Edgar Allan Poe is a name that often comes up in the world of the macabre. He is known for his works in American gothic fiction and stands as an unparalleled name when it comes to discussing works centered on the themes of madness, supernatural beings, and death.The Fall of the House of Usherwas originally ashort story written by Poe in the 1830s. It is a Gothic story that is centered around the Usher family, which is struck by a series of disturbing events. The original story focuses more on the story of Roderick and Madeline Usher, and their eventual demise.
The Netflix adaptation of this psychological taleis brought to the screen by Mike Flanagan, known for his works onThe Haunting of Hill HouseandThe Midnight Club.While it centers around the same obsession with riches and can be regarded as a loose adaptation, there’s a lot that has been changed about this story. Other thanThe Fall of the House of Usher, this show makes references to other of Poe’s works, such asThe RavenandThe Goldbug,making it the ultimate ode to Edgar Allan Poe’s work. However, while the show is a masterpiece in itself, it falls short of delivering on the horror front, and here are 10 reasons why:
The Costume Designs Were Typical
Costumes play an important role in how the audience perceives the characters and their story. Think of critically acclaimed Netflix films likeThe NunorThe Haunting of Bly Manor, and the costumes of the ghost or demon were probably one of the major takeaways.
However,The Fall of the House of Usher’sdelivery on that front falls flat. The costumes feel like your everyday collection from the mall, with little to no personalization or representation of each character.Because of the costumes, the characters feel so mundane, and the story and, thereby, its scare factor feels that way too. For example, every time Verna comes to ‘‘kill’’ the children, she’s dressed in normal or highly designed clothing, making the audience feel more attracted to the clothing than the story or what the character is trying to do.
The Makeup Was Too Basic
There was a time when zombie-esque makeup from the likes ofThe Walking Deadfelt scary. But today? Not so much. While makeup plays a major role in delivering the right amount of horror, it’s easy to overdo it and have it appear almost funny. This show might have steered towards the latter. For example, although Eliza Usher was recently buried, and it could be the reason why she has a zombie-like appearance, but it could’ve been better to add more horror. She could’ve been like the bent-neck lady fromHaunting of Hill House,or just shown from afar while mindlessly staring at her kids. Instead, she looked like a normal living being with just a lot of grey makeup on.
The Jump Scares Were Old News
While the show has plenty of jump scares to land it in the horror genre, there is little to no sense of sustained horror throughout the show. Viewers get the eventual heart-in-their-throat feeling in every episode, but there is no heart-thumping anticipation you get from supernaturally scary elements. For example, during the funeral, Roderick Usher can be seen looking behind him and finding all of his dead children looking back at him from a high balcony-like area. Personally, they were too far away to make any impact. It’s like you know that if something is too far away, they can’t hurt you. It only works when something is closing on the character or just standing too close to begin with. If Roderick had seen his dead children right of in front or next to the priest while he talked, then it could’ve made a bigger impact.
There was another scene when Roderick looked into his car and saw Jester just staring at him, and he faints. This doesn’t work well because, well, it’s a clown sitting very uncomfortably and staring at him as if he wants to say, ‘‘Your seat is very uncomfortable’’, or ‘‘Get in loser, we’re going’’. It would’ve worked better if his dead body with no eyes sat there and looked back at him.
As a viewer, one might feel the scariness dissipate as quickly as it came about. While that works particularly well for a few episodes in this show, it gives off a feeling of repetitiveness at times.
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It Was Too Predictable
The first episodes of the show set the premise for the entire show. It begins with the Usher patriarch, Roderick, confessing to a prosecutor; something about how his entire family is dead and how it is his fault. Viewers hear about a deal that he made with a mysterious woman; as a result of which he became largely successful (and rich), but years later, he and his family have to pay.
Not that the concept is not entirely original, everyone knows how it goes down (does Dr. Faustus ring any bells?). So the audience has a fair idea of what’s going to happen: everyone in the usher family will die. Taking away the suspense from a horror movie does a lot to dilute it. While each of the deaths becomes increasingly unsettling, they’re not exactly surprising.
