Recently on Netflix A mini-series came out "The fall of the house of the Asher"The director and screenwriterT -shirt of Flenagan, who in recent years gained fame among fans of horror on the screens.
The plot of fresh creation is formally based on work Edgar Allan Poe, And as the basis the writer's story of the same name was chosen. History tells of the richest and rotten from the inside the Asher family, which is haunted by an ominous rock. One by one, the children of the Patriarch of the family of Roderick Asher begin to die, and the cause of what is happening is hidden in the past of the character and his sister Madeleine.
It is ironic, but it is very difficult to advise the series to fans, since the latter here took only parallels of familiar stories and quotes with poetry. Yes, the names of the episodes make nods towards the author’s stories ("Murder on the street Morg", "Black Cat"), and the characters read the lines of poems, but this is limited to this. In addition, almost all the action develops in the present. And the atmosphere of history itself, although creepy, resembles not dark darkness, but the author’s previous works like the adaptation ”Doctors of sleep»Stephen King or "Okulus".
The fall has already become the sixth collaboration of Flenagan with Netflix, which began back in 2017 with "Games Gerald". He later released "Ghosts of the house on the hill", "Ghosts of the Bly estate", "Midnight Mass" And "Polnight Club". And in the “Fall” Flenagan used a similar idea of past series, mixing together different works of one author. In "Blya" it was Henry James, And in the "midnight" – Christopher Pike.
Another familiar feature for the director’s fans will be the cast of “Aherors”. Like the creators "American Horror History", Flenagan uses familiar faces in different roles, “dragging” them from the project to the project. Lovers of the author’s work will see here almost all the artists who appeared in his past series and films.
For example, Roderic Ausher is simultaneously played by Bruce Greenwood and Zach Gilford – the first was in Gerald and Dr. Dr.'s Drum, and the second played Riley in the Midnight Mess. The wife of Flenag, Kate Siegel, who has collaborated with him since the time of the Okulusa, also arises on the screen. And so you can “note” a lot of names, including Henry Thomas, Rahul Kolya, Samantha Slaiyan and T`niu Miller. A separate place among the "returning" occupies Karl Gudzhino ("Gerald", 2 seasons of "Ghosts") – she plays the role of a mysterious entity named Vern, which visits the characters and pushes them to death.
But the key difference between the “fall” from other Flanagan show was the tone and a certain directness of the narrative. Local history has a horror element, but if earlier the author mixed horrors with a drama and a melancholy mood, then this time the recent points replaced satire. At a certain moment, “Asher” resemble a black comedy in the spirit "Menu", where exaggerated and meaningful characters receive their deserved cruel punishment for sins.
In the new series, an element of secrets plays a much smaller role. If the “hill” and “Bly” was an important place was occupied by answers about the nature of the ghosts, then this show is more focused on the “sentence”. The plot offers riddles associated with the past of Roderick and Madeline, but the clue the cause of what is happening becomes obvious immediately. The series does not even try to build a secret about whether it is possible to save the children of the Aherov is true (the anagram “Raven” in https://sister-site.org/kwiff/ the original) represents the gloomy embodiment of fate, from which you will not leave.
A similar concept, although clearly conceived specifically, deprives the volume of the character of a part of the characters. Asher, especially children, turned out to be exaggerated by sinful. And most often their vices represent one or two situations, so as not to give the heroes of the nuances. Therefore, the viewer is not sorry to look at their suffering and death, but at the same time interest in the story itself is reduced – after all, it is difficult to worry about such characters.
The series after the release was often compared with "Heirs", Where history was also focused on a richest family with bastard children. But the Rod Roev, even with all his sins and fan, was registered in more detail. However, parallels with this series and the current reality in the "Asher" are really suggesting. But if the "Heirs" was present at the media conjuency, looking like Fox News, then the authors took the corner with "miracle tablets" and an opioid epidemic-referring to the business of the family of Sakler.
This also became a problem for the series, since in some points he “pulls out” the viewer from gloomy Gothic sketches with some comment with a reference to US policy and the like topics. There is even a nod towards the recent strike in Hollywood, which in the monologue of the essence seems to look very strange.
However, together with familiar features of Flanagan's work, the pluses migrated to the “fall”. The "old men" look good in new roles, and Bruce Greenwood has almost a benefit at all, since the narrative literally rests against him and often returns to his hero. It is ironic that Greenwood replaced in this post Frank Lanjell, which was supposed to embody this image.
New actors also came to the place, especially Mark Hamill In the role of a gloomy lawyer and family defender atypical for him. In addition, fans "Richer" And "Star cruiser "Galaxy""Surely they will see Will Fitzgerald and Mary McDonnell in the role of Madeleine.
Separate scenes of the show, especially related to the devilry, also turned out to be spectacular – “screamers”, alas, are present, but most often the authors are emphasized on surrealism. Several times, the directors even begin to flirt with color, entering the territory of Italian thrillers-Jallo. In addition, in the final episode there are good visual metaphors about the price of the "heritage" of the family.
“The fall of the House of Asher” cannot be called the best work of T -shirt of Flanagan, but it is not possible to christen the result very bad either. The series in the sense of artistic value “stuck” somewhere in the middle of the author’s creative list, which even here manages to show entertaining ideas and images. “Fall” can become a good companion for viewing under Halloween, creating the right mood for the viewer-although the result is unlikely to be able to really scare you.
In fact, the future director is of great interest, because the “fall” has become the last work of Flenagan for Netflix. He has already concluded a contract with Amazon, where is going to film the legendary "Dark Tower" Stephena King. And it is likely that in the hands of this author the shooter will still be able to get to his goal.