What I really enjoy about Mike Flanagan’s brand of horror is the very real human element he brings to it. I’m the kind of person who doesn’t really get that scared by supernatural stuff because at the end of the day, as far as I’m concerned, it’s not real. However in a lot of his works the supernatural element is the least scary part, it’s the characters and how they behave towards each other that builds the tension and fear. Like in Midnight Mass most of the truly horrifying things that happen are caused by the human characters not the monster.
As with all great horror, the "monster" is a reflection of the horrors of human reality just in a different form, and Flanagan understands that fear for the characters is what makes the "horror" truly work
I cannot express how much I love Midnight Mass! I recommend it to everyone. It’s a captivating take on a classic horror “monster.” It’s funny how throughout the show I’m WAY more scared by Bev than anything supernatural!
I love Midnight Mass sm!!! The fact that the monster is referred to as an Angel by Monsignor Pruitt was quite ironic, considering how it literally feed off human blood and is scary asfk lol 😭 I tried to show it to my sister, but she hates anything horror that has to do with religion
And there’s also the deliberate use of uncomfortable things in the background. Eg. The refusal to close literally any door. Especially in the sixth episode. You know something is coming, but when it does you are still not ready.
Haunting of Hill House is my absolute favourite. Nothing has ever made me feel the way it did. I’ve never been one for spooky shit but fuck do I power through with every rewatch because it’s so worth it. One scene that always gets me is the final scene with Nell and her siblings, there’s one specific line that’s “I’m sorry I didn’t pick up the phone” and Nell says “You did, so many times” … hits right in the heart filled with guilt and grief and so much other human stuff that the show nails perfectly.
@@krustomer she means even though the last time Nell called her she didn’t pick up the phone, She picked up the phone countless times prior. She means don’t feel guilty for the one time you didn’t pick
I watch Bly manor before hill house snd love it so much more. I suspect this is an issue of bly manor being my first doctor and will always have a place in my heart.
The haunting of hill house is brilliant for me. The 'the rest is confetti' scene just changed something within me I can't explain. To me the most engaging horror has nothing to do with slasher and everything with a cold and realistic at times look at humans and their personal tragedys and Flanagan does that incredibly well.
it's actually a theme he keeeps throughout his works. in bly manor, one character whom i won't spoil in case you haven't seen, states also "the rest is just confetti" at the end of their own monologue, and it is just as heartbreaking and yet heartwarming simultaneously just as when nell said it. and in other things, like midnight mass, the same is said in different words. unfortunately i don't remember the words used but it more or less was synonymous with "X Y and Z are all life comes down to, and everything else is white noise in the end." making us feel like love, or community, truth or history or family or faith, whatever the show's theme is (which always end up being synonymous with each other anyways!!) are what really matters in the end and as long as we have/provide that for ourselves and our loved ones, everything will be okay even if&when everything else is horrible. which is why his work is always relatable and WILL be renowned as timeless in my opinion. i agree fully with what you said about the cold and realistic look at human interaction being the real horror. the ghosts didn't scare me just out of their deadly appearance or startling arrivals (though he and the FX people are of course MASTERS of that), they scared me most when their backstories were shown or when their ambiguous monologues were made or when the history of the character WITH the ghost was shown- why they haunted the home or the people in it was the most startling and heart-wrenching. he is a master of putting what could be told in drama films by others, into a horror format- only by changing a few elements, in EDITING especially, and in the direction and writing of each portrayal.. sorry for the essay. just passionately agree and was similarly touched by "the confetti" if you will.
Watching Bly Manor right now after absolutely loving Hill House. Love his take on how trauma becomes the things that haunt us and follow us. Even seemingly innocent things can become horrific because of what they represent, and it's how the characters change in their reaction to these hauntings that make the work so interesting.
Yeah, Bly manor is certainly weirdly structured and the plot and underlying mystery doesn't land as well as hill house, but the characters and their individual tragedies stay with me a lot more than the characters from hill house did. The horror and plot takes a back sit and the humanity shines all the more throughout the story.
@@maximeteppe7627 I agree. Bly Manor had such beautiful characters whom I dearly loved. Even though Hill House scared the bejeezus out of me, it didn't resonate with me as well thematically.
Absolutely. The characters in his work aren’t just a lense through which the audience can experience the horror. They are dynamic and change. They create sympathy not by being generic and perfect enough that anyone can put themselves in their shoes, but rather they feel like real people you’ve met. They experience true pain and remind you of what pain has felt like in your life.
In the age of toxic positivity, I find Flanagan’s method of storytelling to be incredibly powerful because it is a reminder that denying reality just allows the consequences to compound the longer you avoid acknowledging truth. That being said, I think the story that stands out for me the most was Hush- which is the most removed from that theme… but also the first work of his that I watched and bc I watched it without any prior experience with his style, the most surprising. I think his wife, Katie, is phenomenal at appealing to the viewers empathy with her performance in his work- they seem to draw out the best in each other.
Katie is so good at contrast I can imagine countless actors taking the scene where she asks for cps and screaming it, but she does so well because she only let's it leak out through a single tear, which makes the episode 8 blowup mean so much more
Toxic positivity was way worse in the 90s. I was there. Most of the shows were shit and the blockbuster films had 'Murica! saving the day all the time. It was between the Cold War and 9/11, climate change was still far off and AI was in movies. Also it was just getting safe for gay people to come out etc. The bullshit in the Middle East reminded us of moral complexity the same way Vietnam had earlier.
@@squamish4244 I'd say it's more like some parts of society expressed toxic positivity, but it wasn't always the case at the individual level. Even in the '90s, there was the issues with gang violence, Columbine, and people living in fear of stranger danger/kidnappings and drugs due to the PSAs that were around since the '80s. Some of this can still be seen now depending on the choices people make in life (some people gravitate only towards positive things to toxic degrees, some people doom-scroll and become pessimistic/nihilistic to their own detriment, and some people try to find a healthy middle ground).
@@Scarshadow666 Maybe. But we also weren't blasted 24/7 with every single negative thing happening in the world all the time, which can really mess with your perspective. So many things happened that we never heard about or would be in the news for one day and then gone forever. But my statement is also about dramatic television. Doctor, lawyer and cop shows predominated, and sometimes they got serious and a lot of the time they were pretty superficial. Complex psychological studies like Haunting of Hill House just didn't exist, or were rare. Longform storytelling of one giant arc over 10 episodes? Not a chance. Shows like 'Roots' from the late _70s_ were so rare everyone knew about them. Most of the shit sitcoms even had "very special episodes" to devote to a serious topic and then went back to pushing the reset button every time.
You don't consider yourself as "religious" but spiritual. Buddhism is gospel to you. Not only do you diligently follow horoscopes, but The Law of Attraction is also gospel to you. Incense is almost constantly burning in your home. Windchimes, plants, and dreamcatchers are also common in your home, but decorated minimalistic. You're probably a massage therapist, but maybe a nurse. Avid reader, usually in existentialism and self-help material Owning a cat is obvious, but you (probably) have 3 pets. Rarely have you found "a partner" intellectually stimulating enough for very long. (Sapiophile) You are the "different one" of the immediate family, you feel loved, but also shunned. Tattoos and piercings. Don't tell me if I'm right or wrong and don't worry... I have no malice or access to you or your life, nor a desire to... I just want to point out how vulnerable you make yourself to predators. Don't believe me... why do you think the other commenter really posted on your thread? Protect yourself and open up only to those that deserve it.
@@MarkLewis... Great assumptions. I do have a pet and plants. Other than I think everything else is you... guessing? Hoping? Don't know. I'll open up this much because it's all readily available on the internet. Atheist, and not at all spiritual. No tattoos or piercings. Horoscopes are nonsensical woo, and I can't think of the last one I paid any attention to. The Law of Attraction is a despicable philosophy - woo with extra mystical woo on top. I don't think I've ever read self-help or existentialism, I like hard sci-fi. I don't have a cat, windchime or dreamcatcher. I despise burning incense - carcinogenic and irritant. I'm not a massage therapist or a nurse, or anything particularly close to that sphere of work.
To me, Midnight Mass is the second best (but is still way beyond the masterpiece of Hill House) Now... Midnight CLUB... I just pretend that one never happened. Did find a single part of that compelling.
@@selty how was it "unabashedly atheistic"? Its not about whether or not God/Afterlife exists, it's about faith and how its intrinsic to human nature. The ending showcased it perfectly, how even though they were doomed and gave into their new temptations and urges, they still came together in unity and sang hymn in unison based on their faith and found peace in the end, in their own ways. Except Bev lmao, f*ck her, she got what she deserved
Watching Hill House and Bly Manor breaks my heart and puts it back together everytime. These are my comfort shows alongside Servant (apple tv). They are incredibly sad, filled with trauma but with an hopeful outlook. I always watch them when I am down.
@@buteverybodycallsmegiorgio I think it's because after all the characters go through, the love between them prevails. They still fight, they confront their demons and make peace with their ghosts. As a person that suffers from depression, it gives me so much strenght.
