The Haunting of Hill House

'I was right here and none of you could see me.’ No matter how many times I re-watch The Haunting of Hill House, when Nellie says these lines, it breaks my heart all over again. The words couldn’t be simpler, yet they carry enormous weight. How many of us have lived the exact feeling described in these words, where we feel like we have become invisible to the world. The cruel, ruthless world that keeps going, oblivious to our pain and heartbreak. This is the beauty of Mike Flanagan’s retelling of Shirley Jackson’s classic book. While many horror movies and series are considered masterpieces, and rightfully so, I truly feel that The Haunting of Hill House is in a league of its own.

The premise of the series is perhaps as cliché as they come; a loving family with five children move into a haunted house and cannot leave till they flip it because all their savings are tied up. So what makes it so different? It’s hard to put a finger on it but if I had to pick one, it has to be the emotional angst of each and every character captured masterfully by the director. Your heart goes out to every one of them as they wrestle with their childhood trauma and do their best to make the best of life. Isn’t that what every single one of us is doing every day? Flanagan’s genius shines through as we immensely feel the siblings’ pain and desperately want to help them out.

Carla Gugino does an excellent job of portraying the mother, with almost ethereal beauty, who is the heart of the family. She is artistic, intelligent, caring and truly empathic as she guides each one of her children through their respective issues. Her soothing voice is a balm for the soul. This makes her eventual descent into madness, as she is affected by the entities in the house, truly heartbreaking. Nellie and Luke are the most adorable, loving twins, who live in their own little world. This does not change even years later as one battles a drug addiction and the other deals with sleep paralysis and mental health issues. They are always worried for each other and their ominous dreams warn them of the other one being in danger.

Grown-up Shirley and Steve, the elder siblings, are grounded in reality. They are the responsible ones; Steve comes off a bit selfish, but given what he went through in that house, you cannot hold it against him. Shirley is controlling and uptight, and even though she has a tough life as well, she is probably my least favorite character. That leaves Theo—the mysterious dark-haired middle daughter who is the only one touched directly by one of the ghosts in the house and is left with the ‘gift’ of seeing thing when she touches things. Her ability is more of a curse and the director does an excellent job of showing her reluctance to use this power as much as possible. I purposely leave Hugh Crain for the last. While I was not impressed by Henry Thomas’s performance as young Hugh, Timothy Hutton as old Hugh Crain steals the show. He looks at his children and sees them as they were when they lived in Hill House. His dialogues with his wife’s ghost are heartfelt as she helps him deal with the children, just as she did in her early days of perfect sanity.

All the emphasis on emotions does not mean that it is not a scary show. There are plenty of jump scares, loud noises, creaking doors and scary-looking ghosts that make you jump out of your skin. And of course there is the mysterious red door and the caretaker couple, who live just beyond the woods.

What takes this show to another level is the intermingling of emotions: fear, guilt, betrayal, regret, anger and, most of all, heartbreak. If you are watching the show for the first time, be prepared for a lot of tears. I bawled when Nellie said to her siblings in the last episode, ‘I loved you completely. And you loved me same. That’s all. The rest is confetti.’ By the end of the show, all you want to do is gather the siblings in a warm tight hug. The sheer brilliance of this show will remain with me for years. On the downside, I think this has ruined all future horror shows for me. I will forever be comparing them to the masterpiece that is The Haunting of Hill House.