Too Many Characters
Watching a TV show should be a simple affair, one shouldn’t have to use too much of their brain going into it.The Fall of the House of Usherhad just waytoo many charactersto keep track of. Once the viewers get a grasp on the main cast, there’s Jester, Verna, and Madeline, leaving them scratching their heads wondering, “Who are these people?“All of these mind games keep the audience from really investing in the show, making the horror factor less effective progressively. Instead of focusing the horror aspect, the audience is busy trying to remember who they’re talking about. The confusion takes the scary part away. '
Too Much Sex
While a certain level of nudity and sex is expected in any show of this age, this particular show might have overdone it a tad bit. There is way too much sex and nudity in this show, which doesn’t contribute much to the story. For example, during the scene when Prospero first arrives at Fortunato’s old lab building, he finds Verna staring at him from the top of the building, just like a ghost. There is an eerie vibe and scary music.
To add to that, she also appears to him in the red room, where she could’ve shown elements of horror, such as her true face or a hint of future corpses surrounding them. It could’ve added an expectation of something horrifying coming Prospero’s way. However, that immediately gets washed down by sexual scenes between them, with her being reduced to a messenger and the young Usher’s death being his own fault. For fans, this was very anti-climatic.
More Gore Than Chills
Going by the same point as above, gore can only be scary when there are elements of horror attached to it. With the horrifying death of Prospero being his own fault, even the smallest specks of horror are gone, and the only thing left is gore. It makes fans wonder why Verna is even there during most deaths, when they are something that is bound to happen naturally anyway.
Another example of that is when Leo Usher finds the dead body of his boyfriend’s cat. The feline’s intestines are ripped out, and the scene is accompanied by a loud ‘thud’ sound. There’s nothing scary about that scene, and the sound effects are not worth adding there.
In conclusion, there is a different level of horror that one gets from supernatural occurrences and strange things happening, pulling viewers to the edge of their seats, and anticipating what happens next. That’s not what you get in this show.You get horrifically detailed scenes of death, featuring a lot of blood and gore, which is squeamish, yes, but not scary.
It Was Way too Tragic
While the tragic premise works wonders in terms of story for this show, it doesn’t do much for the scare factor. If this show was labeled as a tragedy, it would’ve made more sense. For example, Roderick starts off with a confession that ultimately causes the downfall of his empire, killing each of his children, who had nothing to do with their father’s poor choices. There’s just something so poetically tragic about how the family falls into ruins with no path to redemption, but it’s not scary.
It would’ve made more sense if he had initially talked about or even dropped hints about his ‘‘deal with the devil’’, and how the devil is lingering around, just waiting to have a taste of his soul.
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Poor Character Development
What viewers loved aboutThe Haunting of Hill Housewas how the characters developed throughout the show, making them more invested in their stories and their lives. However, the characters of this show were exaggerated, unrelatable rich kids who were downright awful. The only thing we get to learn in detail about these characters is their sexual preferences, and that’s not what the majority of the audience sat down for.
For example, there was a bit of backstory given for Roderick’s mother and her obsession with Christianity. And while she was sick, there were big Christian crosses added to every corner of her room. Elements of horror kept building as she got more sick and deranged. It gave majorThe Conjuringvibes. Then, when she crawled her way out of the grave, fans could feel immense chills for what’s about to happen. That’s literally the peak horror given by this show.
While badly written characters could beredeemed with good actingto a certain extent. One can’t help but notice that, except for Carla Gugino and Eliza Usher, all the characters are super forgettable. One can’t really connect with thestory of these charactersor their dysfunctional family. Another example could be that when demons or ghosts haunt a certain person, they usually come with reasons. Such as wanting their souls.
The Expectations Were High
All in all,The Fall of the House of Usherisn’t a bad show. It’s actually pretty good in terms of poetic storytelling and drawing parallels to the themes in Edgar Allan Poe’s work. One of the reasons it failed to deliver was probably the high expectations the audience had for Mike Flanagan.
Fans ofThe Haunting of Hill HouseandThe Haunting of Bly Manorwent into this show expecting the same level of thrill and delivery, but this show might have failed them in that context. This feels like a melodramatic soap opera where there seems to be endless talking and an apparent lack of horror elements once acclaimed in Mike Flanagan’s shows.