When Midnight Mass came out, I remember so many reviews complaining about the length of the monologues. This was really confusing to me, because this was the part of the show that truly made it stand out, to me. Don't get me wrong, the rest of the show was amazing and I was expecting it to be as such, coming hot on the heels of haunting of hill house/bly manor. These monologues weren't just beautifully written discourses on death, love and faith, they also gave the actor so many opportunities to showcase their skill without any restriction. Hamish Linklater was especially good at these, I could listen to him go on about his old testament discourse for hours and I would be absolutely entertained throughout. Riley and Erin's discussion of what happens after you die brought me to tears more than once, especially at the very end of the show. I'm a sucker for existentialism and death theming in media, this show found my absolutely weakest spot and pierced it without any mercy. I still honestly think that it is one of the best if not the best show to come out in recent times and it saddens me a great deal that people didn't give it a fair shot because they were expecting a schlocky horror-filled parade of tropes. Also, on a more general note, the fact that Mike Flanagan is making shows with a beginning, middle and end? In today's streaming culture of keeping shows going for as long as they are profitable regardless of artistic integrity and intention? Fucking amazing.
I was fully on board for most of them but there were a few times in the show where something was actually urgent and someone started monologuing, for me that was frustrating.
i've only seen hill house and some of midnight mass, and it's strange to me to think some don't view his works as horror. people do tend to have a very narrow view of the genre - mostly as slashers where characters are suffering A Lot. to me, horror is about exploring fears using supernatural/strange elements. if horror can get me to work through my own issues, and show me that i can survive, then that's the best imo. life isn't all about doom and gloom.
Exactly! To me, Horror is about diving into the dark and exploring it's depths and nuances. So it's ridiculous to expect NOT to learn anything in order to classify something as Horror 🤣 I mean, are we on a quest for shallowness? Because Horror is not a shallow genre, and it never will be! For me, Midnight Mass is far scarier than your everyday "horror" popcorn slasher since it deals with topics like death, existentialism, and religious zealotism which I find far far scarier than some masked killer dude, even if there were less jumpscares!
True! It kinda reminds me of how people used to debate if The Silence of the Lambs counts as a horror movie, or if it's more of a thriller/crime drama (especially after it won some Oscars). Imo, the Hannibal Lecter movies and TV show counts as a horror franchise due to a lot of the subject matters it covers, but there might be some audiences that didn't personally go through that same "fear factor" to think it counts as horror.
@@eoghanclark165 My guess for why horror was stereotyped to be seen as "shallow" is because it's one of most other genres that doesn't often get critical acclaim unfortunately. Like the animation medium in most Western countries, most people kinda just assumed all horror media to be slashers or old cheesey monster movies (thanks to the trends that were around since the '40s/'50s for monster movies, and the '80s/parts of the '90s for slashers). A lot of horror movies that are popular and get acclaim now often didn't get the same acclaim back when they first released too (like with what happened to John Carpenter's The Thing and Ridley Scott's first Alien movie). TL;DR, how the horror genre has long been treated with a broad brush by critics is part of why critics aren't always the best source to turn to for good art/media. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
It blows my mind that the same guy edited Hill House and RuPaul. Both equally brilliant examples of editing. Early drag race has some of the funniest and most entertaining editing in reality TV EVER. Anyway. Loved this video. Great job!
I was never a fan of horror but I still remember when I first put Hill House on. I'd decided I'd stop watching it if it got too scary but despite how truly frightening it got at some points, I couldn't. It's an absolute masterpiece and I don't think I'll ever love another show the same way. What got to me was how this show is actually more sad than scary. The jump scares are there but it's more poignant than that.. it's about family and love and grief and loss. This show was my introduction to the Flanaverse and I watched both shows that came after it. Midnight Mass is my second favourite and Bly Manor, though still good, stood out the least to me. Hill House is my no. 1 and I always go back to it for comfort watching.
13:04 that is exactly why his style is so refreshing. its not like general horror. every project of his has a deep and moving message. you are never really afraid of the ghosts, but of the story and the twists.
Just wanted to comment on that one critic's hot take about Midnight Mass: Horror depicting a narrative which concludes with hope is not "false comfort". It is very much in keeping with Flanagan's ideas about how, once we confront our ghosts, they stop haunting us. It's a lovely way of looking at horror. Personally, I find that horror stories which end nihilistically feel very empty for me unless the narrative was truly built around that hopelessness. Something like Oculus or The Descent works because the nihilism is part of the story, but what a lot of people seem to believe is that horror can only work if it is nihilistic. That reduces horror down to a single dimension - Horror is something from which you cannot escape - and I think misses the point of what horror was when it began and what it is best at: exploring our deepest worries and pains, and the ways that we are afraid that they will overtake us. If horror stories can only be nihilistic and atheist in their philosophy, then that robs us of the chance to confront those fears and overcome them. To say that they were bothered that Midnight Mass offered "false comfort" is really myopic and self-centred. Not to mention that Midnight Mass was meant to be Flanagan's attempt at grappling with his own religious upbringing, so it did not bloody-well matter that this critic felt left out as an atheist. Speaking as an ex-Christian myself, it was not about you, mate.
Of course an atheist critic wants the media to reflect their own nihilism. The narcissism of thinking their opinion is above others is a type of horror in its own right lol
@@nailinthefashion Thing is, atheists are not a homogenous group, it's just people who don't believe in any god. There's a lot of insane and edgy people who do believe in a god, some even kill or has killed a lot of people...
I am not a big fan of spooky shit, but this series resonates with me to the point that I rewatch it every year. It's probably my favorite modern TV season.
Watched The Haunting of Hill House during a time in my life where I felt really lost. It made me realize a lot of things about myself and grief that even almost four years later, it's still on my mind.
The scene in hill house where the dad in episode 6 when the dad walks in for the viewing and the little girl is in the casket always just breaks me. I can’t watch it without 😢. He’s a genius.
Flanagan is a master of his craft imo and I never realized it ultimately stems from his understanding of editing. Great analysis! I loved Oculus before I even knew who Flanagan was, but when I learned it was his film, the pieces clicked. He has a style unlike anyone else and I absolutely love it.
I makes me so happy that 4 years later people are still talking about Hill House. I've seen people who cant deal with horror that have decided that Mike Flanagan's work is their one exception. As a queer woman with trauma and mental illness that was inherited and gained in my youth, that's also as a massive film buff his work means so much to me. So whenever I see deep dives and analysis of it I get so excited. I love all of his work for different reasons, picking a favorite is like trying to pick a favorite child. I have a special place in my heart for a few characters however: Luke Crane being the first, I've never seen someone like him portrayed with so much pain and sad truths but empathy. His self soothing method of counting his family members that followed him into adulthood reminded me of my own soothing methods. He also reminded me of my uncle who was a genuinely kind an caring person who thanks to trauma numbed his pain with drugs and alcohol and that ruined a lot of his life and relationships. He's now way older and gotten help and stuck with it and now like Luke he's clean and I'm so proud of him. I also think about Nel Crane and Hannah Gross, a lot. I relate them so much and their stories mean a lot to me. Their kindness, their drive to take care of others but not themselves and the people who enter their lives and say "Let me lighten your load" helped me realize that I needed to do the same thing. Hannah's loop of living the same events over and over after her death reminded me of my own struggle with depression. The fact that Nel was haunted by her own death her entire life, the fact that after all her pain, she still thinks that love and life are worth it. The realization that even though forgiveness can be painful its warm and bittersweet like a tear on a cheek. And that even if it isn't perfect she gets to spend the rest of eternity with her parents that love her so deeply. I'll often call up my best friend and tell her how I thought about the bent neck lady that day and was sad and we talk about it. And my favorite kind of media is the stuff that I continue to think about months and even years after consuming it. And so much thought and care is put into his writing, he takes the people that are often looked down upon in our society and portrays them with an empathetic warm light, even the villains of his stories are extended this courtesy. They're treated like they're people with thoughts, feelings, fears, and good qualities. Everyone knows a Luke and a Nel Crane, everyone knows a Hannah and an Owen, and everyone knows a Riley Flynn.
I love your point about how villains are portrayed in his work. I hadn’t quite put my finger on it before reading your comment, but I think that is one of the biggest things that I appreciate about his work.
Honestly, if someone feels betrayed by Flannagan's take of horror it's just means they haven't consumed enough horror outside of Hollywood. Hell, even in Hollywood you can find this kind of horror! Flannagan has always been upfront about his major influence: Stephen King. Btw, I love that you mentioned Lost. Have you read about Flannagan's other major influence? That's right, Lost! ❤
The film in the camera is rectangular! Think of how hard it would be to sequence a bunch of circles together on a strip of film without wasting a lot of space
This video made me realized that all the shows that have really had an impact on me recently were all made by Mike Flanagan. Bly Manor is by far my favorite though - had me to tears at a couple points. The Midnight Club almost had me there near the end, too.
I quit Midnight Mass, found it too slow, but started it again and I’m SO GLAD that I did. Really stuck with me. I’ve watched it twice, will watch again soon.
