The Haunting of Hill House - A Review
By: Mallory Johnson
I recently watched the Netflix show The Haunting of Hill House, and really enjoyed it. This show is season one of The Haunting anthologies, with season two being The Haunting of Bly Manor, which I have also watched (and reviewed). The two shows are unrelated, so you can watch them in any order. I found myself making connections between the two shows. Hill House stars Victoria Pedretti (Bly Manor, You), Hendy Thomas (Bly Manor, E.T.), Carla Gugino (Bly Manor, Gerald’s Game), and more. It follows a family who grew up in a haunted house, and it flashes between past and present. I just want to say right now: MAJOR SPOILER ALERT. I will be discussing major plot twists that happened in the show, so please beware. Also, I want to put in place some trigger warnings for: suicide (it is GRAPHIC, PLEASE be careful), murder, animal abuse (not shown, but discussed), possession, death, ghosts, mental illness, funerals, vomit, overdose, alcoholism, addiction, needles, poison, bugs, thunderstorms, blood, cheating, jump scares, fighting, grief, gaslighting, miscarriage, sexual assault (not shown, but described), incest, child abuse, flashing lights, a skeleton, and gore.
I was surprised at how much I enjoyed The Haunting of Hill House. As I said in my review for The Haunting of Bly Manor, I am not a big horror fan. But Hill House reminded me of the show This is Us (except minus the ghosts and haunted house), which I love. What pulled me into the show was how it flashed between two different time periods. It follows the main five cast members as kids, and then as adults. I really liked how it showed just how dramatically all their trauma affected them. I saw on the Internet that each kid represents the five stages of grief: Nell is acceptance, Steve is denial, Shirley is anger, Theo is bargaining, and Luke is depression.
I was absolutely BLOWN AWAY by the plot twists in this show. The two that shocked me the most was the revelation of the Bent-Neck Lady’s identity, and the revelation of the Red Room. I did not see either of these twists coming, (even though the red room one was hinted at a few times during the show). The writers and directors are truly very creative people. Something that also blew me away in the show was how episode six was shot in only a few long takes. This was Mike Flanagan’s choice, and he wrote, created, and directed the show (and he is also married to Kate Siegel).
Another thing I loved about this show is the familiar faces I saw from Bly Manor. Victoria Pedretti (Dani) played Nell, Kate Siegel (Viola) played Theo, Carla Gugino (The Narrator) played Olivia, Henry Thomas (Henry) played Hugh, Oliver Jackson-Cohen (Peter Quint) played a much more likeable Luke, and Katie Parker (Perdita) played Poppy.
This show was darker, less romantic, and more emotional throughout than The Haunting of Bly Manor. I really enjoyed how it also had LGBTQ+ representation (although I enjoyed the Bly Manor relationship more than the Hill House one). I loved this show, and my overall rating is a solid 9/10. I highly recommend it!