The Haunting Of Hill House is the legit best Netflix series since the first season of Stranger Things

[CousinsCowgirl84]

i started watching this after reading this topic and about 10 minutes in i seriously considered moving on, it’s a little rough there, but it got better and better and the ending of the first episode gave me chills like i haven’t gotten in a long time. 

[TD_washingtonredskins]

I actually needed to get into the middle episodes before I couldn't stop. Other people's insistence is what got me through the first 3. I'm glad I stayed because I got hooked. 

 

There are CHILLING parts all the way through. 

[Spaceman Spiff]

I'm dropping out.  I made it through 5 episodes and I really don't get it.  I'm not saying I haven't been scared by movies or tv shows before because I absolutely have.  I will sleep with the lights on if I have to watch The Shining, for example.

 

But I didn't find anything scary here.  Nothing moved the needle.  A group of kids who hear and see things every time they're in bed and then again as adults, it got predictable after awhile.  Still didn't like the characters, especially the older sister after the big blow-out fight at the morgue.  Unfortunately none of the rest of them had any redeeming qualities to keep me hooked.  

[TD_washingtonredskins]

2 hours ago, Spaceman Spiff said:

I'm dropping out.  I made it through 5 episodes and I really don't get it.  I'm not saying I haven't been scared by movies or tv shows before because I absolutely have.  I will sleep with the lights on if I have to watch The Shining, for example.

 

But I didn't find anything scary here.  Nothing moved the needle.  A group of kids who hear and see things every time they're in bed and then again as adults, it got predictable after awhile.  Still didn't like the characters, especially the older sister after the big blow-out fight at the morgue.  Unfortunately none of the rest of them had any redeeming qualities to keep me hooked.  

 

Interesting - to each his own, I guess. 

 

This is the type of "horror" that scares me more than mainstream stuff. For example, movies like Sinister, Insidious, etc. scare me more than a Halloween or Friday the 13th. Maybe you're the same way, just trying to see if maybe that's part of it. 

 

I think what makes this show compelling is that the characters aren't very likable. All are flawed. In some ways, it's a family drama wrapped into a haunted house backdrop. 

[Spaceman Spiff]

32 minutes ago, TD_washingtonredskins said:

 

Interesting - to each his own, I guess. 

 

This is the type of "horror" that scares me more than mainstream stuff. For example, movies like Sinister, Insidious, etc. scare me more than a Halloween or Friday the 13th. Maybe you're the same way, just trying to see if maybe that's part of it. 

 

I think what makes this show compelling is that the characters aren't very likable. All are flawed. In some ways, it's a family drama wrapped into a haunted house backdrop. 

 

Well, horror films for me are low on my list, it's not my wheelhouse.   I've seen Halloween (the original) probably 2 or 3 times, same with Friday the 13th.  There's something about those movies that make them scary, part of it is the time that they were made.  Gritty, grainy, dark, low light film, and low budget is a good for scary films, for me at least.  With this show, everything was perfect.  Perfect lighting, perfect colors, perfect camera work, perfect special effects...rarely in real life do we get to see anything so perfect.  And so from a realism perspective when it comes to the visuals, it's another thing that kinda lost me.  They had this big ass house that was supposed to be haunted and creepy but at the same time there wasn't a spec of dust anywhere to be found.  Like when the kid was under the bed and that thing was floating around the room, it was the cleanest under the bed area a kid has ever had. IIRC, there weren't any deep shadows or visuals for the kid to play with.  From a believable perspective and what they were trying to sell...it wasn't believable.  

 

I agree, the characters weren't overall likable but I was getting to like the sister that was the child shrink and the brother who was the heroin addict.  I actually liked him a bit.  Couldn't stand the sister who was doing the mortician work, but I just think I didn't liked the actress.  

 

These things said,  I don't really have a refined palette for horror films.  Don't get me wrong, I like them but they're never my first choice.  But if a group of people want to watch one, I'm down.  Kinda like Chinese food.  

 

 

[TD_washingtonredskins]

@Spaceman Spiff I completely understand. 

 

I HATE that actress and every character she plays too. I think she was in Grey's Anatomy a long time ago when I used to watch that (I'm talking 7-8 years ago now). I know she was in Season 6 of Mad Men and I hated her in that role too. I don't know what it is, because when I step back and look at it objectively, I think she's a good actress. She just has a quality about her that I don't like. 