I'm a big horror fan so very little actually scares me. Horrifies, shocks, discomfort etc sure but scare? Not so much. But Flannigans brand of tension building with that quiet creeping terror leaves me shaken everytime. There's also the deep sadness that runs through them. Midnight mass left me sobbing and I was incredibly quiet for a while.
I just came across this video on my youtube Home page feed and as a 20-year film/tv video editor and lifelong film/tv junkie, this video really made my day. I love horror. I especially love the kind of horror Mike Flannagan has made a career out of. It's so good. It's like comparing a hastilly grilled rack of ribs to one made in a 12-hour smoker. The outcome is just so much better when you take your time to let things simmer. Thank you so much for this. Loved it! Subscribed!
Love Mike Flanagan’s works. He also did a fantastic adaptation of Gerald’s Game, which while not his own story, did go into past trauma and how to grapple with it.
That comparison to LOST kinda shook me because I had never even thought about those two in the same day before. But you're so right, the time spent with characters and learning about their past traumas in fully fleshed out episodes is something they both excel at!
I'm way more afraid of the idea that a human could rapidly shift into hematophagy and sprout wings than ghosts. Most ghosts are friendly lol But like, cinematography wise too??? So it's wild to me as well
This show fugged me up in the best way possible. So spooky without a bunch of cheap, silly jump scares. You just feel the genuine terror of the characters and get invested into what really happened in the house. I don't know if I was reading too far into it and projecting, but I think there were some very intense themes on generational trauma. I grew up in an abusive and neglectful home, and like the siblings in the show, was affected by what I witnessed whether I wanted to admit it or not. It also portrayed such a realistic view of real life siblings. You love them unconditionally and are bonded to them even if you grow apart as adults, but sometimes you can't stand them and wish they could just do better for themselves without your constant intervention.
Great video. I love Mike Flanagan’s work. I’ve never been a horror/thriller fan but was hooked by Hill House, especially that long one-take. His stories are absolutely phenomenal and truly make you care about the characters.
6:10 the only jump-scare that ever made me happy. I get squeamish watching intense interpersonal drama like that argument (my first watch of the series was rough), so that jump-scare was more of a relief than anything! I literally said to the screen, "Thank you, Nell!" It felt like she was as frustrated with her sisters as I was.
i love mike flanagans work. he really deserves the hype imo. i loved the midnight club too, but it seems this one is a bit less popular than his other works. hill house is special to me on a personal level because its so relatable to my life.
I’m a heroin addict. Mike is the only well-known director & writer that depicts heroin addiction well. He has to take some liberties still, for the benefit of his work, and I don’t begrudge him that. Because not since Trainspotting & Candy have I felt like addiction has been accurately represented. Contrast how grounded & connected his depictions are with, let’s say, Euphoria-which doesn’t earn the emotional depth it tries to force with Rue’s monologues & interactions. I never could finish that show. It’s hard to find anything that makes me go-“wow, I almost don’t want to watch this because I lived it and I don’t want to remember.” Midnight Mass, Haunting of Hill House, Fall of the House of Usher…I wish I could meet his man & shake his hand. He’s in recovery himself, & I hope to one day do as much good for addicts as he’s doing now.
love when my friends send a video to the gc thats already in my watch later lolol ❤ my group has gone thru a lot, and recently we’ve been able to hold on to our bond thru a shared love of horror, literature, and media analysis. we’ve all followed mike flanagan’s work and through it have gained better understandings of each other. this video kinda brings it full circle. im a lil emotional on this thursday night lol
Midnight Mass and Bly Manor are some of my favorite shows that I’ve ever seen. Bly Manor left me sobbing and Midnight Mass left me questioning pretty much everything about my beliefs out of no where.
Great analysis - Thanks. I love flanagan's work for it's time shifting to help character development. I've watched the Hill House and will start Bly Manor maybe tonight.
Great video! I often say I enjoy horror movies until they show the ghosts, and then they're boring. And I've been struck by just how different Mike Flanagan's ghosts are. I enjoy his style and look forward to watching The Midnight Club
I was never a fan of horror. A friend conviced me to watch Oculus and it was ok. Years later same person convinced me to watch Geralds Game and omg I felt soo bad watching it, like a sense of perpetual dread that other horror films just never made me feel. Then came Hill House and I loved it I couldt explain why but I loved it, Bly Manor was good but then Midnight mass... I felt so uncofortable having been rased in a religion that borded on a cult (Im out now) I felt the danger of the fathers sermons in my core. Im still trying to build up my emotional strengh to re watch it. Most horror things I either get grosed out at the gore or laughing at how implosible they are. But this guy, he just manages to make me feel true dread.
One thing that strikes me about Flanagan's work (and the likes of Hereditary) is that he gets that horror is most effective when you care about those enduring it. So much horror treats the characters as secondary and gives us some archetypes as sacrificial lambs. It's spectacle, but it's seldom truly horrifying. In the 70s you had the likes of The Exorcist and The Shining, where character was still central. By the 80s you had slashers with cardboard cutout victims. That continued into the 2000s with the torture porn era (even though the original Saw - unlike Hostel - did put some effort into its characters). Now I feel we're getting some return to character-driven horror.
I've liked or loved all of Flanagan's work, but as far as series goes, it's been diminishing returns. Hill House is my absolute favorite. I find it nearly flawless in presentation. The way the story and underlying mystery are plotted and executed, the number of scares throughout, the character development that makes you feel and invest in each member of the Crain family... I was pretty absorbed the whole way through, and never bored. I've rewatched it a number of times. Then Bly Manor, I really really liked, but it didn't hit me in quite the same way. I wasn't as invested in many of the characters, but really enjoyed all aspects of it. Except Henry Thomas's British accent. I love that Matthew Holness was in it (and he was GREAT!) but I kind of wish they'd switched things up and had him play the Uncle Henry character. A bit clunky at the end-end, but a really good watch. Midnight Mass... I've heard Flanagan say something along the lines of 'If you don't like Midnight Mass, then you don't like my work because this is everything I'm about.' I DO like Midnight Mass. I like the questions it raises, and the ideas you're forced to confront. I think the premise is brilliant. The cast is uniformly great, with Hamish Linklater being the standout. I just had trouble accepting the actions of some of the characters in specific moments, which pulled me out of it at times. I won't rehash them here because I've been in enough YT comments "discussions" with folks that see any criticism of a show they love to be an attack on them personally. The Midnight Club - This was always going to be my least favorite, by nature of it being YA-related, and it not being wrapped up in one season. One thing I've really appreciated about Flanagan to this point is that he tells the story in one go and moves on. I'm just not sure I'm invested enough in these characters to want to sit through 10+ more hours. That said, I did enjoy most of it. I liked that the storytelling aspect within the story not only allowed the characters to give deeper insight into themselves, but also allowed the show to play around with other genres. It was fun, and surprisingly heavy at times, but also the least tonally consistent. Excited for his The Fall of the House of Usher, which is definitely more in my wheelhouse. And bummed to hear that he's no longer involved in the adaptation of Something is Killing the Children. I was really interested in that because I love the comic and wanted to see what he did with it considering how different it is from his usual style.
Such a great breakdown of how the horror genre can warp and change to fit different media (art, literature, movies, tv, short form like TikTok and Vine for the old folks like me). Love it! Especially the bit about how ghosts don't always have to be there to scare.
Midnight Mass is my absolute favorite Flanagan work, in part because it feels so deeply personal. It was a great springboard into the deep, eye-opening conversations my dad and I have started to have about religion, and our deep seated trauma and issues with established religious institutions, specifically Christian churches in our case. It’s been really helpful.
He directed Hush???? He is literally a genius. I didn’t even notice they were all the same actors!!! Omg. I can place all the actors except for the boyfriend in that movie. Oh duh I think the boyfriend is who plays Steve in hill house . Wow amazing
I love all his work but Midnight Mass is the one that really speaks to my heart the most. The final monologue of Erin in that is so heartbreaking and uplifting at the same time, I will cry just thinking about it. Mike Flanagan may not do thrillers or slashers or gore-fests that some people think is all “horror” can be, but he hits the kind of horror that I love square in the face: supernatural, mysterious character drama with the occasional “boo”
All of Flanagan's Netflix shows were about seeing the horror in our lives and accepting that it's a part of it. I don't get people saying that his shows were a betrayal of the horror genre. They are actually a new take to what horror means. We grew past slasher flicks, creature features, and the paranormal -- that's why recently these type of horror movies tend to flop critically or become repetitively boring or decreasingly horrifying -- into being faced with horrors of the real world like Flanagan's works, Knock at the Cabin, The Visit, Don't Breathe, Black Mirror, and many more. Nowadays, the real horror lies in what is happening around us in form of trauma and negative human experience without the paranormal or fictional.
Oculus is criminally underrated. I wasn't the biggest fan my first watch; but after Hill House I love it so much more. You can see so much of Mike Flanagan's style in it and oh my gosh the two mains ended up being some of my favourite actors
I personally love Mike Flanagan's work because it feels like it's what we've been leading up to in the genre. With The Babadook and Hereditary, it feels like we've been leading up to this dark, dark horror that, sure, it's filled with things that go bump in the night, but it's like the genre has grown from a child to an adult. What's even scarier than ghosts? Memories, lost love, regrets, mistakes, everything inbetween. And then he asks, how can we make the two of them even scarier together?
