The Haunting of Hill House

:

Season 1
  • Network: Netflix
  • Series Premiere Date: Oct 12, 2018
User Score
8.0

Generally favorable reviews- based on 411 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 333 out of 411
  2. Mixed: 33 out of 411
  3. Negative: 45 out of 411
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User Reviews

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  1. Yurchik
    Nov 4, 2018
    4
    A very long season with a banal end. I only watched because of Carla Gugino!
  2. thedarkbird
    Oct 21, 2018
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Minor spoilers, nothing story breaking.

    This series fails because the characters are so in denial about what is happening that it becomes very tiresome very quickly. To the point that it is just plain annoying.

    Imagine moving into a house with your family and from that point on everybody is starting to see, hear and dream ALL the things you've ever seen in a haunted house film. Would you believe that your family is suddenly struck with some collective mental illness out of the blue? Because, if I were to experience the things portrayed I would be out of that house in a matter of a day.

    Instead, this family denies anything and everything they experience over a year (!) - and there's A LOT seriously wrong stuff happening - to the point it is so absurd that it kills the show. It's comparable to being in a Richter 9 earthquake watching buildings collapse and conclude it was probably all in your head. The next day it happens again and you STILL think it's in your head. Umm... right.

    Because they're so absurdly in denial the dialogue suffers from it as well. This especially shows during the funeral episode when the whole family is re-united. Any family would sit together at that point and agree: 'Hey, you know, that house really was **** up haunted, wasn't it?'. But no, they go on and on fighting each other, ignoring once again the elephant in the room. At that point I was really tired of it.

    Is everything bad? No. It's good production value, good atmosphere, nice house, good sound design, good camera work and some very scary scenes (even though it gets a bit repetitive). But overall it fails and is probably not worth your time.    … Expand
  3. GeekOnFire
    Oct 30, 2018
    6
    Incredible series, full of rebound and horror, very well done. You will be at the edge of your couch throughout ... 9 episodes since the 10th, and last, totally ruin the show. Totally disappointing, cheesy, limit insulting for the audience. We are taken by the hand, explains us as if we were stupid. Completely the opposite of the rest of the story. Disappointed!
  4. paulraised
    Nov 13, 2018
    4
    I feel I was cheated, you are supposed to put up with the drama, so you can see the horror unravel. In fact the drama takes center stage, and the story drifts about on any direction but the horror. I didn't like the ending and I feel it drags heavily after the first three episodes. The cast is great though, excellent performances.
  5. Bgrod
    Oct 14, 2018
    4
    As a haunted house television series, this is low on scares and edge of the seat suspense. The original Robert Wise blaxk and white film remains the best haunted house film in the entire genre--it's equal parts psychological and genuinely suspenseful horror drama that succeeds because of the brilliant use of camera angles and sound effects/soundtrack without ever revealing an apparition.As a haunted house television series, this is low on scares and edge of the seat suspense. The original Robert Wise blaxk and white film remains the best haunted house film in the entire genre--it's equal parts psychological and genuinely suspenseful horror drama that succeeds because of the brilliant use of camera angles and sound effects/soundtrack without ever revealing an apparition. In the original movie,, Hill House was alive and definitely felt like a malevolent presence. The creepy backstory of the Crane family at the beginning of the movie set a very eerie and foreboding tone for the rest of the film. This Netflix interpretation falls far short of the film and just doesn't engage the viewer or provide enough genuine chills, original or derivative ones, to make this a good television series… Expand
  6. ScienceAdvisor
    Nov 1, 2018
    6
    Great build up, but the end is lackluster in the extreme. This renders the whole tale as being oxymoronic, which is understandable once you understand the main story mechanic. Unfortunately this retroactively neutralizes all fear, and inverts the meaning of the whole season in the last episode. So all the horror build up turns into a story of hope and happiness. Anyone calling thisGreat build up, but the end is lackluster in the extreme. This renders the whole tale as being oxymoronic, which is understandable once you understand the main story mechanic. Unfortunately this retroactively neutralizes all fear, and inverts the meaning of the whole season in the last episode. So all the horror build up turns into a story of hope and happiness. Anyone calling this horror, after seeing the final epsiode, needs a reality check or to have the story explained to them. There is little hope of a meaningful second season now that the horror is neutralized.… Expand
  7. deecat
    Oct 29, 2018
    4
    A melodramatic psychodrama with some ghosts. Started out well, a good cast and good production values, unfortunately the story is lifeless and obvious. The plotlines feel recycled from old Law & Order and Sex in the City episodes. I made to episode 3, I don't think I'll go further.
  8. beat_c
    Nov 11, 2018
    5
    a few good moments and performances, but overall extremely repetitive, too stretched out and ultimately rather silly. add a supercheesy ending, and i would not recommend it.
  9. Dzimas
    Oct 29, 2018
    5
    It's kind of like 13 Reasons Why set in a haunted house. It grabs you, carries you along but ultimately fails to deliver, because all the emphasis is on the wrong person. Steven is the storyteller here, much like Clay in 13 Reasons, trying to make sense of the events that happened the summer he and his siblings lost their mother in a haunted house. Their father has kept his version ofIt's kind of like 13 Reasons Why set in a haunted house. It grabs you, carries you along but ultimately fails to deliver, because all the emphasis is on the wrong person. Steven is the storyteller here, much like Clay in 13 Reasons, trying to make sense of the events that happened the summer he and his siblings lost their mother in a haunted house. Their father has kept his version of events locked up, so Steven took pen in hand and wrote a book, which became a bestseller, but it still doesn't answer the question why, which has gnawed at him for 26 years. Only problem is that he is loathe to admit it until another death brings the family together, including dear old Dad who has been hiding out in Florida all this time.

