The only one I caught on my own was in the
basement wall-repair
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The Haunting of Hill House - TV's first great horror series - Friday, Oct 12 on Netflix
- Thread starter RatskyWatsky
- Start date
That's the thing: Poppy is not the house. Her insecurities make her evil and want to see bad things done to others.
Pay attention to the scenes where the filmed "area" is wider than it needs to be. Usually when folks are talking, or some sort of action is taking place, they keep the camera tightly focused on people in the scene, to let you know as the viewer where your attention should be. Haunting keeps the camera back further, so there's more information in the scene. Like that thing that's looking at you in the dark corner of the closet...
I thought it was okay but I wouldn't say I loved it.
With that said episode 6 was hugely impressive.
It felt a heck of a lot like a Ju-On TV show to me with a focus on how the house can't be escaped and will manipulate time, reality, and peoples minds to get it's victims. I just found the motive of the house to be hugely inconsistent. Where as in Ju-On it's the curse that will inevitably kill anybody who enters it then uses people's likeness in Hilltop everything just seems random as heck down to who it goes after and the intensity it goes after them. I kinda hated it somehow had the ability to murder Nell's husband which it doesn't ever show again, it's suggested that it manipulates her by manpulating/fabricating the psychiatrist, then haunts her inside and outside the house. When you would have thunk her highly isolated screw up of a brother would be an easier target. I also found the best spook (Nell haunting herself) was something Ju-on 2 did far more elegantly.
With that said episode 6 was hugely impressive.
There was one in ep3 when two people were arguing, it was a shadow in a window that was still for a while and then walked away. Happened twice.
When the show isn't scary I'll stare at the background to try to catch em lol.
There's 3 in the first episode when Steven and Hugh are coming down the stairs. Two on the right and one on the left side.
Man, you guys are blowing my mind. The worst part is that I've totally been looking in the background every once and awhile...
That's the one I noticed without even looking for it.
I wish more of the ghosts were a bit more noticeable, but still missable, like that statue.
I agree about Poppy. I don't know what it is with her in general but she felt off in relation to everything from the moment they mention her. Even the introduction to her with Mrs Dudley's history lesson felt like it didn't belong in the show. I think they should have left the source of Liv's corruption/insanity up to more interpretation instead of us literally watching Poppy do it. Something about that entire scene felt cheaper and cheesier than the rest of the show.
I don't think the house killed Nell's husband. The fact that Bent-Neck Lady is Nell is pretty much confirmation of that.
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The show should have taken note from the book when it came to the history of the people who had lived in the house. The show fell into the horror trap of over explaining the ghosts and making them not scary anymore.
That wasn't good.
The episode 6 wasn't good: it adds nothing to the story.A 50 min of nothing.
The last episode was awful nonsense.(the red room?the ghosts?)
And it looks like a bad christmas tale that you can watch on tv.
As a show about mental illness and trauma it could have been interesting,without the gimmicks (the horror part,the red room thing,the ghosts )
The horror part wasn't good,(well nothing was scary but i suppose it wasn't meant to be)but yeah the last episode....terrible.
The episode 6 wasn't good: it adds nothing to the story.A 50 min of nothing.
The last episode was awful nonsense.(the red room?the ghosts?)
And it looks like a bad christmas tale that you can watch on tv.
As a show about mental illness and trauma it could have been interesting,without the gimmicks (the horror part,the red room thing,the ghosts )
The horror part wasn't good,(well nothing was scary but i suppose it wasn't meant to be)but yeah the last episode....terrible.
I loved how different the events of them leaving the house are after you see the final episode.
In the first episode, it seems like their mom is possessed and stalking them in a super creepy way, since her movement look unnatural and ghoulish. When we later see that scene again, we see it from her perspective that she twisted her ankle and can't run normally. I thought that was really well done.
The last episode of this was a mess. The rest of it was great. It was such a shame to end with that.
It was the first horror show to actually scare me.
Channel zero had good monster design, but special effects were lacking.
American Horror Story has zero Horror
But Hill House is scary as shi...
Excelent jump scares, the bent neck lady and tall guy are awesome, and the hidden ones give a Bad feeling when you see them.
Loved the show.
Channel zero had good monster design, but special effects were lacking.
American Horror Story has zero Horror
But Hill House is scary as shi...
Excelent jump scares, the bent neck lady and tall guy are awesome, and the hidden ones give a Bad feeling when you see them.
Loved the show.
I just finished and...mixed feelings.
I pretty much liked all of it except for the ending.