My favorite is bly manor. As a lesbian I loved the lesbian love story, it was literally so beautiful and makes me cry like every time I think about it. But what I really wanted to say that I appreciate about mike Flanagan is the monologues, they're insaaane
My biggest beef with Midnight Mass isn't the messaging (that I didn't like) but rather how Flanagan had made two series that I felt were so fantastically great, so absolutely overwhelmingly excellent that Midnight Mass' opening pitch and promotional material made me imagine a possible twist story that didn't happen. Flanagan basically had to compete with what I imagined he'd do with a different idea, and that's pretty impressive to have inspired.
One of my favourite things about the editing of Midnight Mass is how the creature is initially treated like any other horror monsters where you catch only glimpses, a shadow, a noise from the darkness, and we’re meant to be afraid of it like a movie monster, what it’s going to do and who it’s going to kill and whatnot, but when we’re shown its appearance, fully and clearly, it doesn’t lessen the horror because we’ve already been made less afraid of the creature than of the ordinary people surrounding it.
What a great video essay. I finished Midnight Club last night and I think after Bly Manor it's my favorite because of the themes it's tackling of grief and death and confronting fear.
When they asked what RuPaul's drag queen and the bedroom door knob scene from Hill House had in common I thought to myself. To be in either situation would be absolutely horrifying..
incidentally, this is also great advice for spoopy dnd campaigns! like, i'm not really into horror films, but i love that place where b-movie monsters and camp and social allegory collide into evocative dark fantasy and gothic horror tropes. but of course there's a lot of lines you've gotta walk, mixing your genres like balancing a soundboard in an old theatre. if the monsters just pop up to be defeated, or the artifact just needs to be buried, then you run the risk of either a slog or a stomp and no tension either way. but if you try to maintain movie-level tension over a four to six hour gaming session every other week, then your players may burn out or rebel into absurdity. a focus on characters, and crucially on threading some hope through all the demoralizing anxiety, gives the thing a heartbeat. which, you know, is ideal for burying under the floorboards to drive you mad. ;)
All the background ghosts in Hill House dotted throughout each episode is what got me, and kept me glued to the screen. It had me catch every detail because I was scanning the screen for every one lol
Oculus. I was so drawn in and the reality bending nature is so well executed. I've seen people call it confusing, but it's meant to be, you're supposed to feel as disoriented as the protagonist. Personally it just made me want to watch it again. And omg the apple...
The evil mirror from Oculus - The Lasser Glass - appears in the background of the AA meeting in Midnight Mass, during some ritual (haven't seen the scene yet) in Midnight Club, in the hallway next to Gold Room from the Overlook Hotel in Doctor Sleep and in the attic of Ouija Origin of Evil. Its frame is even turned upside down to form the bedframe from Gerald's Game. It's an awesome design and Falangan makes good use of it.
I liked that Hill House didn't really have many jump scares. Any time that I was bracing for one it was more of a "walk up scare" than a "jump" scare. Or else just sort of leaving it, but not as a misdirect, rather a lingering and knowingness that was more eerie and unsettling than being hit with outright horrific moments
I have never gotten chills quite like I got hearing Mike Flannigan describe falling in love as creating a ghost. Like, a lightbulb in my brain just turned on and then burst, and I'm kind of reeling. I have to go and think about life and shit now. Ta-ta~
I'm normally terrible with horror, but Mike Flanagan does the genre so uniquely. There's ghosts and monsters and serial killers in his works, but often the actual haunting takes place due to grief, isolation and and sorrow. Hill House, Midnight Mass, Doctor Sleep and House of Usher are particularly good at expressing this. Humans created ghosts in every single way, and humans keep them sustained.
Although it’s a small portion of the larger narrative, I feel like implying Flanagan gives too much false hope is just an argument for generating clicks. The dead are still dead, the living have to live with the trauma. Is there a level of hope in the bonds formed by those living through the trauma? Yeah, that usually happens, but it doesn’t lessen the blow of mass death, witnessing suicide, or having a loved one’s mental illness slowly destroy them. Maybe he should’ve had Carla Gugino pop out at the end and drag someone through the decorative stained glass on the front door of Hill House.
The car scene is simple yet awsome! My dad and I screamed simultaneously and right after that the door bell rang. I never screamed because of a scene. It was so funny xD
the scene in 5:47 scared the living shit out of me when i was watching hill house for the first time. i had to pause right after because my heart-rate spiked and i just needed a minute. it was so well-written and well executed, i loved the haunting of hill house and it's also one of my favorite shows
I interpret Mike Flanagan's theme as, "You're not traumatized because you're haunted, you're haunted because you were traumatized." It's the cycle of abuse that Mike really focuses on in a lot of his works and that is the true horror that needs to be stopped. As a queer, non conforming person, I find his work is horror and fits the genre really well. It's just not giving an easy out like, "And then the murderer was killed and all was well once more for our protagonists".
Ack! Gotta thank you for kicking my butt into gear to go watch Midnight Club. I looooove Flanagan's work but haven't seen the latest series yet! I will watch that and resume this video...
19:15 ???? False comfort???? Yeah it’s so comfortable and easy to face your trauma head on, and it’s totally fake that it doing that can help you in the long run thus making a “happy ending”.
I have suffered episodes from sleep paralysis a bunch of times. When The Haunting of Hill House was released, I was having a hard time and had some anxiety. I remember the first time I saw "The bent neck lady" I freezed. I used to see something very simillar during my sleep paralysis episodes and it felt so real, like it pierced my brain. That show really fucked me up 🤣 but I loved it because the story was so well built, like a intricate tapestry of terror and madness. I enjoyed Blu Manor a lot, and after watching The Fall of the House of Usher I was delighted. It was like a love letter to Poe. This man should be really proud, because he has created really wonderful shows and movies.
What is your favorite Mike Flanagan work and why?
I can't even chose one show ahhh
I really like his adaptation of Stephen King’s Doctor Sleep.
"Absentia" it still scares me and I can't tell why
I'm really split between Hill House and Midnight Mass. Maybe I'll have to rewatch both to find an answer lol
@@eduardoreyes2988 sameee
What I really enjoy about Mike Flanagan’s brand of horror is the very real human element he brings to it. I’m the kind of person who doesn’t really get that scared by supernatural stuff because at the end of the day, as far as I’m concerned, it’s not real. However in a lot of his works the supernatural element is the least scary part, it’s the characters and how they behave towards each other that builds the tension and fear. Like in Midnight Mass most of the truly horrifying things that happen are caused by the human characters not the monster.
As with all great horror, the "monster" is a reflection of the horrors of human reality just in a different form, and Flanagan understands that fear for the characters is what makes the "horror" truly work
I cannot express how much I love Midnight Mass! I recommend it to everyone. It’s a captivating take on a classic horror “monster.” It’s funny how throughout the show I’m WAY more scared by Bev than anything supernatural!
@@battyboo3732 yes exactly! Bev is by far the most terrifying aspect of the show. I too am on a crusade to recommend the show to everyone I know.
I love Midnight Mass sm!!! The fact that the monster is referred to as an Angel by Monsignor Pruitt was quite ironic, considering how it literally feed off human blood and is scary asfk lol 😭 I tried to show it to my sister, but she hates anything horror that has to do with religion
Midnight Mass felt so raw and authentic despite the twist. I'll never get over that. The scream rolling over the credits.. just pure magic.
I absolutely love how mike Flanagan's horror isn't about cheap jumpscares, but actually reflects real-life problems. His storytelling is beautiful
He’s a great mind, and I’m glad to be alive to witness his art.
And there’s also the deliberate use of uncomfortable things in the background. Eg. The refusal to close literally any door. Especially in the sixth episode. You know something is coming, but when it does you are still not ready.
Haunting of Hill House is my absolute favourite. Nothing has ever made me feel the way it did. I’ve never been one for spooky shit but fuck do I power through with every rewatch because it’s so worth it. One scene that always gets me is the final scene with Nell and her siblings, there’s one specific line that’s “I’m sorry I didn’t pick up the phone” and Nell says “You did, so many times” … hits right in the heart filled with guilt and grief and so much other human stuff that the show nails perfectly.
This scene made me bawl my eyes out the first time I watched it. I get teary eyed every single time I rewatch it.
I still don't understand what Nell meant there!
@@krustomer she means even though the last time Nell called her she didn’t pick up the phone, She picked up the phone countless times prior. She means don’t feel guilty for the one time you didn’t pick
Jesus, just reading Nell's line made me tear up. Such a good show.
I watch Bly manor before hill house snd love it so much more. I suspect this is an issue of bly manor being my first doctor and will always have a place in my heart.
Haunting of Hill House is AMAZING. When people realize it’s not really about the horror but about the human experience, it all makes sense.
The human experience IS the horror
@@QuikVidGuypreeeecisely
The haunting of hill house is brilliant for me. The 'the rest is confetti' scene just changed something within me I can't explain.
