Mike Flanagan has got to be one of the busiest horror directors working today. On the heels of Hush, Before I Wake and Ouija: Origin of Evil, he just wrapped Stephen King adaptation Gerald’s Game for Netflix. Now, he has another Netflix literary adaptation in the works. And yep, it’s more horror.
A scene from Mike Flanagan’s Ouija: Origin of Evil. Image: Universal Pictures
This time, though, instead of a feature film, it will be a 10-part series described as “a modern reimagining” of Shirley Jackson’s 1959 classic The Haunting of Hill House. The book has already been made into a pair of films, both simply titled The Haunting. Robert Wise’s 1963 version with Julie Harris is still legit scary, while Jan de Bont’s 1999 version with Liam Neeson is campy as hell.
Though the story is familiar, with 10 episodes to fill, Flanagan will be able to more deeply explore Jackson’s characters, as well as the troubled history of the mansion they all move into as part of a paranormal investigation. Flanagan’s flair for making even ordinary things intensely spooky — this is a guy who made a footpath tunnel into a place of sheer terror in 2011’s excellent Absentia — suggests he’s an ideal choice for this project. We can’t wait to see how he updates Jackson’s story (since it will presumably be set in the present day, how will technology factor into the ghost hunt?) and to be scared as hell in the process.
[Variety]