[Springfield]

I have two episodes left, ima finish this joint tonight!

 

Cant wait to read all the hidden text in this thread.

[Springfield]

So... spoilers I suppose.

Spoiler

I wasn’t a huge fan of the ending.  I was definitely expecting more of a mind****.  I was hoping that Luke died and then they made you think they got out but really they didn’t and they all died.

 

Papa smurf sacrificing himself for his kids is pretty obvious.

 

Somwthing like... papa smurf was dead all along, or they were all dead all along, or death WAS actually real life and it was great.  Something.

 

Happy ending with a bow.  Whatever.  Kinda sours the rest of it for me a little.

 

[Momma There Goes That Man]

6 minutes ago, Springfield said:

So... spoilers I suppose.

  Reveal hidden contents

I wasn’t a huge fan of the ending.  I was definitely expecting more of a mind****.  I was hoping that Luke died and then they made you think they got out but really they didn’t and they all died.

 

Papa smurf sacrificing himself for his kids is pretty obvious.

 

Somwthing like... papa smurf was dead all along, or they were all dead all along, or death WAS actually real life and it was great.  Something.

 

Happy ending with a bow.  Whatever.  Kinda sours the rest of it for me a little.

 

 

Nah I disagree. This was more than just horror or spookiness. The show had pretty deep themes as well as a lot of heart wrenching moments. The ending was meaningful and impact and stayed true to the writing throughout the season. 

 

It wasn’t about the scary stuff. It was about the family and the trauma that pushes people away and brings them together. Sacrifice and love. I was pretty happy it didn’t end with twist, anything hokey or a more popcorny horror ending. 

 

The ending was tragic and beautiful. It got to me bad 

[Momma There Goes That Man]

 

——

i thought this was a brilliantly written show. It’s engaging right from the opening. The characters are so well written that viewers can be both sympathetic toward them one episode and angry at them for their actions in the next. It’s messy. They’re real. They have baggage and issues, most of which brought on by a traumatic event from their childhood. Perhaps it’s because my family shares a similar seminal moment in our lives that shaped us as children for decades into our adult lives, but I was really attached to this family. I can’t say enough about how well written they were. 

 

Casting was top notch too. All of the adults look and behave like the child actors. Luke is the sole exception, he went from being a coke bottle glasses wearing nerd to a buff Aaron Rodgers, but I don’t even care because he was great in that role. The rest of the cast did a great job too. There was a lot of shine from everyone. That one scene where the caretaker dudley has a 5 minute monologue about his first child was pretty mesmerizing. 

 

The show is not scary tho it has its moments. It’s just the right amount of spookiness combined with a compelling overarching mystery that revolves around a family drama. It all works really well together. There are deep ideas of love, sacrifice, mental illness,  addiction, family. If you come here for the scares, you’ll get some but you’ll also get a rewarding and impactful show about a family struggling to move on from tragedy and put their lives in order. 

 

The way everyone’s stories intertwine while at the same time skipping back and forth between time periods that are not in chronological order is handled perfectly. I was never once confused about who was who and where we were or what was happening. Considering there are basically two versions (old and young) of every character, there are about 10-12 characters that need their story told and provide reasons for us to care about them and understand them. I think they succeed and that’s quite an accomplishment. It’s a further testament to the show’s greatest value, it’s incredible writing, and it’s what makes this story special 

 

 

[Springfield]

I’ll sleep on it and think about it tomorrow 

[Springfield]

Yep, after thinking it over I’m even more meh.

 

Spoiler

The finale wasn’t creepy in the least.  And Hill House is just apparently some place where people who die just live on, chilling with each other in the dark.  9 episodes, and this is what we get.  A non scary episode that cuckifies the Hill House and everyone lives happily ever after.  

 

Steve gets back together with his wife.

 

****y older sister admits her issues to her hubby and presumably all is well.

 

Theo and her Asian lover have stereotypical lesbian outfits and talks and love.

 

 

I pray that there iant isn’t a second season to try and milk more out of the viewer.

 

 

[GoDeep81]

It was SOOOO good you started a thread about it.. Now its "meh, I pray they don't do a second season"?? ??

[Springfield]

17 minutes ago, GoDeep81 said:

It was SOOOO good you started a thread about it.. Now its "meh, I pray they don't do a second season"?? ??

 

The first 8 episodes are some of the most tense, stressful, skin crawlingly creepy episodes of TV I’ve ever seen.