To me the most engaging horror has nothing to do with slasher and everything with a cold and realistic at times look at humans and their personal tragedys and Flanagan does that incredibly well.
it's actually a theme he keeeps throughout his works. in bly manor, one character whom i won't spoil in case you haven't seen, states also "the rest is just confetti" at the end of their own monologue, and it is just as heartbreaking and yet heartwarming simultaneously just as when nell said it. and in other things, like midnight mass, the same is said in different words. unfortunately i don't remember the words used but it more or less was synonymous with "X Y and Z are all life comes down to, and everything else is white noise in the end." making us feel like love, or community, truth or history or family or faith, whatever the show's theme is (which always end up being synonymous with each other anyways!!) are what really matters in the end and as long as we have/provide that for ourselves and our loved ones, everything will be okay even if&when everything else is horrible. which is why his work is always relatable and WILL be renowned as timeless in my opinion.
i agree fully with what you said about the cold and realistic look at human interaction being the real horror. the ghosts didn't scare me just out of their deadly appearance or startling arrivals (though he and the FX people are of course MASTERS of that), they scared me most when their backstories were shown or when their ambiguous monologues were made or when the history of the character WITH the ghost was shown- why they haunted the home or the people in it was the most startling and heart-wrenching. he is a master of putting what could be told in drama films by others, into a horror format- only by changing a few elements, in EDITING especially, and in the direction and writing of each portrayal.. sorry for the essay. just passionately agree and was similarly touched by "the confetti" if you will.
@@ihatemickiegee it was lovely to read :) thanks for your insight! I'll definitely watch bly manner after you mentioned it!
I watched the confetti scene over and over and over several times, and like you say, i can't really explain why it resonated so deeply with me
Watching Bly Manor right now after absolutely loving Hill House. Love his take on how trauma becomes the things that haunt us and follow us. Even seemingly innocent things can become horrific because of what they represent, and it's how the characters change in their reaction to these hauntings that make the work so interesting.
Yeah, Bly manor is certainly weirdly structured and the plot and underlying mystery doesn't land as well as hill house, but the characters and their individual tragedies stay with me a lot more than the characters from hill house did. The horror and plot takes a back sit and the humanity shines all the more throughout the story.
Bly Manor was a let down imo
@@XAVIERSHIMEX It picks up really well in Mignight Mass tho. That boat episode is living in my head rent free.
@@maximeteppe7627 I agree. Bly Manor had such beautiful characters whom I dearly loved. Even though Hill House scared the bejeezus out of me, it didn't resonate with me as well thematically.
Absolutely. The characters in his work aren’t just a lense through which the audience can experience the horror. They are dynamic and change. They create sympathy not by being generic and perfect enough that anyone can put themselves in their shoes, but rather they feel like real people you’ve met. They experience true pain and remind you of what pain has felt like in your life.
In the age of toxic positivity, I find Flanagan’s method of storytelling to be incredibly powerful because it is a reminder that denying reality just allows the consequences to compound the longer you avoid acknowledging truth. That being said, I think the story that stands out for me the most was Hush- which is the most removed from that theme… but also the first work of his that I watched and bc I watched it without any prior experience with his style, the most surprising. I think his wife, Katie, is phenomenal at appealing to the viewers empathy with her performance in his work- they seem to draw out the best in each other.
Katie is so good at contrast
I can imagine countless actors taking the scene where she asks for cps and screaming it, but she does so well because she only let's it leak out through a single tear, which makes the episode 8 blowup mean so much more
Toxic positivity was way worse in the 90s. I was there. Most of the shows were shit and the blockbuster films had 'Murica! saving the day all the time. It was between the Cold War and 9/11, climate change was still far off and AI was in movies. Also it was just getting safe for gay people to come out etc. The bullshit in the Middle East reminded us of moral complexity the same way Vietnam had earlier.
@@squamish4244
I'd say it's more like some parts of society expressed toxic positivity, but it wasn't always the case at the individual level. Even in the '90s, there was the issues with gang violence, Columbine, and people living in fear of stranger danger/kidnappings and drugs due to the PSAs that were around since the '80s.
Some of this can still be seen now depending on the choices people make in life (some people gravitate only towards positive things to toxic degrees, some people doom-scroll and become pessimistic/nihilistic to their own detriment, and some people try to find a healthy middle ground).
@@Scarshadow666 Maybe. But we also weren't blasted 24/7 with every single negative thing happening in the world all the time, which can really mess with your perspective. So many things happened that we never heard about or would be in the news for one day and then gone forever.
But my statement is also about dramatic television. Doctor, lawyer and cop shows predominated, and sometimes they got serious and a lot of the time they were pretty superficial. Complex psychological studies like Haunting of Hill House just didn't exist, or were rare. Longform storytelling of one giant arc over 10 episodes? Not a chance.
Shows like 'Roots' from the late _70s_ were so rare everyone knew about them. Most of the shit sitcoms even had "very special episodes" to devote to a serious topic and then went back to pushing the reset button every time.
"Each of us, when we fall in love, is giving birth to a ghost" oh that hits hard, and explains some of my emotional unavailability.
Accepting that you'll be change for better or worse.. there are few more beautiful things in this world.
You don't consider yourself as "religious" but spiritual.
Buddhism is gospel to you.
Not only do you diligently follow horoscopes, but The Law of Attraction is also gospel to you.
Incense is almost constantly burning in your home.
Windchimes, plants, and dreamcatchers are also common in your home, but decorated minimalistic.
You're probably a massage therapist, but maybe a nurse.
Avid reader, usually in existentialism and self-help material
Owning a cat is obvious, but you (probably) have 3 pets.
Rarely have you found "a partner" intellectually stimulating enough for very long. (Sapiophile)
You are the "different one" of the immediate family, you feel loved, but also shunned.
Tattoos and piercings.
Don't tell me if I'm right or wrong and don't worry... I have no malice or access to you or your life, nor a desire to... I just want to point out how vulnerable you make yourself to predators. Don't believe me... why do you think the other commenter really posted on your thread?
Protect yourself and open up only to those that deserve it.
@@MarkLewis... Great assumptions. I do have a pet and plants. Other than I think everything else is you... guessing? Hoping? Don't know. I'll open up this much because it's all readily available on the internet.
Atheist, and not at all spiritual. No tattoos or piercings. Horoscopes are nonsensical woo, and I can't think of the last one I paid any attention to.
The Law of Attraction is a despicable philosophy - woo with extra mystical woo on top.
I don't think I've ever read self-help or existentialism, I like hard sci-fi.
I don't have a cat, windchime or dreamcatcher.
I despise burning incense - carcinogenic and irritant.
I'm not a massage therapist or a nurse, or anything particularly close to that sphere of work.
@@Skittenmeow Okay...
@@MarkLewis...lmao what
Midnight Mass doesn't get talked about enough. Fucking masterpiece.
To me, Midnight Mass is the second best (but is still way beyond the masterpiece of Hill House)
Now... Midnight CLUB... I just pretend that one never happened. Did find a single part of that compelling.
Honestly the reveal was insane and masterful. I absolutely loved how unabashedly atheistic it was.
@@selty how was it "unabashedly atheistic"? Its not about whether or not God/Afterlife exists, it's about faith and how its intrinsic to human nature. The ending showcased it perfectly, how even though they were doomed and gave into their new temptations and urges, they still came together in unity and sang hymn in unison based on their faith and found peace in the end, in their own ways. Except Bev lmao, f*ck her, she got what she deserved
Eeeh it was ok, solid at best
@@JabezGill Midnight club is based on a kids series. In fat, the story behind why the original author wrote is pretty heart breaking.
Watching Hill House and Bly Manor breaks my heart and puts it back together everytime. These are my comfort shows alongside Servant (apple tv). They are incredibly sad, filled with trauma but with an hopeful outlook. I always watch them when I am down.
How are they hopeful?
@@buteverybodycallsmegiorgio I think it's because after all the characters go through, the love between them prevails. They still fight, they confront their demons and make peace with their ghosts. As a person that suffers from depression, it gives me so much strenght.
Servant s1 was so good. That episode was so heartbreaking
When Midnight Mass came out, I remember so many reviews complaining about the length of the monologues. This was really confusing to me, because this was the part of the show that truly made it stand out, to me. Don't get me wrong, the rest of the show was amazing and I was expecting it to be as such, coming hot on the heels of haunting of hill house/bly manor. These monologues weren't just beautifully written discourses on death, love and faith, they also gave the actor so many opportunities to showcase their skill without any restriction. Hamish Linklater was especially good at these, I could listen to him go on about his old testament discourse for hours and I would be absolutely entertained throughout. Riley and Erin's discussion of what happens after you die brought me to tears more than once, especially at the very end of the show. I'm a sucker for existentialism and death theming in media, this show found my absolutely weakest spot and pierced it without any mercy. I still honestly think that it is one of the best if not the best show to come out in recent times and it saddens me a great deal that people didn't give it a fair shot because they were expecting a schlocky horror-filled parade of tropes.
