, this will be scary to you, or at least it should be, but, scary is completely subjective. It's not gory or brutal, and it's not really going out of its way to scare you, that's not really the point.

im a pretty big horror fan and this show scared the hell out of me. then again i've always found the more realistic, corpse-like ghosts way more scary than big gory monsters or weird stuff like

luke's floating tall man.

thats obviously subjective, but i am a little surprised by the people saying it's not scary at all

EdibleKnife · Oct 25, 2018

Holy Christ the

tall ghost in episode 4 is fucking frightening.

If I saw that shit I'd do drugs too.

honavery · Oct 25, 2018

Finished this up last night, and thought it was great. As others have mentioned the highlight for me were episodes 4-6. And I had a few issues with the final episode.

But overall I thought it was a scary, moving, and genuinely sad show. I thought the entire show had this foreboding ambiance about it, a feeling of dread just permeates the entire show which I found really creepy.

It reminded me a lot of Six Feet Under and LOST actually.

The house and the rippling effect this trauma had on the rest of their lives was just really sad to me. And terrifying in it's own way how trauma can do that. I didn't think there were too many jump scares, but there was a pretty effective one in episode 8. And as others have said, the tall man in episode 4 was very scary to me.
The shows display of grief was also really sad to me as well. Theo's speech in episode 8 about what she felt when she touched Nell was horrifying on a deep level to me, about how she just felt...nothing, and how upsetting that was. Really speaks to the fear of death itself.

Soliloquy of a Dogge · Oct 25, 2018

honavery said:
It reminded me a lot of Six Feet Under and LOST actually.

Interesting you mention SFU here. It ranks as my favorite TV series of all time right up there with The Wire, Band of Brothers and Breaking Bad.

The one thing that struck me was the family dynamics between the Crain's and their interpersonal dynamics really reminded me of the Fisher family. While some may say the acting was stilted or poor, it came off as authentic, compelling and executed to perfection for me. Characters that were representative of most family dynamics, especially considering their circumstances and shared experience.

SweetVermouth · Oct 25, 2018

The car jump scare got me. And I can mention it exist to people who haven't seen it yet because there are lots of scenes in cars so it'll come unexpected anyway.

So I finished the show too and it was alright, I didn't particularly like the last episode though.

I expected the climax in the red room to be way different and I also thought what happened in that room in the past was not as shocking as it was supposed to be. I think episode 6 or 7? ends right when young Crain opens the red door and of course they pick up the plot somewhere else and just teased until the finale.

Dream Machine · Oct 25, 2018

Disgraced said:
My problem at large is the execution of the ending, not so much its content.

I did think the fantasy scenarios each character had with a scary gross thing at the end were silly, obvious, and unnecessary for the most part. Luke's was the only one that feels really important to the story to me. Although so much of it is the editing, which is a problem I have with the show as a whole, not just the ending, which I criticized earlier in the context of jumpscares. The show just shows too damn much at points. If things were edited just a little bit differently my feelings about the show would change drastically. Small changes and cutting some scenes including and similar to those flashback/forward dreams would make it a lot less hokey to me.

There a lot of shots and sounds I just don't think served a great purpose.

The largest example I can give is the montage at the end of episode 5, where it flashes back to show each time how Nell was actually the Bent Neck Lady. The twist reveal was so masterful and understandable without that. It was just fancy cutting and clumsy telegraphing for idiots wouldn't get it beforehand. It was just the show, its makers, and its editors showing off. It was pointless. And there's a lot of the same kind of bullshit in the concluding episodes.

The editing of that bent neck lady reveal was a little too flashy for me, but something like that was necessary

. It could have easily just read as the ghost of another woman who hanged herself in the house tricking Nell into doing the same without something like that. I would have preferred something more practical and less CG falling through the floor, but it served a purpose. Some might say the mystery of us having to wonder whether or not that figure was Nell the whole time would have been a better choice, but they clearly wanted to go for the tragedy of the situation rather than leave questions about it. Both are valid creative choices, but their execution could have used more subtlety.

SweetVermouth said:
The car jump scare got me. And I can mention it exist to people who haven't seen it yet because there are lots of scenes in cars so it'll come unexpected anyway.

So I finished the show too and it was alright, I didn't particularly like the last episode though.

I expected the climax in the red room to be way different and I also thought what happened in that room in the past was not as shocking as it was supposed to be. I think episode 6 or 7? ends right when young Crain opens the red door and of course they pick up the plot somewhere else and just teased until the finale.

Can you remind me of which episode has the car jump scare? People keep mentioning it and I can't remember it.

SweetVermouth · Oct 25, 2018

Dream Machine said:
Can you remind me of which episode has the car jump scare?

It's when

Theo and Shirley drive to the Hill House. Episode 8 if I remember correctly.

Dream Machine · Oct 25, 2018

SweetVermouth said:
It's when

Theo and Shirley drive to the Hill House. Episode 8 if I remember correctly.