 

Its like when Kirk Cousins would drive us 90 yards downfield with 2:00 to go in the game only to throw a pick in the end zone to lose the game.

[Renegade7]

Well, I'm on episode 9, so I'll see how I feel about it.  Really didn't need this thread to get feel for how it will end, don't tell me, I think I already know.  And yes, this CANNOT have a second season.  

[brandymac27]

On 11/2/2018 at 1:26 PM, Spaceman Spiff said:

I'm dropping out.  I made it through 5 episodes and I really don't get it.  I'm not saying I haven't been scared by movies or tv shows before because I absolutely have.  I will sleep with the lights on if I have to watch The Shining, for example.

 

But I didn't find anything scary here.  Nothing moved the needle.  A group of kids who hear and see things every time they're in bed and then again as adults, it got predictable after awhile.  Still didn't like the characters, especially the older sister after the big blow-out fight at the morgue.  Unfortunately none of the rest of them had any redeeming qualities to keep me hooked.  

Same here. I'm unimpressed. It wasn't scary to me, and was way over hyped IMHO and I thought the acting stunk.

[Renegade7]

3 hours ago, Springfield said:

 

The first 8 episodes are some of the most tense, stressful, skin crawlingly creepy episodes of TV I’ve ever seen.

 

Its like when Kirk Cousins would drive us 90 yards downfield with 2:00 to go in the game only to throw a pick in the end zone to lose the game.

 

I did not like the last two episodes, but in context, it was necessary.   I may not ever watch it again, but glad I did. 

[Momma There Goes That Man]

Again, I just think if you guys were going thru the season waiting for a big horror ending or some scary twist you weren’t paying attention. 

 

 None of the ghosts were malicious either the exception of the flapper girl and all she did was lie and manipulate people which was what she was described as in real life. They weren’t there to be scary, the perspective of the children just didn’t understand that. Even the red room wasn’t evil, it was a special comforting place for each of them. 

 

The show was about the children growing up and actually getting over the horrors of heir childhood culminating in the lack of closure of their mother’s death which changed and haunted them forever. Forgiving their father, recognizing their own faults and mistakes and coming to terms with the choices of their lives that have defined them. They have all lived shackled by the events of their past. No more. 

 

But none of this was a shift at all for the show. It’s all there from the very beginning. The softer moments, the heart that is infused in every aspect of the story. We just finally realized the reasons for everything so the last two episodes and the finale weren’t scary or as tense then. It was time to dive into the emotions driving this story 

[China]

8 hours ago, Springfield said:

Yep, after thinking it over I’m even more meh.

 

  Hide contents

The finale wasn’t creepy in the least.  And Hill House is just apparently some place where people who die just live on, chilling with each other in the dark.  9 episodes, and this is what we get.  A non scary episode that cuckifies the Hill House and everyone lives happily ever after.  

 

Steve gets back together with his wife.

 

****y older sister admits her issues to her hubby and presumably all is well.

 

Theo and her Asian lover have stereotypical lesbian outfits and talks and love.

 

 

I pray that there iant isn’t a second season to try and milk more out of the viewer.

 

 

 

I'm not sure what you consider "happy"

 

Spoiler

In the last episode the father sacrifices himself, and it is revealed that a little girl was murdered.  Yay, happy ending where people die!

 

I would agree that there shouldn't be a second season.

[Destino]

On 11/2/2018 at 11:13 PM, Springfield said:

So... spoilers I suppose.

  Hide contents

I wasn’t a huge fan of the ending.  I was definitely expecting more of a mind****.  I was hoping that Luke died and then they made you think they got out but really they didn’t and they all died.

 

Papa smurf sacrificing himself for his kids is pretty obvious.

 

Somwthing like... papa smurf was dead all along, or they were all dead all along, or death WAS actually real life and it was great.  Something.

 

Happy ending with a bow.  Whatever.  Kinda sours the rest of it for me a little.

 

 

Spoiler

i think you fell for the mind ****.  Papa Smurf didn’t sacrifice himself.  The house did what it always does, it tricked him into killing himself.  Remember, the house doesn’t directly murder, it only ever tricks people to die (or kill someone else) inside the house.  The children being attacked was a clever bit of deception.  The point of that apparent attack was only to cut the father off from the rest of them and give him a reason to sacrifice himself.  It worked and he agreed to die thinking it was the only way to save the kids.

