Horror is the most challenging genre to find pure entertainment in, especially on Netflix, the movies are a dime a dozen and finding the gems are like searching for a needle in a haystack. And I enjoy the patriarchal masked man taking his frustrations out on womankind with a machete or scissorhands, I find myself wanting more class and nuance with what scares me. And the TV shows are even more disparaging, Netflix did the right thing adapting the 1959 novel to television. It’s poetic and logical in it’s presentation and episode order, and stylish in it’s cinematography and scares.

The Haunting of Hill House is about the five Crain siblings, their shared childhood marred by the traumatic death of their mother, affecting their everyday lives as they’re forced to deal with such a tragedy again as adults. The first five episodes are dedicated to each Crain child during the summer they stayed at Hill House in the order of Oldest to Youngest, exploring their individual perspective and purposely distinguishing them from the rest of the ensemble. The impressive present day Crain’s performances getting a steroid boost from the past versions made up of children from the ages of 6 to 12.  Steven, Shirley, Theodora, and the twins Eleanor and Luke.

The most talented adult is by far Eleanor, played Victoria Pedretti, who either looks the most terrified during her spells of sleep paralysis, or the most terrifying as her personal demon manifesting itself as the broken neck lady. Her child counterpoint is adorable, but admittedly leaves something to be desired, but the character dynamic is the perfect example of the exemplary story telling device at play. The binge method is perfect for this story, jumping through time scene by scene seamlessly, artfully telling the wonderfully melancholic story, Eleanor’s episode skipping around from the day of her wedding in 2016 to the day they moved into to Hill House in 1992, tea parties with mom to driving her brother to rehab, all the way to her inevitable fate, somehow coming full circle.

Once all five kids are fleshed out people raw with guilt and grief, once their psychosis has been laid to bear and you debate between rather it’s mental illness, a haunting, or both. The real fun begins, the first episode that brings all five Crain kids together is outrageously brilliant, the entire episode having the nerve to be a single one shot scene with only two or three obvious cuts. I’m biased here because the quickest way to my heart is a one shot scene, especially with the rock hard foundation the show broke it’s neck to build. Playing out like the culmination of what they envisioned when they decided to make this show, all five establish characters coming together for priceless interactions that write themselves. The history between them all make them seem alive.

Despite my praise, don’t think that every Crain shines, I think the youngest boy, Luke, drug addled to cope with the fearful encounters he had with ghosts as a child. I found both performances, child and adult versions,  the weakest among the cast. The kid s looks ridiculous in those big ole glasses and the adult version plays the addict well enough, but comes off unlikable and illogical to me. He’s only saved by the camera work that brings his illustrates his pain better than the actor can portray.

The cinematography is a treat for the eyes, but it’s also so sweetly deceptive, trickery hiding ghosts and perpetual scares like running gags. And when Hill House is really trying to scare you it’ll force you to look at things you don’t want to have to stare at, the slow burning visages keeps you unsettled and even the staunchest horror fan will twinge in suspense.

Representation is also lacking, besides a touching relationship with a black husband, casting is always a conscious decision an the Crain’s could be Pacific Islanders for all I care. But this is a story where they can be allowed to stay as is, no other ethnicity would stay in that house.

And the best part of all is the existential fears they force us to face, I was scared to go to sleep and be paralyzed just because I empathize with them so much. Seeing the process a mortician goes through to arrange a body being for a funeral is actually unsettling when you reflect on your own mortality. And just being afraid of your family or your own sanity, such real fears. Sometimes it’s hard to tell what’s real and what’s fake for them.

Standout Episodes of Season One:

Episode Two, Open Casket: Bet you’re scared to die, me too. Be reminded you crazy kid!

Episode Five, Bent-Neck Lady: The best story out of the five kids, Sleep Paralysis trigger warning, I was certainly triggered.

Episode Six, Two Storms: Don’t blink, you’re not going to want to miss a second of this unending collision of all five characters and Dad! It’s amazing and what I look for in a TV show.

The season ends less than gracefully, so many built up story lines piling up on each other in the end. Hard to imagine what Season Two will look like because my god even they won’t step foot back in there. I’m thinking they’ll explore the history of the house, the ghost ultimately being people in their own right, bizarre and horrifying, but with their own details to share.

Me and Ashley have yet to think up a score system yet, so if I had to eye ball it.

9/10!

In a nutshell, interlocking performances are to die for, and a good scare will keep you hooked until the very end. Timothy Hutton is underutilized, the only actor on the show I recognized, but whatever! Honor and a privilege to consume this caliber of television, biggest complaints coming towards the end is a compliment in itself.