Oh, of course. When I couldn't remember it, I was thinking I had somehow missed a jump scare, but that one was hard to miss, haha

Thanks

Musha_Soturi · Oct 25, 2018

bill crystals said:
Would've been a much stronger reveal if it was done with 100% more subtlety. That was a real "Oh right this is a TV show made for TV audiences" moment for me.

As opposed to what? A theatre production made for theatre goers? News flash, it is a tv show. Made for people who, guess what, watch tv. Don't know what point you were trying to make here.

bill crystals · Oct 25, 2018

Musha_Soturi said:
As opposed to what? A theatre production made for theatre goers? News flash, it is a tv show. Made for people who, guess what, watch tv. Don't know what point you were trying to make here.

That the medium of TV adds constraints on the product that limit its potential.

andycapps · Oct 25, 2018

meow said:
I have a small question about episode 5 (which I just watched last night)

Don't we see Shirley wake up and say "Nellie's in the red room"? But then in episode 5 I didn't see Nell actually go into the red room. The landing at the top of the spiral staircase isn't the red room. I only remember seeing that door once so far and it wasn't here.

Or is the answer is in a different episode? (don't tell me which if so)

Interesting. I'd have to rewatch this bit to see what you mean. But it's possible that the house doesn't logically make sense and that things move around from the perspective of those experiencing it. I remember watching a long YouTube video about the dimensions of the hotel in The Shining and how parts of the hotel shouldn't exist logically and how that level of dissonance, basically, could get into our subconscious and cause more uneasiness. I don't know if this goes to that level but it's an idea.

Deleted member 1656 · Oct 25, 2018

Dream Machine said:
The editing of that bent neck lady reveal was a little too flashy for me, but something like that was necessary

. It could have easily just read as the ghost of another woman who hanged herself in the house tricking Nell into doing the same without something like that. I would have preferred something more practical and less CG falling through the floor, but it served a purpose. Some might say the mystery of us having to wonder whether or not that figure was Nell the whole time would have been a better choice, but they clearly wanted to go for the tragedy of the situation rather than leave questions about it. Both are valid creative choices, but their execution could have used more subtlety.

Why does it matter if it was another spirit or a future self of Nell if the influence of the house is ultimately what led to her death? What specifically makes the situation more tragic because the show is extremely explicit that it was a future self? The story is the same. The first fall when she appears in front of past Nell at the vending machine I would consider leaving in for telegraphing to an audience. But the falling montage after that is just so gratuitous imo.

Really though, I don't think any of the episode past the part where she first hangs herself is necessary, especially since she shows up in later episodes as an illuminated Bent Neck Lady to her family for anyone who wouldn't get it by the redone ending of EP5 I'm suggesting.

Another really stupid, needless part of episode 5 is when it shows Nell dancing with herself in the dilapidated version of the house. That was so corny, c'mon! Ofc nothing happening like that in the fucking house was "real." It was obviously all an illusion created to entrance and lure Nell, like it did to them in the past and again when the rest of them later returned. I did not need to see that. That's the kind of shot you do often for its comedic value. And it was funny and not at all scary to me to see Nell spinning and smiling around the house with an invisible being.

marrec · Oct 25, 2018

DeathPeak said:
I don't understand the distaste for the ending at all. I thought it was a satisfactory close to the story. Only thing that didn't really fit was the song that plays.

I suppose it was satisfactory... but I say that word spitefully because it could have been good instead of satisfactory.

Just, tonally completely different and a poor way to try and wrap everything up in a single, albeit long, episode.

Disgraced said:
It turns out they must be pulling from the same source material. I just checked Anatomy's readme file, and it straight up includes a dedication to "Mrs. Shirley Jackson."

Hella cool. So Anatomy is the best adaptation of Haunting of Hill House then.

brotherbean · Oct 25, 2018

Finished it last night, loved it. Really creepy, atmospheric and deeply unsettling overall. Planning a re-watch, I have a feeling there are a lot of things I missed; it just feels like a very layered show with some subtleties that might not get picked up by unperceptive viewers on the first watch. One in particular:

I totally missed out on what it was that Steven saw on the last night when he was supposed to have his eyes closed. Can anyone oblige? Something to do with the dad lying dead at the top of the spiral staircase but my mind hasn't been able to compartmentalize it yet

I also love the above take on the last little bit where:

The dad is welcomed into the red room by a terrified looking Nell and an absolutely delirious looking Olivia. God Carla Gugino nailed the crazy expressions in this one. I don't know if that was one of those aforementioned subtleties or not, but the way she was staring at Steven was absolutely horrifying

Dream Machine · Oct 25, 2018

Disgraced said:
Why does it matter if it was another spirit or a future self of Nell if the influence of the house is ultimately what led to her death? What specifically makes the situation more tragic because the show is extremely explicit that it was a future self? The story is the same. The first fall when she appears in front of past Nell at the vending machine I would consider leaving in for telegraphing to an audience. But the falling montage after that is just so gratuitous imo.

