AND arrived on Netflix The fall of the house of Usher, TV series in eight episodes inspired by the master of thrills Edgar Allan Poe. The series is considered the last part of the trilogy The Hauntingmade by Mike Flanagan. Excellently written, shot and acted, it can excite even those who don’t like the horror genre.
The Fall of the House of Usher: the plot
The Fall of the House of Usher tells the story of ruthless Usher family, starting with the twin brothers Roderick and Madeline The Usher brothers founded the empire Fortunato Pharmaceuticals, a giant in the pharmaceutical sector that has based its wealth on the diffusion of painkillers based on Idicodone, a substance that can create addiction. The reference to the company, ea Painkiller and the film awarded in Venice All the beauty and the bloodshed It doesn’t seem purely random.
The family is an empire of privileges and powerthe members appear cynical and unscrupulous (and here, the thought turns to Succession, also for the wickedness of the excellent dialogues). When the heirs of the dynasty begin to die at the hands of a mysterious woman he met in his youth, secrets from the past come to light.
Sauriyan Sapkota (Prospero Usher), Kate Siegel (Camille L’Espanaye), Rahul Kohli (Napoleon Usher), Matt Biedel (Bill-T Wilson, Samantha Sloyan (Tamerlane Usher), Mark Hamill (Arthur Pym) in the first episode of the series. (Credit: Eike Schroter/Netflix).
The first episode of House Usher
The series begins with the funeral of one of Roderick Usher’s sons (Bruce Greenwood), it is not known which one, given that none of Roderick’s six children, from five different mothers, are alive. He is the man, during a confession to the prosecutor Auguste Dupin (Carl Lumby), to unravel the story and he does so by drinking “the most expensive cognac in the world”, in a bottle adorned with diamonds. “A single glass will cost double your annual salary,” he tells prosecutor Dupin.
Bruce Greenwood (Roderick Usher) in one of the episodes of The Fall of the House of Usher (Credit: Eike Schroter/Netflix).
The story then returns back in 1953, with Roderick and his twin sister Madeline, two children dealing with a very sick mother who does not want to consult doctors or take medicine. After her death, her children bury her in the backyard of their home. But the mother will come out of the grave and he will reveal himself before them, before going out into the rain and heading towards the house of his former boss, who he will kill.
Roderick recounts the family’s misdeeds and the corpses of his children torment him because of a curse which is handed down from father to son. During the story, an intricate network of deceptions, ambitions and tensions emerges, leading to a terrifying and gruesome epilogue.
The Fall of the House of Usher: characters
Directed, scripted, edited and produced by the American Mike Flanagan, specialist in the horror genre, The Fall of the House of Usher it is not a simple adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe’s story, but traces the entire work of the master of thrills. In addition to the story that gives it its title, the series is also inspired by The Mask of the Red Death, The well and the pendulum, The Raven And The telltale heart.
Among the characters, Roderick Usher he is the breadwinner of the Usher family and the CEO of Fortunato Pharmaceuticals. He will give his children every resource, but not affection.
Madeline (Mary McDonnell) is Roderick’s twin. A very intelligent, determined and calculating woman, Madeline has always been the mastermind behind the Fortunato empire. Whenever her brother falters, she supports him. Arthur Gym is the enigmatic lawyer of the Usher family.
Juno Usher (Ruth Codd) is Roderick’s drug-addicted wife. (Credit: Eike Schroter/Netflix)
Prosecutor Auguste Dupin he has known the Ushers for decades. He is the good, brilliant, honest and determined character.
And then there they are the six children: the firstborn Frederick (Henry Thomas), is the natural heir of the company, but the least suitable to manage it. The second daughter is Tamerlane. Among the illegitimate children, Victorine he dedicated himself to supporting others. Napoleon Leo he is a patron of video games, a drug-addicted play boy. Camille L’Espanaye manages public relations for the family. Perry he is the youngest.
Samantha Sloyan (Tamerlane Usher) in one of the episodes of the series. (Credit. Eike Schroter/Netflix)
The Fall of the House of Usher: the review
The first and eighth episodes refer to The RavenPoe’s best-known poem, titled respectively A Midnight Dreary And The Raven, quoting the poem itself. Furthermore, the character played by Carla Guginoa supernatural entity that seems intent on taking revenge on the entire Usher clan for reasons that we will probably discover – it’s called Verna, anagram of the English word Raven. Verna is a demoness whose origins can be traced back to a very famous Poe character. Roderick and Madeline met this mysterious woman on a fateful night in their past.
The Netflix TV series The Fall of the House of Usher premiered at Fantastic Fest, review of horror, science fiction and fantasy cinema, where it was welcomed by a blaze of positive reviews. Well-placed criticisms: the series flows well, is well shot, set and acted. The dialogues are very dense, with salient sarcastic veins. A well written and thought out serieswhich will appeal even to those who don’t like horror.
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