Joy Score
8.3 / 10
The Haunting of Hill House is an American supernatural show that is based on the genre of horror drama. The story is based on the 1959 novel of the same name by Shirley Jackson. The story plot substitutes between two agendas, following five adult siblings whose eerie and horrific paranormal experiences at Hill House continue to haunt them in the present day, and flashbacks portraying events leading up to the eventful night in 1992 when the family fled from the mansion.
All started in the summer of 1992 when Hugh and Olivia Crain and their five children—Steven, Shirley, Theodora, Luke, and Eleanor (Nell)—shift into Hill House in order to reconstruct the mansion so that they can trade it and build their own house, designed by Olivia. However, due to uncalled for repairs, they have to stay longer, and they begin to come across increasing paranormal phenomena, resulting in a massive loss and the family fleeing from the house. Twenty-six years later, the Crain siblings and their estranged father reunite after another tragedy resumed and confronted them again, and they are forced to handle and deal how their time in Hill House has affected each of them.
The Haunting of Hill House slowly results in a charming masterpiece filled with sorrow and longing. With some mesmerizing acting in particular from Carla Gugino as the mother of the Crain family, the series shows the tragic events played out in Hill House around 20 years prior and the stain they left behind. Every episode oozes emotion, creating a bunch of characters so frail and fickle you can see them in yourself. This is perhaps the greatest strength of the series, as every character is completely unique with strong and subtle thoughts, feelings, and actions. This creates extraordinary depth within the show as a whole which is essential to link such wide-ranging characters together.
Each actor performed fantastically and most of them have had a previous memorable performance in different critically acclaimed horror movies directed by the same director, like Carla and Henry in Geralds Game, Kate Siegel in Hush, Gerald's Game, and Oculus. Good team performance among stars and directors was crucial to the success of this web series.