 

There was also imo no happy ending.  Notice how the ghosts all look like tortured corpses unless they’re delivering a message that inevitably leads to the idea that “all is well here, so don’t destroy the house”?  I think the last episode was a giant lie.  The house shows them a happy story only when it needs to, but it’s the same house that’s tortured them their entire lives.  It did the same thing with the Dudley's.  They were absolutely certain the house was evil.... until they saw their little girl looking fresh as a daisy.  They begged the elder Crain not to destroy the house and rushed back to die in it.

 

If the house were a self contained happy after life why would all the other apparitions appears decomposed and unhappy?  Why are the only ones that appear shiny and new always playing a role in arguing that the house actually isn’t evil, and that death is nothing to fear?  That death there is actually a pretty good idea?  Did the tapping floater seem content?  Did Nell look pleased as the bent neck lady?  Was she happy when she manefested in the car as the two sisters drove to the house?  Did their mother appear to be happy as she crawled on the floor of the mortuary?  Was that corpse crawling in the bootlegging subbasement enjoying the after life as it clawed at young Luke’s pajamas?  Nope.  They’re only ever pristine when it benefits the house. 

 

And if the house were full of happy ghosts, why torture a family at all?  Because it’s not a happy place full of happy ghosts.  It’s a monster and the surviving Crain will be consumed, each in turn, at some later date.

 

[Springfield]

5 hours ago, Destino said:

 

  Reveal hidden contents

i think you fell for the mind ****.  Papa Smurf didn’t sacrifice himself.  The house did what it always does, it tricked him into killing himself.  Remember, the house doesn’t directly murder, it only ever tricks people to die (or kill someone else) inside the house.  The children being attacked was a clever bit of deception.  The point of that apparent attack was only to cut the father off from the rest of them and give him a reason to sacrifice himself.  It worked and he agreed to die thinking it was the only way to save the kids.

 

There was also imo no happy ending.  Notice how the ghosts all look like tortured corpses unless they’re delivering a message that inevitably leads to the idea that “all is well here, so don’t destroy the house”?  I think the last episode was a giant lie.  The house shows them a happy story only when it needs to, but it’s the same house that’s tortured them their entire lives.  It did the same thing with the Dudley's.  They were absolutely certain the house was evil.... until they saw their little girl looking fresh as a daisy.  They begged the elder Crain not to destroy the house and rushed back to die in it.

 

If the house were a self contained happy after life why would all the other apparitions appears decomposed and unhappy?  Why are the only ones that appear shiny and new always playing a role in arguing that the house actually isn’t evil, and that death is nothing to fear?  That death there is actually a pretty good idea?  Did the tapping floater seem content?  Did Nell look pleased as the bent neck lady?  Was she happy when she manefested in the car as the two sisters drove to the house?  Did their mother appear to be happy as she crawled on the floor of the mortuary?  Was that corpse crawling in the bootlegging subbasement enjoying the after life as it clawed at young Luke’s pajamas?  Nope.  They’re only ever pristine when it benefits the house. 

 

And if the house were full of happy ghosts, why torture a family at all?  Because it’s not a happy place full of happy ghosts.  It’s a monster and the surviving Crain will be consumed, each in turn, at some later date.

 

 

You know, I like this take on things.  Thanks for that, Destino.  It makes me not so sour about the whole thing.

 

Spoiler

To your point, Nell tells Luke “Go” or whatever when he’s in the red room and his mom is inviting him to sit down and have tea.  So obviously, Nell somehow breaks out to reach her brother and tell him that death isn’t what’s best.

 

[Momma There Goes That Man]

The house is not eating or killing people or taking souls and didn’t claim another victim in the finale. To me, that seems to miss the point. The house has no stake in any of this except to hold any spirits that die within its walls for whatever reason. The house isn’t shown to be gaining anything from these deaths or that it wants these things to happen. 

 

The mother is shown to be sensitive to paranormal and have other brain issues  and that causes her mental downfall dealing with both of these. She is confused in her breakdown and ultimately kills herself and while still being tricked, manipulates her daughter into doing the same, believing she was saving them

. 

If the house was eating people or trying to kill them, it could have done so a hundred different times during their childhood. The ghosts for the most part are just going about their business. Fixing clocks, looking for their hat, scratching on walls etc same things they did when they were alive and just going thru their routines. They aren’t there to torment the children, the children just don’t know that and are naturally terrified. 