Theyre all over the damn place. There's a video on youtube that goes over most, if not all, of them, in order of episode. Could link if you're interested about ones you missed.
I pretty much liked all of it except for the ending.
Wtf why was it such a happy ending? Are just going to gloss over the fact that the house drove the mom insane to the point that she tried to kill herself and three children? Or everything else that happened in the history of the house? It shifted so hard into making the house seem like a good place since ghosts could stay there together and it's just incredibly jarring.
Theyre all over the damn place. There's a video on youtube that goes over most, if not all, of them, in order of episode. Could link if you're interested about ones you missed.
It wasn't really a happy ending. From Steven's PoV as the narrator/author, yea he tried to frame it as such, cuz well, what else is he gonna say? Caught me off guard at first too. But upon rewatching those scenes, it's pretty clear that the house won. Thing that really sold it for me was when the father chose to go into the Red Room. Nel's all looking sad af that the house claimed another victim in her father:
while Olivia is looking straight at Steven, as if to say "We'll get you too one day."
If you think about it, the only people that tried to frame the house as being a good thing were all the people who were deeply troubled: Olivia, and the Dudleys. Nel didn't ask to become a ghost, and Hugh only did what he did so that Olivia would allow them to leave.
They managed to make it out, but the house still stands, waiting for its next victim. The way I saw it, the rest of the family is just trying to find some semblance of normalcy (Only thing you could say the house was good for was helping them face their respective issues/demons), cuz that's really all you can do when you manage to make it out of a freakin haunted house lol
while Olivia is looking straight at Steven, as if to say "We'll get you too one day."
If you think about it, the only people that tried to frame the house as being a good thing were all the people who were deeply troubled: Olivia, and the Dudleys. Nel didn't ask to become a ghost, and Hugh only did what he did so that Olivia would allow them to leave.
They managed to make it out, but the house still stands, waiting for its next victim. The way I saw it, the rest of the family is just trying to find some semblance of normalcy (Only thing you could say the house was good for was helping them face their respective issues/demons), cuz that's really all you can do when you manage to make it out of a freakin haunted house lol
I really disliked this show from beginning to end. Long rant follows:
And in case people accuse me of just not liking this sort of horror, since I've seen that happen a bunch of times to other posters in this thread and I think it can be an unfair way to dismiss critique, my favourite works of horror in film and television are: The Shining, Twin Peaks (esp. Fire Walk With Me), Hausu, Alien, Under the Skin, Noroi, Videodrome, Persona (I think it counts as horror, it spooked me). I also liked The Terror, I thought it was this year's better horror show. So I like the deep shit, I like the less-deep works, campy stuff, I'm a fan of it all, and this show didn't give me much, unfortunately.
Edit: Also, wasn't scary! So I'd be alright with it if it failed on any deeper level but the frights mostly consisted of lousy jump scares so I wasn't even satisfied on that level.
- I didn't like how the metaphors had to be literally explained in a final episode infodump and not properly told or felt through the work itself (but lord knows they tried). I shouldn't have to be told that the house represents the walls we build up around ourselves and around others, the final episode treated me like I couldn't think for myself.
- The hauntings are a representation for "trauma" in general but beyond that are meaningless. Most egregiously, though haunting in ghost stories work as metaphors for trauma inflicted on people or places, Nell was haunted and driven mad by future events traveling backwards to hurt her. Is that a metaphor for how our fear of the future hurts us in the present? Mmm, deep, except she was six years old when it started which is a little early to be having an existential crisis. It didn't ring true, it felt like it was just a spooky "gotcha" clever idea to drive plot. So, it just works as a vague stand-in for "trauma", and the time travel element is just meaningless "twisty" fluff.
- The ending felt like a lie, the saccharine country music montage. That the director at first didn't know whether or not to end it with them getting away, and ultimately decided he didn't want to imply they were in the house because it was "too cruel" kinda tells me everything - he was concerned with how he wanted the audience to feel, what they'd think, instead of telling the truth about trauma and how people move forward. Life doesn't get ending montages over country music, it's so complicated and messy and that ending was crap. That doesn't mean good things wouldn't ever be able to happen, but it sure as hell doesn't look like that.
And in case people accuse me of just not liking this sort of horror, since I've seen that happen a bunch of times to other posters in this thread and I think it can be an unfair way to dismiss critique, my favourite works of horror in film and television are: The Shining, Twin Peaks (esp. Fire Walk With Me), Hausu, Alien, Under the Skin, Noroi, Videodrome, Persona (I think it counts as horror, it spooked me). I also liked The Terror, I thought it was this year's better horror show. So I like the deep shit, I like the less-deep works, campy stuff, I'm a fan of it all, and this show didn't give me much, unfortunately.