    This isn't so much an adaptation of Shirley Jackson's classic novel, but rather a serial that uses the Hill House as a backdrop for a modern-day dysfunctional family trying to come to terms with itself. There are some genuinely good moments and you can't help but feel empathy for the young twins, Luke and Nell, but the story wallows way too much in self pity, and only rarely moves beyond typical television melodrama.

    If you are looking for a ghost story you will be very disappointed. They really only appear until the last two episodes and then weigh very little on the story. I suppose Michael Flanagan wanted to get more into the demons that haunt us and lead us astray in life, but he could have done this without co-opting Shirley Jackson. Her stories were all about economy, allowing the reader to project into them his or her own interpretation of events. Flanagan lays everything out like a patient on a psychiatrist's couch.

    There is very little suspense much less terror. The narrative becomes excruciatingly slow in the middle episodes, which you can fast forward for all they matter. Whatever bit of mystery is contained in the first three or four episodes and then explained to the last detail in the remaining two episodes, usually twice just in case you missed it.

    As such, this is more a story for young teenagers than it is adults. As a parent, you can ease your worried mind as there is very little sex or violence and only a handful of chills that might keep your young son or daughter awake at night.    … Expand
  10. olvlvl
    Dec 31, 2018
    4
    I love "The Conjuring", so I was excited about a TV show with a family in a haunted house, but this is ultimately boring. There's two major issues: it's scary as missing toilet paper; the acting and direction is utterly bad.

    Nothing in this show is scary. Most of the time ghosts "hang" there. On one occasion they pick up a hat, on an other they crawl. There's nothing evil going on.    I love "The Conjuring", so I was excited about a TV show with a family in a haunted house, but this is ultimately boring. There's two major issues: it's scary as missing toilet paper; the acting and direction is utterly bad.

    Nothing in this show is scary. Most of the time ghosts "hang" there. On one occasion they pick up a hat, on an other they crawl. There's nothing evil going on. Compared to all the shenanigans that were happening in "The Conjuring". This is utterly disappointing. I kinda liked the sequence where the younger sister hangs herself, there was some good idea in there, but that doesn't make for the other 10 boring hours.

    Then, there's the actors. Elizabeth Reaser, Kate Siegel, and Julian Hilliard are doing a great job, the rest of the cast ranges from bad to terrible. Michiel Huisman being the worst. Plain. Unconvincing. Lukewarm. Maybe it's the direction, I don't know.