 

The show is about the trauma of that childhood and that fateful night and how it haunted the children for their entir lives. To see the house as some evil entity taking souls really undermines the sacrifice, forgiveness and acceptance at the end of the season. 

[Momma There Goes That Man]

Watching this show again to pick up on more details. 

 

The veey beginning quote that opens the show also ends it, with one difference. Steven closes his monologue with “whatever walked there, walked alone” at the beginning of the season. 

 

At the end, as the last words of the show are “whatever walked there, walked together” 

 

Also, Steven makes a point to note that in all of his haunted research and investigating others experiences that he has never found a reason for it. Which is also a key. There isn’t one. The house isn’t evil. It just exists and for whatever reason keeps the souls of those they die there. And the family is forced to deal with that 

[Kosher Ham]

So happy that this is my wife's thing. 

I watched a few episodes, it just seemed too goofy and sometimes campy.  

Either scare the hell out of me or give me crazy gory type of stuff. 

At least leave me suspended...

 

From all that I have heard... A movie would have been great. 

[Destino]

We're not doing spoilers anymore?  WARNING SPOILERS BELOW

 

On 11/4/2018 at 9:25 PM, Momma There Goes That Man said:

The house is not eating or killing people or taking souls and didn’t claim another victim in the finale.

That's not how I see it at all and the rest of this is just me theory BTW.  I'm not arguing that you are factually wrong, because this is all fiction and opinion.  That said, you're wrong man!  lol  That house is eating them, and it sure as hell did claim another victims in the finale. 

 

The now grown surviving Crain children were in the red room and we're all meant to believe that they are the ones in danger.  They weren't.  We know the house doesn't kill people directly and we know that Luke refused to inject himself with drugs.  The intended victim was Hugh, the one person that was conveniently separated from the rest.  While most of the surviving family were helping Luke inside the red room, no one was out there to tell dear ol dad "don't do it, the Mom we knew would never want you to kill yourself!"  Singled out and desperate to save what family he had left, he was picked off easily enough. 

 

Quote

The mother is shown to be sensitive to paranormal and have other brain issues  and that causes her mental downfall dealing with both of these. She is confused in her breakdown and ultimately kills herself and while still being tricked, manipulates her daughter into doing the same, believing she was saving them.

She's driven insane, an intentional act, to the point where she can't tell when she's awake and when she's dreaming.  At that point the house manipulates her into trying to kill some of the children, she succeeds only at killing Abigail before being tricked into taking her own life.  If her issue was simply "brain issues" as you say, why does this condition persist in the version of her ghost Hugh encounters in the house?  If she's dead, she has no brain with which to have issues.  

 

Quote

 If the house was eating people or trying to kill them, it could have done so a hundred different times during their childhood.

Why assume the house wants to eat all the people at once?  Lions like to nap with full stomachs.  This temporarily nonthreatening period doesn't mean they won't eat you once they get hungry again.

 

Quote

The ghosts for the most part are just going about their business. Fixing clocks, looking for their hat, scratching on walls etc same things they did when they were alive and just going thru their routines. They aren’t there to torment the children, the children just don’t know that and are naturally terrified.

Poppy Hills is not just going about her business.  Nell's ghost wasn't going about its business when it appears screaming in the car between Shirly and Theo.  Olivia wasn't going about her business crawling out from under Shirly's desk.  I also don't think William Hill (the hovering fiend) is just going about his business either.  He was tap tap tapping even after he had his hat and he clearly had a thing for tormenting Steve. 

 

Quote

The show is about the trauma of that childhood and that fateful night and how it haunted the children for their entire lives. To see the house as some evil entity taking souls really undermines the sacrifice, forgiveness and acceptance at the end of the season. 

A supernatural element doesn't undermine those things any more than a thrown grenade undermines the heroism of a person that leaps upon it to save their friends.  The Crains are doing their best to survive whats happening to them, but there is something happening to them... and they are all going to be eaten by the house, because the finale is a giant lie.  There is no happy ending.  The house got what it wanted, Hugh and Nell, and then sold the rest of them the same happy lie it offered the Dudleys.  They won't want to destroy the place where whatever walks it's hallways "walk together."  They're destined to join the ever growing mob of rotting fiends that have been trapped, forever, within that house.

 

But real talk, the biggest loser in the show is Kevin Harris (Shirly's husband).  He'd be better off in Hill House than his own house. 

 

Also, the Dudley's were child abusers.  Find the lie.