Edit: Also, wasn't scary! So I'd be alright with it if it failed on any deeper level but the frights mostly consisted of lousy jump scares so I wasn't even satisfied on that level.
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I really really really hated the jump scares in this show. The story was intriguing enough to keep going till the end though.
The acting was mostly decent, but Adult!Theo stood out to me as the main character who has the worst performance, especially her monologues felt too "fake" and poorly delivered. Young!Theo on the other hand was fun to watch.
Talk about monologues, some of these lines sound like something no one would actually say out loud, for example Theo after being spooked by Nell in the near final episode.
The acting was mostly decent, but Adult!Theo stood out to me as the main character who has the worst performance, especially her monologues felt too "fake" and poorly delivered. Young!Theo on the other hand was fun to watch.
Talk about monologues, some of these lines sound like something no one would actually say out loud, for example Theo after being spooked by Nell in the near final episode.
I really liked it! I was not at all expecting to enjoy it this much especially after the first episode struggled to keep my attention. But as soon as the focus moved away from the oldest brother, the show got infinitely more watchable.
It might be one of the most efficiently crafted and produced TV shows i've ever seen in a long time. The show has no unnecessary episodes and very little filler. I have some complaints but i'll leave those being spoiler tags~
It might be one of the most efficiently crafted and produced TV shows i've ever seen in a long time. The show has no unnecessary episodes and very little filler. I have some complaints but i'll leave those being spoiler tags~
The finale episode feels kinda off. I don't mind the show ending on a seemingly positive note but the presentation was really odd. In those final moments I felt like I was watching a sappy network TV drama. The music, the imagery and narration all felt incredibly out of place.
The most disappointing part was the focus on the eldest son and his relationship with his father. Seeing the show spend much of its focus on that dynamic during the the last 3(?) episodes was disappointing. That particular brand of family drama has been done a million times over and this attempt was not very memorable. It doesn't help that the oldest boy is probably the least interesting member of the family.
The most disappointing part was the focus on the eldest son and his relationship with his father. Seeing the show spend much of its focus on that dynamic during the the last 3(?) episodes was disappointing. That particular brand of family drama has been done a million times over and this attempt was not very memorable. It doesn't help that the oldest boy is probably the least interesting member of the family.
It wasn't really a happy ending. From Steven's PoV as the narrator/author, yea he tried to frame it as such, cuz well, what else is he gonna say? Caught me off guard at first too. But upon rewatching those scenes, it's pretty clear that the house won. Thing that really sold it for me was when the father chose to go into the Red Room. Nel's all looking sad af that the house claimed another victim in her father:
while Olivia is looking straight at Steven, as if to say "We'll get you too one day."
If you think about it, the only people that tried to frame the house as being a good thing were all the people who were deeply troubled: Olivia, and the Dudleys. Nel didn't ask to become a ghost, and Hugh only did what he did so that Olivia would allow them to leave.
They managed to make it out, but the house still stands, waiting for its next victim. The way I saw it, the rest of the family is just trying to find some semblance of normalcy (Only thing you could say the house was good for was helping them face their respective issues/demons), cuz that's really all you can do when you manage to make it out of a freakin haunted house lol
I think this helps further re-contextulize my feelings about the finale. My immediate reaction to this episode was pretty negative. The more I thought it over, the more my feelings shifted. I still don't like the ending but I can't say that it offends me and definitely doesn't undercut the show as a whole.
Nell does seem pretty distressed at the end while her mother seems somewhat pleased(?) with herself. That final shot does seems to paint a different picture from Steven's monologue. Steven likes to make sense of things so maybe this is what he has to tell himself and his siblings. He may be willing to acknowledge the supernatural but his impulse to explain away conflict and appear strong still remains.
All that said, I still think Steven is a boring character and the show starts to drag when it focuses on him for an extended period.
Nell does seem pretty distressed at the end while her mother seems somewhat pleased(?) with herself. That final shot does seems to paint a different picture from Steven's monologue. Steven likes to make sense of things so maybe this is what he has to tell himself and his siblings. He may be willing to acknowledge the supernatural but his impulse to explain away conflict and appear strong still remains.
All that said, I still think Steven is a boring character and the show starts to drag when it focuses on him for an extended period.
The show was well written, but the acting was subpar. I still enjoyed it.
