‘The Fall Of The House Of Usher’ Series Is A Celebration Of Poe & The Brilliance Of Mike Flanagan
Bless The Fall of the House of Usher series in this trying time for gifting us with Carla Gugino's Verna, the horror series embodiment of the karma sung about in Taylor Swift's upbeat hit. She's a beautiful goddess, striking down the villains for their dastardly deeds. And she does it all while looking fabulous.
I binged Mike Flanagan's The Fall of the House of Usher series while sick with Covid-19, which is not at all an indictment of this work, because I was eagerly anticipating watching it regardless. I don't know if the sickness enhanced my emotions, like that ADHD desire for justice, but I found this series to be everything I wanted and more. As a Poe fan watching The Fall of the House of Usher felt like what it must feel like for Marvel fans to see all of the clues, references, and Easter eggs in each film.
The Fall of the House of Usher (1839) is the show's through-line, framing the narrative of the series, with each episode's plot filled in with other beloved Poe works, like 1841's "The Murders in the Rue Morgue," 1842's "The Pit and the Pendulum," and 1846's "The Cask of Amontillado." The poem "Annabel Lee," makes more than one appearance in the show. Roderick often says it to his former love, Annabel Lee. At first I thought it was romantic, but Roderick often says it when he wants to distract or silence her. You may notice other allusions to Poe's work, and to Flanagan's, like a reference to The Bent-Neck Lady from The Haunting of Hill House, another series that immediately became an instant classic.
The state of the world today is the scariest I've ever known it. It's hard to talk about certain things without launching into a rant about the scam of the US healthcare system, the joke that is our "justice" system, or how the government has so little semblance of humanity at this point that it seems with each passing day The Purge becomes a more real possibility. More often than not I just get shushed, and the subject is changed. But then you watch something like The Fall of the House of Usher, and it's like, at least I'm not alone in feeling this way. Isn't that one of the things that makes horror so great? It can be an escape, a burst of adrenaline, or a major catharsis.
The Fall of the House of Usher follows patriarch Roderick Usher (Bruce Greenwood), head of a multi-billion dollar pharma company, Fortunato, and the creator of the drug Ligodone, which launched an opioid crisis not unlike the very real one this country is currently facing. Life has been sweet for the rich and powerful family, but a reckoning is coming, in the form of the Red Death herself, Verna (Gugino). This fate has long been due, and it will not be stopped, not by money, power, intimidation, or any of the Usher family's other tactics of choice. Even their infamous strong arm, Arthur Gordon Pym, or "The Pym Reaper" (Mark Hamill) cannot save the family from this.
The first episode, "A Midnight Dreary," sets the stage for the blood bath to come. It introduces the Ushers, gives a taste of their many sins against God and humanity, and their ruthlessness, with lines like, "Neutralized, like dead." The episode's title, of course, is a line from Poe's "The Raven," and the majestic and eerie bird will be a symbol found throughout the series. There is death in the first episode, but the real carnage begins in episode two, called, "The Masque of the Red Death," based on the short story Poe published in May 1842.
The Fall of the House of Usher pulls no punches, and there was clearly a tremendous amount of thought put into how each member of the family would die. Their deaths are dramatic, jarring, and even color-coded. They each go in a way that feels symbolic, and almost, appropriate. For example, it makes sense that Camille, the perpetual digger of dirt, would lose her life in the pursuit of blackmail. It didn't quite have to be as gnarly as "having her face ripped off" by a chimp, but, as Verna says, "Here we are." On the other end of the spectrum, Lenore was young, innocent, and good-hearted, and so her passing was mercifully peaceful.
Haters may call it woke, but it's also much more. It's gruesome, unsettling, dark, and at times, so damn bleak. Flanagan really knows how to craft the most beautiful and yet grotesque imagery, the kind that makes you want to turn away, but also not miss a moment? The lead-ups to each of the deaths are exquisite. You know they're coming, but how will each person go? Will it be bloody? Artistic? Will they actually show it, or leave the grisliest parts to the imagination? In this, I believe, The Fall of the House of Usher absolutely delivers, like a great Final Destination movie.
Malcolm Goodwin (iZombie) is heartbreaking as a young C. Auguste Dupin, a zealous and determined nice guy about to find out the hard way that nice guys finish last. Playing Dupin in his older years, Carl Lumbly commands a room, compelling you with his genuine emotion to feel how he feels, after years of chasing this powerful man who seems beyond reproach. Fans of Flanagan will recognize the familiar faces of the usual suspects, like Gugino, Samantha Sloyan, and his wife, Kate Siegel, who once again commands my attention as the problematic queer crush.
The Midnight Club's Ruth Codd is delightful as the all too self-aware second wife of Roderick Usher, Juno. She wants to bond with the family, but for the love of God don't call her Grandma. She dresses like a trendy Stepford Wife, but talks more like a Gen Z Samantha Jones. Her stepchildren may heartlessly call her the "junkie," but Juno really brings heart to the Usher family, not unlike Lenore. She's also a great source of comic relief, like when she turns to her seat neighbor at the Goldbug subscription box presentation and says, "Watch. Mine's full of poo." A scene in which Pym explains the realities of security camera footage - Enhance "isn't really a thing" - is another personal favorite.
Fans of the criminally underrated Scream: The TV Series will be happy to see Willa Fitzgerald as the younger version of the unflappable Madeline Usher. She's blunt, fashionable, and intimidating af. She's evil, yes, but you also kind of love her for it? To round out the impressive trio playing Madeline at various stages is horror queen Lulu Wilson, known for killer performances in two superior horror sequels, Ouija: Origin of Evil and Annabelle: Creation, as well as The Haunting of Hill House, Becky, and The Wrath of Becky.
I've watched this series through a full two times now, and I doubt that will be the last. There is such a beautiful melancholy to Flanagan's work that is absolutely haunting in the best way. Every time you watch The Fall of the House of Usher you pick up on something different, another deep cut Poe reference, an Usher witticism, the way the death scenes are color-coded. Netflix needs to pay its actors fairly, so I'm hesitant to recommend streaming it, but let's just say I would be first in line to buy a The Fall of the House of Usher DVD box set.