Also, on a more general note, the fact that Mike Flanagan is making shows with a beginning, middle and end? In today's streaming culture of keeping shows going for as long as they are profitable regardless of artistic integrity and intention? Fucking amazing.
Incredible! They're satisfying meals.
I cry at every major Flanagan monologue. They just burst me. Erin and Nell's monologues in particular simultaneously give transcendence and catharsis.
I was fully on board for most of them but there were a few times in the show where something was actually urgent and someone started monologuing, for me that was frustrating.
i've only seen hill house and some of midnight mass, and it's strange to me to think some don't view his works as horror. people do tend to have a very narrow view of the genre - mostly as slashers where characters are suffering A Lot. to me, horror is about exploring fears using supernatural/strange elements. if horror can get me to work through my own issues, and show me that i can survive, then that's the best imo. life isn't all about doom and gloom.
Exactly!
To me, Horror is about diving into the dark and exploring it's depths and nuances. So it's ridiculous to expect NOT to learn anything in order to classify something as Horror 🤣
I mean, are we on a quest for shallowness? Because Horror is not a shallow genre, and it never will be!
For me, Midnight Mass is far scarier than your everyday "horror" popcorn slasher since it deals with topics like death, existentialism, and religious zealotism which I find far far scarier than some masked killer dude, even if there were less jumpscares!
Yeah I don’t get why more people don’t see horror as a really wide genre containing multiple sub genres
I have a broad view of what horror can be. But "the ghost is a metaphor for the main character's trauma" is a major eye rolling trope.
True! It kinda reminds me of how people used to debate if The Silence of the Lambs counts as a horror movie, or if it's more of a thriller/crime drama (especially after it won some Oscars). Imo, the Hannibal Lecter movies and TV show counts as a horror franchise due to a lot of the subject matters it covers, but there might be some audiences that didn't personally go through that same "fear factor" to think it counts as horror.
@@eoghanclark165
My guess for why horror was stereotyped to be seen as "shallow" is because it's one of most other genres that doesn't often get critical acclaim unfortunately.
Like the animation medium in most Western countries, most people kinda just assumed all horror media to be slashers or old cheesey monster movies (thanks to the trends that were around since the '40s/'50s for monster movies, and the '80s/parts of the '90s for slashers).
A lot of horror movies that are popular and get acclaim now often didn't get the same acclaim back when they first released too (like with what happened to John Carpenter's The Thing and Ridley Scott's first Alien movie).
TL;DR, how the horror genre has long been treated with a broad brush by critics is part of why critics aren't always the best source to turn to for good art/media. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
It blows my mind that the same guy edited Hill House and RuPaul. Both equally brilliant examples of editing. Early drag race has some of the funniest and most entertaining editing in reality TV EVER.
Anyway. Loved this video. Great job!
Drag Race was so fun before it turned into the thing it was taking the piss out of
@@JC-yy8iv agreed!
Babes dragula will blow you away
I was never a fan of horror but I still remember when I first put Hill House on. I'd decided I'd stop watching it if it got too scary but despite how truly frightening it got at some points, I couldn't. It's an absolute masterpiece and I don't think I'll ever love another show the same way. What got to me was how this show is actually more sad than scary. The jump scares are there but it's more poignant than that.. it's about family and love and grief and loss.
This show was my introduction to the Flanaverse and I watched both shows that came after it. Midnight Mass is my second favourite and Bly Manor, though still good, stood out the least to me. Hill House is my no. 1 and I always go back to it for comfort watching.
13:04 that is exactly why his style is so refreshing. its not like general horror. every project of his has a deep and moving message. you are never really afraid of the ghosts, but of the story and the twists.
Just wanted to comment on that one critic's hot take about Midnight Mass:
Horror depicting a narrative which concludes with hope is not "false comfort". It is very much in keeping with Flanagan's ideas about how, once we confront our ghosts, they stop haunting us. It's a lovely way of looking at horror.
Personally, I find that horror stories which end nihilistically feel very empty for me unless the narrative was truly built around that hopelessness. Something like Oculus or The Descent works because the nihilism is part of the story, but what a lot of people seem to believe is that horror can only work if it is nihilistic. That reduces horror down to a single dimension - Horror is something from which you cannot escape - and I think misses the point of what horror was when it began and what it is best at: exploring our deepest worries and pains, and the ways that we are afraid that they will overtake us. If horror stories can only be nihilistic and atheist in their philosophy, then that robs us of the chance to confront those fears and overcome them. To say that they were bothered that Midnight Mass offered "false comfort" is really myopic and self-centred.
Not to mention that Midnight Mass was meant to be Flanagan's attempt at grappling with his own religious upbringing, so it did not bloody-well matter that this critic felt left out as an atheist. Speaking as an ex-Christian myself, it was not about you, mate.
Of course an atheist critic wants the media to reflect their own nihilism. The narcissism of thinking their opinion is above others is a type of horror in its own right lol
@@nailinthefashion Atheists are not necessarily nihilists...
@@targard.quantumfrack6854 but the overlap is undeniable. A lot are also cynical and edgy lol
@@nailinthefashion Thing is, atheists are not a homogenous group, it's just people who don't believe in any god. There's a lot of insane and edgy people who do believe in a god, some even kill or has killed a lot of people...
@@nailinthefashion a lot of media critics are generally edgy and cynical too
The thing I love about this trio of shows is that my favorite of the three is always whichever one I just watched.
I am not a big fan of spooky shit, but this series resonates with me to the point that I rewatch it every year. It's probably my favorite modern TV season.
Watched The Haunting of Hill House during a time in my life where I felt really lost. It made me realize a lot of things about myself and grief that even almost four years later, it's still on my mind.
I really think the "Flanaverse" should have been named "Midnight Hauntings".
The scene in hill house where the dad in episode 6 when the dad walks in for the viewing and the little girl is in the casket always just breaks me. I can’t watch it without 😢. He’s a genius.
Flanagan is a master of his craft imo and I never realized it ultimately stems from his understanding of editing. Great analysis! I loved Oculus before I even knew who Flanagan was, but when I learned it was his film, the pieces clicked. He has a style unlike anyone else and I absolutely love it.
what makes the haunting of Hill house so genius is simply being a deep Drama about childhood Trauma covered with a mask of horror
I makes me so happy that 4 years later people are still talking about Hill House. I've seen people who cant deal with horror that have decided that Mike Flanagan's work is their one exception. As a queer woman with trauma and mental illness that was inherited and gained in my youth, that's also as a massive film buff his work means so much to me. So whenever I see deep dives and analysis of it I get so excited. I love all of his work for different reasons, picking a favorite is like trying to pick a favorite child. I have a special place in my heart for a few characters however: Luke Crane being the first, I've never seen someone like him portrayed with so much pain and sad truths but empathy. His self soothing method of counting his family members that followed him into adulthood reminded me of my own soothing methods. He also reminded me of my uncle who was a genuinely kind an caring person who thanks to trauma numbed his pain with drugs and alcohol and that ruined a lot of his life and relationships. He's now way older and gotten help and stuck with it and now like Luke he's clean and I'm so proud of him. I also think about Nel Crane and Hannah Gross, a lot. I relate them so much and their stories mean a lot to me. Their kindness, their drive to take care of others but not themselves and the people who enter their lives and say "Let me lighten your load" helped me realize that I needed to do the same thing. Hannah's loop of living the same events over and over after her death reminded me of my own struggle with depression. The fact that Nel was haunted by her own death her entire life, the fact that after all her pain, she still thinks that love and life are worth it. The realization that even though forgiveness can be painful its warm and bittersweet like a tear on a cheek. And that even if it isn't perfect she gets to spend the rest of eternity with her parents that love her so deeply. I'll often call up my best friend and tell her how I thought about the bent neck lady that day and was sad and we talk about it. And my favorite kind of media is the stuff that I continue to think about months and even years after consuming it. And so much thought and care is put into his writing, he takes the people that are often looked down upon in our society and portrays them with an empathetic warm light, even the villains of his stories are extended this courtesy. They're treated like they're people with thoughts, feelings, fears, and good qualities. Everyone knows a Luke and a Nel Crane, everyone knows a Hannah and an Owen, and everyone knows a Riley Flynn.
I love your point about how villains are portrayed in his work. I hadn’t quite put my finger on it before reading your comment, but I think that is one of the biggest things that I appreciate about his work.
@@alexandraw6264 That's one of my favorite parts too!
Love all of Flanagan's work but Hill House is still his magnum opus. Just a perfectly crafted story in every way.
Honestly, if someone feels betrayed by Flannagan's take of horror it's just means they haven't consumed enough horror outside of Hollywood. Hell, even in Hollywood you can find this kind of horror! Flannagan has always been upfront about his major influence: Stephen King.
Btw, I love that you mentioned Lost. Have you read about Flannagan's other major influence? That's right, Lost! ❤
Exactly! Horror does not have to fit into a tiny box
What haunts me is the question why camera lenses are round but the pictures are always square.
The film in the camera is rectangular! Think of how hard it would be to sequence a bunch of circles together on a strip of film without wasting a lot of space
This video made me realized that all the shows that have really had an impact on me recently were all made by Mike Flanagan. Bly Manor is by far my favorite though - had me to tears at a couple points. The Midnight Club almost had me there near the end, too.
