The Fall of the House of Usher (2023)

The critic highlights the series as a giddy, gory delight and an unexpected shift for Flanagan, praising its contempt for the wealthy, disgust with selfishness, and gleeful portrayal of the characters' increasingly gnarly demises in this Poe-inspired tale.

The critic finds the series a bloody, OTT and highly entertaining take on Poe, with smartly woven stories and confident direction from Flanagan. It builds a towering, dark-hearted horror story that is horribly good fun, with strong performances especially from Greenwood.

The critic finds the series campy and acted with flair, with lush operatic death sequences (crediting director Michael Fimognari), but notes it is sparkly yet not deep and lacks the narrative momentum or emotional resonance of Flanagan's best prior work like Midnight Mass or The Haunting of Hill House.

The series is a spooky, grisly, sumptuously gothic treat that ranks among Mike Flanagan’s finest works. It captures Poe’s magic and sense of dread effectively, though some CGI and thematic choices are flawed.

The series is a gruesome family drama that showcases the demise of a powerful family paying for their monstrosity, with strong use of Poe references and engrossing monologues. It has some dragging middle episodes and leans too heavily on opioid epidemic parallels, but offers a reminder that debts must be paid.

Flanagan's series is a bluntly entertaining exercise in karmic catharsis and topical takedown of a pharma family, with palpable anger and Grand Guignol set pieces. The anger sometimes gets in the way of deeper thematic richness, leading to a satisfying but surface-level experience compared to the creator's best work.

The loose adaptation is an over-stuffed and under-cooked horror bore that fails to deliver as a spooky Succession. It sacrifices Poe’s genius for excessive ambition.

The series is a trashy mess of a literary reboot that remixes Poe stories into a muddled hodge-podge without heart. It is ersatz and indiscernible despite strong source material.

The series may be Flanagan's best yet, blending Poe's poetry and themes with a sharp critique of a Sackler-like pharma family in a meaty, human-centered horror story. A strong cast, especially Carla Gugino, elevates the deliberate focus on the author's words and dysfunctional dynamics.

Flanagan's Poe mashup is a darkly comedic and emotionally rich tragedy that excoriates the uber-rich while exploring family trauma and the longing for connection. It stands out as a big, splashy, and unhinged ode to the horror master with strong performances throughout.

The show succeeds as a family drama centered on the dysfunctional Ushers while incorporating creepy horror elements and emotional depth. Flanagan blends modern themes with Poe's works effectively, though the plot occasionally feels bloated.

The critic calls the series a strong send-off for Flanagan on Netflix, praising its effective blend of prestige drama trappings with slasher-level body count and satisfying comeuppances for the characters. They single out the dysfunctional Usher family dynamics and pointed allusions to the opioid crisis and unchecked capitalism as highlights, while noting some awkward Poe references as a drawback.

The series mixes Poe references with a Succession-like family drama but struggles with inconsistent tone, never fully committing to scares or humor. It delivers some grand guignol moments but falls short of Flanagan's stronger prior Netflix works.