Kate Siegel was better at playing a mute/deaf person, she's hot as hell though
Kate Siegel was better at playing a mute/deaf person, she's hot as hell though
I have to agree with steven crain
The mother is suffering from increasingly bad headaches, blanking out, sleep walking, missing time etc. and the solution for all this is go to the Janet's? How about a frigging doctor? Hugh was an idiotic ass who could have saved his wife if he would had cared more about her than flipping the house
Just finished tonight, for a show I initially had zero interest in, wow what a ride. I think the ending worked fine, I really have no complaints.
The episode run of 4, 5, and 6 is probably the best television I've watched in a long time. I was kind of let down by what felt like a rushed final episode, especially because [spoiler ]the death of Hugh is glossed over as it builds towards this unearned happy ending for everyone. Except for Luke, who deserved some happiness.[/spoiler]
But god damn was the rest of it awesome. Ghost designs were great
being the standout ghosts.
I did have some issues with the acting. I think we all commented on the first episode and that lady's opening monologue. But I also had issues with 90s Hugh. He toed the line between loving father and creeper way too much and I don't know if it was intentional or if it was just some real shoddy acting. I fucking loved older Hugh though. Timothy Hutton did such a good job playing on grief, regret, and love for his children. Young and old Luke were also really solid as was young and old Theo. I couldn't stand Steve or Shirley though. Ugh. That
came waaaaaay too late into the game. As a One Tree Hill fan, I was disappointed.
There's just a lot I want to say about the show but I don't feel like typing it out. I will end with this though:
But god damn was the rest of it awesome. Ghost designs were great
BNL and Steve's Tall Man
I did have some issues with the acting. I think we all commented on the first episode and that lady's opening monologue. But I also had issues with 90s Hugh. He toed the line between loving father and creeper way too much and I don't know if it was intentional or if it was just some real shoddy acting. I fucking loved older Hugh though. Timothy Hutton did such a good job playing on grief, regret, and love for his children. Young and old Luke were also really solid as was young and old Theo. I couldn't stand Steve or Shirley though. Ugh. That
James Lafferty plot
There's just a lot I want to say about the show but I don't feel like typing it out. I will end with this though:
Holy fuck did I get got by that Ep. 8 jumpscare. I actually admired how bad it got me. Best scare of the year after mom on the ceiling in Hereditary .
Finished the show. Loved it. Those saying the show ended on a positive note lol:
One aspect I didn't fully understand about Nell was:
Like what?? Hugh killed himself so Olivia could let the kids out of the red room. Most of the ghosts in the house are rotten/evil obviously Poppy was the one that turned Olivia insane, so Nell had the look of horror that her dad would be joining them. Steve was narrating the final scene. He literally pretended he never saw ghosts his whole life, so he painted it on a "positive note", staying consistent to his character. The caretakers were obviously disturbed people, in terrible mourning from losing their children, and wanted to stay/die there to be with their ghosts - but in no way is it a happy "ghost hotel". It couldn't be destroyed anyway - Luke tried.
One aspect I didn't fully understand about Nell was:
why did she play herself?? The only reason she goes back to the house and dies is because she haunts herself?? lol it's obvious she immediately regrets it after she is hung because she's going back and trying to scream at herself but whyyyy
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I have mixed emotions about the show's plot that I have a hard time vocalizing other than to say I was disappointed as I felt like it pulled punches. I also didn't find it scary in the least as jump scares aren't frightening, they're just unexpected. Oh well. I think it's difficult to build the sort of tension something like The Shining creates over the course of many episodes. My wife and I don't binge stuff so having a few days between episodes lets you settle back down between viewings.
Nell was always going to kill herself. She tried to scream to tell herself not to do it at Hill House in my opinion.
She tells Steve that nothing would've changed what she did. The Bent Neck Lady wasn't great for her mental health of course, but Nell was probably doomed when her husband died so tragically.
The show does a good job of weaving the ghosts into actual mental health issues (schizophrenia, drug addiction, night terrors, etc...), and Nell's suicide is one of those in my opinion.
She tells Steve that nothing would've changed what she did. The Bent Neck Lady wasn't great for her mental health of course, but Nell was probably doomed when her husband died so tragically.
The show does a good job of weaving the ghosts into actual mental health issues (schizophrenia, drug addiction, night terrors, etc...), and Nell's suicide is one of those in my opinion.
That makes sense... Sadly.
So she thought she could warn herself but you can't really communicate well with a broken neck lol and she probably didn't even know what she looked like when she went throughout time like that. So her point was not to do it at Hill House so she wouldn't be stuck there forever as a ghost I guess.
That damn thing took Luke's hat. Bastard. Kid Luke reminds me of that kid from jerry McGuire.