    Long story short, after fast-forwarding through episode 6, I'm giving up. I'd rather watch "The Conjuring" 6 times in a row.    … Expand
  11. MasteroMustache
    Nov 6, 2018
    6
    I'm extremely torn about this show. For the most part, it's expertly done drama and horror. The sixth episode in particular is a master class in acting, design, and direction. That said, the 10th and final episode is completely inconsistent with the tone of the rest of the show. A spoiler free analogy: imagine you're watching a basketball game. It's a great game, with high level athletesI'm extremely torn about this show. For the most part, it's expertly done drama and horror. The sixth episode in particular is a master class in acting, design, and direction. That said, the 10th and final episode is completely inconsistent with the tone of the rest of the show. A spoiler free analogy: imagine you're watching a basketball game. It's a great game, with high level athletes competing at the highest level. Suddenly, for the last 8 minutes of the game, the athletes turn to the sideline cameras and begin performing a Shakespearean play, and that's how the basketball game ends. Perhaps the play is performed fairly well (maybe the athletes are great actors!). Yet it's a completely unsatisfying ending to a *basketball game* which is what you were watching for the first 40 minutes. While I still believe the show is worth watching and would recommend it, I was extremely disappointed by the whole of the finale.… Expand
  12. imaginetruly
    Oct 23, 2018
    4
    One of the best series of the year and one of the best horror series I've ever seen, she's not totally scary, she does not show monsters all the time during the series, she's more focused on the drama but in a way that is not tiring, makes want to watch more and more, the end very very good I found well cohesive with the proposal of the series, worth watching
  13. Maddagro
    Oct 19, 2018
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Define Netflixed: when you watch a movie/series on Netflix that is really good but the ending is total emotional garbage.… Expand
  14. AliceofX
    Jun 12, 2019
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Started out good but got meh towards the end. The episode where Nell kills herself was the highpoint of the series.… Expand
  15. night4
    Feb 9, 2019
    6
    It's not scary. It jumps around way too much. And why use a different actor for the same adult character, the dad? It makes no sense.

    Some of the acting was good, though, so it's watchable.
  16. egoBorder
    Jan 17, 2019
    5
    The Haunting of Hill House is impressive and ambitious, but unfortunately in terms of horror or drama it just fails to deliver anything above surface thrills. Like, VERY thin.

    I want to praise the production because they brought together a diverse cast and complex plot, but instead I submit this is conceptually where the show went wrong. Because at 10 episodes the show feels about    The Haunting of Hill House is impressive and ambitious, but unfortunately in terms of horror or drama it just fails to deliver anything above surface thrills. Like, VERY thin.

    I want to praise the production because they brought together a diverse cast and complex plot, but instead I submit this is conceptually where the show went wrong. Because at 10 episodes the show feels about three hours too long and about two characters too heavy. I suspect this script didn't get a lot of reads because even a lot of the dialogue has an amateurish repetitiveness.

    The story isn't anything original, but that's okay in ghost stories. And at first, the way the show jumps between characters and time, I thought the idea was that while the ideas were cliched the presentation was offering something new. But in another misstep, the show gets a bit too flashy and it entirely kills the horror. By then, the characters are revealed to be entirely one-dimensional, and the drama fails as well.

    If you've read this far into the review and you're genuinely curious about my opinion and wondering if you'll like it, here's something that isn't exactly a spoiler. But I also could not ignore this and found it infuriating and constantly distracting:

    There is probably a ghost in this show, like, every seven or eight minutes. Not kidding. By the second episode I was laughing out loud every time I saw one and by the third it was really bothering me    … Expand
  17. Wendyo
    Oct 29, 2018
    5
    The first 4 episodes good, the remaining episodes, filler, one big yawn.....

Awards & Rankings

32
#32 Best TV Season of 2018
6
#6 Most Discussed TV Season of 2018
3
#3 Most Shared TV Season of 2018

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
79

Generally favorable reviews - based on 18 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 15 out of 18
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 18
  3. Negative: 0 out of 18
  1. The New Yorker
    Reviewed by: Troy Patterson
    Oct 31, 2018
    70
    The showrunner, Mike Flanagan, builds a dreadful atmosphere, which is crucial, because the creeping pace of his ten episodes would be intolerable if not for its ambient suspense. The show may work best as a binge watch, one where you don’t pay steady attention but instead let it haunt your own house.
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  2. The Atlantic
    Reviewed by: Sophie Gilbert
    Oct 24, 2018
    60
    The series abandons Jackson’s distinctly female gothic for a more generic examination of grief and trauma. Over 10 episodes, it’s stylish, moving, and sinister, riddled with ghosts both literal and metaphorical. But it’s hard not to feel like something has been lost in translation.
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  3. Yahoo TV
    Reviewed by: Ken Tucker
    Oct 16, 2018
    60
    Well-acted and ponderously paced, The Haunting of Hill House would have benefited from less straining for the artistic and more of a desire to jolt its viewers.
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