Really though, I don't think any of the episode past the part where she first hangs herself is necessary, especially since she shows up in later episodes as an illuminated Bent Neck Lady to her family for anyone who wouldn't get it by the redone ending of EP5 I'm suggesting.

Another really stupid, needless part of episode 5 is when it shows Nell dancing with herself in the dilapidated version of the house. That was so corny, c'mon! Ofc nothing happening like that in the fucking house was "real." It was obviously all an illusion created to entrance and lure Nell, like it did to them in the past and again when the rest of them later returned. I did not need to see that. That's the kind of shot you do often for its comedic value. And it was funny and not at all scary to me to see Nell spinning and smiling around the house with an invisible being.

Because it is revealed that every time Nell saw and was scared of the bent neck lady throughout her life, the person who was looking back at her was herself, in despair, reflecting on her past in her final dying moment. It's more tragic because it shows that Nell never had a chance at life, because she was literally being haunted by her own inevitable death for her entire life. If it were just another spirit of the house, it would not have the same fatalistic tone. It would have been an illusion, a temptation that she could have resisted. In reality, there was nothing Nell could have done from the beginning, and that's tragic.

It’s Reyn Time! · Oct 25, 2018

brotherbean said:
Finished it last night, loved it. Really creepy, atmospheric and deeply unsettling overall. Planning a re-watch, I have a feeling there are a lot of things I missed; it just feels like a very layered show with some subtleties that might not get picked up by unperceptive viewers on the first watch. One in particular:

I totally missed out on what it was that Steven saw on the last night when he was supposed to have his eyes closed. Can anyone oblige? Something to do with the dad lying dead at the top of the spiral staircase but my mind hasn't been able to compartmentalize it yet

I also love the above take on the last little bit where:

The dad is welcomed into the red room by a terrified looking Nell and an absolutely delirious looking Olivia. God Carla Gugino nailed the crazy expressions in this one. I don't know if that was one of those aforementioned subtleties or not, but the way she was staring at Steven was absolutely horrifying

As they were all leaving the red room/leaving the house in the present Steven spotted his dad's body on the floor. He didn't say anything until everyone else had left, then asked his dad what he saw. It wasn't anything to do with what he saw as a kid.

Deleted member 1656 · Oct 25, 2018

Dream Machine said:
Because it is revealed that every time Nell saw and was scared of the bent neck lady throughout her life, the person who was looking back at her was herself, in despair, reflecting on her past in her final dying moment. It's more tragic because it shows that Nell never had a chance at life, because she was literally being haunted by her own inevitable death for her entire life. If it were just another spirit of the house, it would not have the same fatalistic tone. It would have been an illusion, a temptation that she could have resisted. In reality, there was nothing Nell could have done from the beginning, and that's tragic.

Hey, that's good reasoning, man. My perspective is that people are all products of their environments to some extent, and that without her being so, so explicitly predestined her fate was sealed by being in that house for the time she did anyway. It's the same tragedy to me either way; the haunting of either spirit means the same thing to me. Regardless, it's once again not this specific content that upsets me. It's the execution. That montage. Didn't need it. Gonna need to agree to disagree on that.

meow · Oct 25, 2018

andycapps said:
Interesting. I'd have to rewatch this bit to see what you mean. But it's possible that the house doesn't logically make sense and that things move around from the perspective of those experiencing it. I remember watching a long YouTube video about the dimensions of the hotel in The Shining and how parts of the hotel shouldn't exist logically and how that level of dissonance, basically, could get into our subconscious and cause more uneasiness. I don't know if this goes to that level but it's an idea.

At the very beginning of episode 2 Shirley wakes up and says "Nellie's in the red room". And if I remember correctly, the red room is that red door that young Nellie/Shirley couldn't find the key too, correct? In episode 1, they run up the spiral staircase, which leads into the hallway and the door is at the end of the hallway. But Nell only gets to the top of the spiral staircase before the house/ghosts/whatever (I guess you don't really know by episode 5, because I certainly don't) cause her to go over the railing of the staircase; she doesn't even make it into the hallway.

It's not really a big deal, only stuck out to me because I thought I would get to see the red room in this episode but then it didn't happen haha. I kinda wouldn't guess that it's meant to be as complex as the dimensions of the house or anything.

TheSkullPrince · Oct 25, 2018

I'm four episodes in, really like it so far.

Poor Luke :(

Phantom · Oct 25, 2018

Episode 1 was good at setting things up with mystery
Episode 2 was a snoozefest, really bad EP in my opinion
Episode 3 was fun and gave us more insight as to why Luke acts the way he does in current era

So far so good, but I can definitely see why people might not enjoy it. Hoping for things to kick into gear now going into EP4.

The Haunting of Hill House - TV's first great horror series - Friday, Oct 12 on Netflix

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