I quit Midnight Mass, found it too slow, but started it again and I’m SO GLAD that I did. Really stuck with me. I’ve watched it twice, will watch again soon.
I'm a big horror fan so very little actually scares me. Horrifies, shocks, discomfort etc sure but scare? Not so much. But Flannigans brand of tension building with that quiet creeping terror leaves me shaken everytime. There's also the deep sadness that runs through them. Midnight mass left me sobbing and I was incredibly quiet for a while.
I just came across this video on my youtube Home page feed and as a 20-year film/tv video editor and lifelong film/tv junkie, this video really made my day. I love horror. I especially love the kind of horror Mike Flannagan has made a career out of. It's so good. It's like comparing a hastilly grilled rack of ribs to one made in a 12-hour smoker. The outcome is just so much better when you take your time to let things simmer. Thank you so much for this. Loved it! Subscribed!
Love Mike Flanagan’s works. He also did a fantastic adaptation of Gerald’s Game, which while not his own story, did go into past trauma and how to grapple with it.
That comparison to LOST kinda shook me because I had never even thought about those two in the same day before. But you're so right, the time spent with characters and learning about their past traumas in fully fleshed out episodes is something they both excel at!
Was not expecting a drag race reference in a Hill House review, I had no ide he was involved in the franchise!! Ugh love him even more
The mirror in Oculus is in a lot of his productions, like the background of the rec room where they hold the AA meetings in Midnight Mass.
The Haunting series felt so coherent to me and you’ve put your finger on why.
The sheer writing, editing, music, lore, acting, directing, and the way it all adds up at the end makes it a masterpiece.
Mike is becoming one of my favorite modern horror guy…. Love him even more finding out he used to edit rupauls drag race
wild to me that midnight mass could be considered the least scary of his shows when it was the one that scared me the most
I'm way more afraid of the idea that a human could rapidly shift into hematophagy and sprout wings than ghosts. Most ghosts are friendly lol
But like, cinematography wise too??? So it's wild to me as well
This show fugged me up in the best way possible. So spooky without a bunch of cheap, silly jump scares. You just feel the genuine terror of the characters and get invested into what really happened in the house. I don't know if I was reading too far into it and projecting, but I think there were some very intense themes on generational trauma. I grew up in an abusive and neglectful home, and like the siblings in the show, was affected by what I witnessed whether I wanted to admit it or not. It also portrayed such a realistic view of real life siblings. You love them unconditionally and are bonded to them even if you grow apart as adults, but sometimes you can't stand them and wish they could just do better for themselves without your constant intervention.
06:10 literally made me and my wife scream!! OUT OF NOWHERE!! That was brilliant!!!!
Great video. I love Mike Flanagan’s work. I’ve never been a horror/thriller fan but was hooked by Hill House, especially that long one-take. His stories are absolutely phenomenal and truly make you care about the characters.
6:10 the only jump-scare that ever made me happy. I get squeamish watching intense interpersonal drama like that argument (my first watch of the series was rough), so that jump-scare was more of a relief than anything! I literally said to the screen, "Thank you, Nell!" It felt like she was as frustrated with her sisters as I was.
i love mike flanagans work. he really deserves the hype imo. i loved the midnight club too, but it seems this one is a bit less popular than his other works. hill house is special to me on a personal level because its so relatable to my life.
The Haunting of Hill House is one of the best series i've ever watched! Great analysis man
Of the Flanagan series, this is my second favorite (Midnight Mass being first). Both are sooo damn good!
Was not expecting a Drag Race/Haunting of Hill House crossover video. I had no idea it was the same editor! Great video. 👍
I’m a heroin addict. Mike is the only well-known director & writer that depicts heroin addiction well. He has to take some liberties still, for the benefit of his work, and I don’t begrudge him that. Because not since Trainspotting & Candy have I felt like addiction has been accurately represented. Contrast how grounded & connected his depictions are with, let’s say, Euphoria-which doesn’t earn the emotional depth it tries to force with Rue’s monologues & interactions. I never could finish that show. It’s hard to find anything that makes me go-“wow, I almost don’t want to watch this because I lived it and I don’t want to remember.” Midnight Mass, Haunting of Hill House, Fall of the House of Usher…I wish I could meet his man & shake his hand. He’s in recovery himself, & I hope to one day do as much good for addicts as he’s doing now.
love when my friends send a video to the gc thats already in my watch later lolol ❤ my group has gone thru a lot, and recently we’ve been able to hold on to our bond thru a shared love of horror, literature, and media analysis. we’ve all followed mike flanagan’s work and through it have gained better understandings of each other. this video kinda brings it full circle. im a lil emotional on this thursday night lol
Midnight Mass and Bly Manor are some of my favorite shows that I’ve ever seen. Bly Manor left me sobbing and Midnight Mass left me questioning pretty much everything about my beliefs out of no where.
Great analysis - Thanks.
I love flanagan's work for it's time shifting to help character development. I've watched the Hill House and will start Bly Manor maybe tonight.
Holy shit, I didn't even know that there were other shows beyond Bly Manor by this man! Now I have two whole other shows to watch! Thank you, sir! :D
Hill House, Midnight Mass, and Midnight Club!
Great video! I often say I enjoy horror movies until they show the ghosts, and then they're boring. And I've been struck by just how different Mike Flanagan's ghosts are. I enjoy his style and look forward to watching The Midnight Club
I was never a fan of horror. A friend conviced me to watch Oculus and it was ok. Years later same person convinced me to watch Geralds Game and omg I felt soo bad watching it, like a sense of perpetual dread that other horror films just never made me feel. Then came Hill House and I loved it I couldt explain why but I loved it, Bly Manor was good but then Midnight mass... I felt so uncofortable having been rased in a religion that borded on a cult (Im out now) I felt the danger of the fathers sermons in my core. Im still trying to build up my emotional strengh to re watch it. Most horror things I either get grosed out at the gore or laughing at how implosible they are. But this guy, he just manages to make me feel true dread.
Wow I did not expect to find a haunting of the hill house video on your channel. I love this show!! And your channel :D
Wow! I did not realize all those pieces were Mike Flannagan. I am a very big fan of his work. Great video essay and I like your voice
really great analysis of Flanagan's works! thanks for the insight on his editing techniques :)
One thing that strikes me about Flanagan's work (and the likes of Hereditary) is that he gets that horror is most effective when you care about those enduring it. So much horror treats the characters as secondary and gives us some archetypes as sacrificial lambs. It's spectacle, but it's seldom truly horrifying. In the 70s you had the likes of The Exorcist and The Shining, where character was still central. By the 80s you had slashers with cardboard cutout victims. That continued into the 2000s with the torture porn era (even though the original Saw - unlike Hostel - did put some effort into its characters). Now I feel we're getting some return to character-driven horror.
I've liked or loved all of Flanagan's work, but as far as series goes, it's been diminishing returns. Hill House is my absolute favorite. I find it nearly flawless in presentation. The way the story and underlying mystery are plotted and executed, the number of scares throughout, the character development that makes you feel and invest in each member of the Crain family... I was pretty absorbed the whole way through, and never bored. I've rewatched it a number of times.
Then Bly Manor, I really really liked, but it didn't hit me in quite the same way. I wasn't as invested in many of the characters, but really enjoyed all aspects of it. Except Henry Thomas's British accent. I love that Matthew Holness was in it (and he was GREAT!) but I kind of wish they'd switched things up and had him play the Uncle Henry character. A bit clunky at the end-end, but a really good watch.
Midnight Mass... I've heard Flanagan say something along the lines of 'If you don't like Midnight Mass, then you don't like my work because this is everything I'm about.' I DO like Midnight Mass. I like the questions it raises, and the ideas you're forced to confront. I think the premise is brilliant. The cast is uniformly great, with Hamish Linklater being the standout. I just had trouble accepting the actions of some of the characters in specific moments, which pulled me out of it at times. I won't rehash them here because I've been in enough YT comments "discussions" with folks that see any criticism of a show they love to be an attack on them personally.
The Midnight Club - This was always going to be my least favorite, by nature of it being YA-related, and it not being wrapped up in one season. One thing I've really appreciated about Flanagan to this point is that he tells the story in one go and moves on. I'm just not sure I'm invested enough in these characters to want to sit through 10+ more hours. That said, I did enjoy most of it. I liked that the storytelling aspect within the story not only allowed the characters to give deeper insight into themselves, but also allowed the show to play around with other genres. It was fun, and surprisingly heavy at times, but also the least tonally consistent.
Excited for his The Fall of the House of Usher, which is definitely more in my wheelhouse. And bummed to hear that he's no longer involved in the adaptation of Something is Killing the Children. I was really interested in that because I love the comic and wanted to see what he did with it considering how different it is from his usual style.
Such a great breakdown of how the horror genre can warp and change to fit different media (art, literature, movies, tv, short form like TikTok and Vine for the old folks like me). Love it! Especially the bit about how ghosts don't always have to be there to scare.
