OMG - you like scary stuff? My wife just binge watched this and man is it good (in a scary sort of way)!!

Full disclosure - I do not care for scary movies/shows, they're rather comedic to me.

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Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House is one of my favorite books of all time. Robert Wise's 1963 adaptation The Haunting is my favorite horror film of all time. As such, I was a little disappointed that this show is Hill House in name only, with a seriously bloated story to stretch the original tidy gothic spooky tale to a 10-episode series, and just a few nods to the original source.

That said, the show is decently creepy and unnerving - something very difficult to accomplish in this day of digitally shot modern horror shows with CGI. It gets pretty creative. There isn't non-stop quick cuts and shaky cam that plague modern shows. That episode 6 that only used around 4 shots total was really impressive, especially since it required 5 kid actors to all act, hit their marks, and remember their lines in one long take.

Overall, I'm fairly impressed. It ain't Hill House, but you pretty much have to use pre-licensed titles and rebooted series these days in order to generate any interest. Nobody would check out this show if it was called some generic unfamiliar title.

I tried this with my wife. I couldn't follow it because there are too many characters in too many stages of life. Who's who? I have no idea which kid is which adult. Maybe there not enough backstory to get acquainted. I made it through 2 episodes, when does it get scary?

Thru 3 episodes I'm really enjoying this series.

Yup... The house that was used is within walking distance of me.

Watched the filming take place here and in town, where secondary scenes were shot.

I was excited for it. Liked the first few episodes. Got bored with it about halfway through but finished it.

Some good scary scenes at first. Some episodes quite dull and all the interpersonal soap opera dialogue made it hard to watch. Finished it last night and it was just okay. Wife and daughter loved it.

My wife is obsessed with it, but I fall asleep every episode. I have no idea how it got such high ratings.

If you have a short attention span, you won't like it.

How many "hidden" ghosts did you all see? There are TONS of visual things in backgrounds or even foreground that the phone obsessed or attention deficient won't notice.

quote:

Originally posted by KevinCW:
If you have a short attention span, you won't like it.

How many "hidden" ghosts did you all see? There are TONS of visual things in backgrounds or even foreground that the phone obsessed or attention deficient won't notice.

Kind of the opposite of what one watches scary movies for, no?

I started watching and the first episode pretty much fit the negative comments I'm seeing. Maybe I'll pick it back up later, not a high priority for sure.

quote:

Originally posted by Ripley:

quote:

Originally posted by KevinCW:
If you have a short attention span, you won't like it.

How many "hidden" ghosts did you all see? There are TONS of visual things in backgrounds or even foreground that the phone obsessed or attention deficient won't notice.

Kind of the opposite of what one watches scary movies for, no?

I started watching and the first episode pretty much fit the negative comments I'm seeing. Maybe I'll pick it back up later, not a high priority for sure.

Well, I'd hope that you aren't watching scary movies for subtlty.

I was referring to "hidden ghosts" IN ADDITION to the obvious ones. Supposedly there are over 48 background hidden ghosts that are NOT the ones the director intended everyone to see. Having looked at the article and seen the still shots, it sufficiently creeped me out even more and made me respect it more.

The attention to detail is pretty awesome.

With that said, keep watching.


The first one was slow, I'll admit, it was setup.

2 points, is that the first 5 episodes, all follow one of hte five children, from oldest to youngest, from lease affected/believing in paranormal, to most fucked up...

It makes more and more sense as you go along.

And yes, you HAVE TO PAY ATTENTION. Or you will be beyond lost.

TBH after two episodes now, interest is flagging.

I particularly don't like the cast, seems to be refugees from a day time soap opera. They all just have that look. As mentioned above, the children are really annoying. They aren't the only bad actors, three separate characters couldn't look past the camera as their gazes shifted. A split second of looking at the camera is a real pet peeve for me, sticks out like a sore thumb and ruins the scene. I hold the director responsible and have to question all his choices.

Overall, the dialog is flat and yes, slow. Cheap thrills with lurching moves, "dreams?", ok at best gore. I called the first bug out of the mouth, just a guess but yep, that's it.

I suppose if the ad hype hadn't been so over the top, I'd be more accepting of all this but it sure isn't what I was expecting.

Its trying to be This is Us but with ghosts. The back and forth timeline, the mysterious death of a parent, the family dynamics. The absentee parenting in the house is somewhat bothersome and how many times do your kids have to wake up screaming for you to do something. Their disbelief of the girl finding the basement was really stupid.

All that said, I don't really hate it. It's sufficiently creepy amd I kinda like the cast. I like tgat they chose actors who all look like they really could be related, especially all of the females.

I'm 5 episodes in and really like it. I agree the basement thing was kinda stupid (no one ever wondered where the dumbwaiter went?) but other than that I think it's really well scripted. It's a show that makes you think and try to guess what's next. I wasn't sold at first but I'm glad I stuck with it.

Would recommend, was entertained.

We finished it last night. Overall I enjoyed it.

Finished it this morning. Great final episode!

Anyone think they will try to do a second season?

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I finally slogged through this. Related to above comments, kind of "This Is Us" meets "The Shining" without the memorable or particularly likable characters. Adequate at best, not up to the breathless hype for sure.

I kinda knew what came next or close enough throughout. Minor **spoiler** How could the survivors possibly find any peace and hope for a remotely well-adjusted future? Not a satisfying and convincing finale.

It was bad, boring, and only the episode about the hanging lady was good. rest i dont remember