Midnight Mass is my absolute favorite Flanagan work, in part because it feels so deeply personal. It was a great springboard into the deep, eye-opening conversations my dad and I have started to have about religion, and our deep seated trauma and issues with established religious institutions, specifically Christian churches in our case. It’s been really helpful.
He directed Hush???? He is literally a genius. I didn’t even notice they were all the same actors!!! Omg. I can place all the actors except for the boyfriend in that movie.
Oh duh I think the boyfriend is who plays Steve in hill house . Wow amazing
I love all his work but Midnight Mass is the one that really speaks to my heart the most. The final monologue of Erin in that is so heartbreaking and uplifting at the same time, I will cry just thinking about it.
Mike Flanagan may not do thrillers or slashers or gore-fests that some people think is all “horror” can be, but he hits the kind of horror that I love square in the face: supernatural, mysterious character drama with the occasional “boo”
All of Flanagan's Netflix shows were about seeing the horror in our lives and accepting that it's a part of it. I don't get people saying that his shows were a betrayal of the horror genre. They are actually a new take to what horror means.
We grew past slasher flicks, creature features, and the paranormal -- that's why recently these type of horror movies tend to flop critically or become repetitively boring or decreasingly horrifying -- into being faced with horrors of the real world like Flanagan's works, Knock at the Cabin, The Visit, Don't Breathe, Black Mirror, and many more.
Nowadays, the real horror lies in what is happening around us in form of trauma and negative human experience without the paranormal or fictional.
Never knew who were behind these master pieces until now Mike Flanagan is a genius! Amazing video, glad I came across you.
The great thing about Mike Flanagan’s works are that they are just so satisfying to watch
Oculus is criminally underrated. I wasn't the biggest fan my first watch; but after Hill House I love it so much more. You can see so much of Mike Flanagan's style in it and oh my gosh the two mains ended up being some of my favourite actors
I personally love Mike Flanagan's work because it feels like it's what we've been leading up to in the genre. With The Babadook and Hereditary, it feels like we've been leading up to this dark, dark horror that, sure, it's filled with things that go bump in the night, but it's like the genre has grown from a child to an adult. What's even scarier than ghosts? Memories, lost love, regrets, mistakes, everything inbetween. And then he asks, how can we make the two of them even scarier together?
My favorite is bly manor. As a lesbian I loved the lesbian love story, it was literally so beautiful and makes me cry like every time I think about it.
But what I really wanted to say that I appreciate about mike Flanagan is the monologues, they're insaaane
My biggest beef with Midnight Mass isn't the messaging (that I didn't like) but rather how Flanagan had made two series that I felt were so fantastically great, so absolutely overwhelmingly excellent that Midnight Mass' opening pitch and promotional material made me imagine a possible twist story that didn't happen. Flanagan basically had to compete with what I imagined he'd do with a different idea, and that's pretty impressive to have inspired.
One of my favourite things about the editing of Midnight Mass is how the creature is initially treated like any other horror monsters where you catch only glimpses, a shadow, a noise from the darkness, and we’re meant to be afraid of it like a movie monster, what it’s going to do and who it’s going to kill and whatnot, but when we’re shown its appearance, fully and clearly, it doesn’t lessen the horror because we’ve already been made less afraid of the creature than of the ordinary people surrounding it.
Today I learned that Mike worked on Oculus. I now see why, after rewatching it years later, it disturbs me
What a great video essay. I finished Midnight Club last night and I think after Bly Manor it's my favorite because of the themes it's tackling of grief and death and confronting fear.
When they asked what RuPaul's drag queen and the bedroom door knob scene from Hill House had in common I thought to myself. To be in either situation would be absolutely horrifying..
incidentally, this is also great advice for spoopy dnd campaigns!
like, i'm not really into horror films, but i love that place where b-movie monsters and camp and social allegory collide into evocative dark fantasy and gothic horror tropes. but of course there's a lot of lines you've gotta walk, mixing your genres like balancing a soundboard in an old theatre. if the monsters just pop up to be defeated, or the artifact just needs to be buried, then you run the risk of either a slog or a stomp and no tension either way. but if you try to maintain movie-level tension over a four to six hour gaming session every other week, then your players may burn out or rebel into absurdity. a focus on characters, and crucially on threading some hope through all the demoralizing anxiety, gives the thing a heartbeat.
which, you know, is ideal for burying under the floorboards to drive you mad. ;)
All the background ghosts in Hill House dotted throughout each episode is what got me, and kept me glued to the screen. It had me catch every detail because I was scanning the screen for every one lol
I need to watch it again because I missed them the first time around.
Oculus. I was so drawn in and the reality bending nature is so well executed. I've seen people call it confusing, but it's meant to be, you're supposed to feel as disoriented as the protagonist. Personally it just made me want to watch it again. And omg the apple...
Yooo, I love this series! Happy to see you covering it!
Wow this was a really good video, I love all of flanagan’s work and this video was so well done in all aspects 💜
haven't even started watching this video, but the title of the video lets me know you're so right about everything you said
The evil mirror from Oculus - The Lasser Glass - appears in the background of the AA meeting in Midnight Mass, during some ritual (haven't seen the scene yet) in Midnight Club, in the hallway next to Gold Room from the Overlook Hotel in Doctor Sleep and in the attic of Ouija Origin of Evil. Its frame is even turned upside down to form the bedframe from Gerald's Game.
It's an awesome design and Falangan makes good use of it.
I liked that Hill House didn't really have many jump scares. Any time that I was bracing for one it was more of a "walk up scare" than a "jump" scare. Or else just sort of leaving it, but not as a misdirect, rather a lingering and knowingness that was more eerie and unsettling than being hit with outright horrific moments
Thank you for telling me he was an editor for Ru Paul. Love his work and love Ru Paul's drag race!
6:09 easily one of the most frightening scenes I’ve experienced in a movie, hands-down
I have never gotten chills quite like I got hearing Mike Flannigan describe falling in love as creating a ghost. Like, a lightbulb in my brain just turned on and then burst, and I'm kind of reeling. I have to go and think about life and shit now. Ta-ta~
I'm normally terrible with horror, but Mike Flanagan does the genre so uniquely. There's ghosts and monsters and serial killers in his works, but often the actual haunting takes place due to grief, isolation and and sorrow. Hill House, Midnight Mass, Doctor Sleep and House of Usher are particularly good at expressing this. Humans created ghosts in every single way, and humans keep them sustained.
Although it’s a small portion of the larger narrative, I feel like implying Flanagan gives too much false hope is just an argument for generating clicks. The dead are still dead, the living have to live with the trauma. Is there a level of hope in the bonds formed by those living through the trauma? Yeah, that usually happens, but it doesn’t lessen the blow of mass death, witnessing suicide, or having a loved one’s mental illness slowly destroy them. Maybe he should’ve had Carla Gugino pop out at the end and drag someone through the decorative stained glass on the front door of Hill House.
The car scene is simple yet awsome! My dad and I screamed simultaneously and right after that the door bell rang.
I never screamed because of a scene. It was so funny xD
This gave me a fantastic idea for that episodical difference between Steve and his mom for one of my own scripts. Thank ya g this vid is great
the scene in 5:47 scared the living shit out of me when i was watching hill house for the first time. i had to pause right after because my heart-rate spiked and i just needed a minute. it was so well-written and well executed, i loved the haunting of hill house and it's also one of my favorite shows
Easily the most effective jump scare ive ever seen
I interpret Mike Flanagan's theme as, "You're not traumatized because you're haunted, you're haunted because you were traumatized." It's the cycle of abuse that Mike really focuses on in a lot of his works and that is the true horror that needs to be stopped. As a queer, non conforming person, I find his work is horror and fits the genre really well. It's just not giving an easy out like, "And then the murderer was killed and all was well once more for our protagonists".
I have never seen a show or movie so perfectly make us empathize with such a depth and variety of issues and characters
omg that RPDR wedge came out of nowhere, and I loved it!
I love the season of Hill House so much.
It was genuinely terrifying to me. The acting was phenomenal. And the story was so heartfelt and interesting.
He is a drama director that chooses to use horror as a medium. Like game of thrones is a drama, using a fantasy background
Ack! Gotta thank you for kicking my butt into gear to go watch Midnight Club. I looooove Flanagan's work but haven't seen the latest series yet! I will watch that and resume this video...
19:15 ???? False comfort???? Yeah it’s so comfortable and easy to face your trauma head on, and it’s totally fake that it doing that can help you in the long run thus making a “happy ending”.
I rewatched it many times and I never get bored of it. A masterpiece indeed
I have suffered episodes from sleep paralysis a bunch of times. When The Haunting of Hill House was released, I was having a hard time and had some anxiety. I remember the first time I saw "The bent neck lady" I freezed. I used to see something very simillar during my sleep paralysis episodes and it felt so real, like it pierced my brain. That show really fucked me up 🤣 but I loved it because the story was so well built, like a intricate tapestry of terror and madness. I enjoyed Blu Manor a lot, and after watching The Fall of the House of Usher I was delighted. It was like a love letter to Poe. This man should be really proud, because he has created really wonderful shows and movies.