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Vampires have long held a mesmerizing allure in the realm of cinematic horror and have been a staple of the genre since the dawn of film. From the classic elegance of Bela Lugosi's Dracula to the sparkling undead of Twilight, the vampire subgenre is filled with riffs on the legendary creatures of the night, some better known than others.

With hundreds of films made about vampires, its obvious that some are going to fly under the radar. While these films may not have enjoyed mainstream acclaim or box office success, they have left their mark on the genre, tantalizing those with an appetite for the unusual and offering fresh perspectives on ancient mythos.

Just in time for Halloween and the need for something new to watch. From forgotten classics of the past to contemporary hidden treasures, here are 12 obscure vampire movies youve probably never heard of but definitely need to check out.

The lavishly atmospheric and romantic Only Lovers Left Alive is a vampire movie that only Jim Jarmusch can make: light on plot, heavy on style, and really, really cool.

The movie revolves around the reclusive musician Adam (Tom Hiddleston) and the philosophical Eve (Tilda Swinton), two vampires who have been married for centuries but now live half a world apart. Adam has grown disillusioned with the declining state of the world and has become suicidal. Worried he may end his centuries-long life, Eve travels to Detroit to visit her husband in the hopes of reigniting his lust for life.

Rather than focus on the gruesome bloodletting that seems to be the driving force behind every vampire movie, Jarmusch explores the ennui of immortality and the power of enduring love. The cinematography is lush, the mood is exquisite, and like every Jarmusch movie, the soundtrack is the epitome of cool.

Jim Carrey made his Hollywood feature debut in the forgotten 80s vampire horror-comedy Once Bitten. Howard Shores film stars Lauren Hutton as The Countess, a 400-year-old vampire who needs to drink the blood of a virgin three times to maintain her youthful appearance and immortality. Finding a virgin in the hedonistic city of Los Angeles is difficult, but the Countess lucks out when she crosses paths with Mark Kendall (Carrey), a naive high school student desperate to lose his virginity, who she easily seduces and turns into a vampire. But Marks girlfriend, Robin, threatens to intervene before the Countess can finish her ritual.

Related: 25 Great Low-Budget Horror Movies You've Probably Never Heard Of

Once Bitten was positively lambasted upon release (it still holds a 0% on Rotten Tomatoes), but in the near-forty years since its release, the admittedly sophomoric horror-comedy found a small but passionate audience. It may not be the best film on this list, but its a goofy good time, and its always fun to see Jim Carrey in an energetic and lively performance.

Neil Jordans 2012 vampire film Byzantium, based on Moira Buffinis novel A Vampire Story, stars Saoirse Ronan as Eleanor, an introverted teenage vampire living in secrecy at the rundown Byzantium Hotel with her mother, Clara (Gemma Arterton). The two have been on the run for centuries from The Brethren, a male-dominated vampiric society that wants them dead. Their quiet lives are put at risk, however, when Eleanor develops feelings for Frank (Caleb Landry Jones), a young man dying from leukemia who wishes to become a vampire.

Buffinis novel offers a refreshing perspective on typical genre tropes through her exploration of motherhood and female empowerment within a hostile, male-dominated community of vampires. Jordan effectively captures the melancholy and anger of the source material, thanks to Sean Bobbitts alluring cinematography and Javier Navarretes unnerving score.

Filmmaker Tony Scott made his directorial debut with The Hunger, an erotic horror film starring Susan Sarandon as Sarah Roberts, a research scientist who enters into a love triangle with two centuries-old vampires, Miriam (Catherine Deneuve) and John (David Bowie). Miriam seduces Sarah and introduces her to the world of vampirism, but she struggles to come to terms with her newfound immortality and appetite for blood.

The Hunger received mixed reviews upon release (Roger Ebert certainly wasnt a fan, calling it an agonizingly bad vampire movie), but its overt sensuality and LGBTQ+ themes garnered just as many fans as it did critics. In the time since, the filmhas developed a passionate cult following, with many praising its erotic take on the vampire mythos.

Filmmaker provocateur Abel Ferrara ventured into the vampire genre with his 1995 black-and-white horror film The Addiction. Lili Taylor stars as Kathleen Conklin, an introverted and overworked NYU grad student who is attacked by a bloodsucker and soon develops the traditional symptoms of vampirism: a thirst for blood, an aversion to daylight, and an inability to eat regular food. At first, she tries to resist, but not only does she give in to her murderous cravings, she begins to enjoy it. But things begin to change for the better when she meets Peina (Christopher Walken), a vampire who has conquered his addiction to blood and has agreed to help Conklin overcome hers.

If the films title didnt give it away, Ferrara envisioned The Addiction as an allegory for drug addiction. Having battled a nasty heroin habit for years, Ferrara recognized the parallels between addiction and vampirism and wanted to make a film that channeled his struggles and eventual rehabilitation. Like many of the directors works, The Addiction can be heavy and hard to watch. But unlike Ferraras other films, it also feels oddly hopeful.

David Cronenberg followed his debut feature Shivers with the equally stomach-churning vampire-adjacent shocker Rabid. Marilyn Chambers stars as Rose, a woman who undergoes a surgical operation following a horrific motorcycle accident. She falls into a coma and wakes a month later, only to discover a vampiric stinger under one of her armpits and an unquenchable thirst for human blood. Those she bites become infected, and the epidemic continues to spread through Montreal, threatening to consume the entire country.

If youre familiar with Cronenbergs work and his penchant for overtly sexual body horror, then you know exactly what youre getting with Rabid. (Variety called it an extremely violent, sometimes nauseating, picture in their review.) Its a gruesome combination of the vampire and zombie subgenres and is one of Cronenbergs more underappreciated works.

George A. Romero may forever be remembered as the father of the zombie genre, but the iconic filmmaker made a provocative and powerful contribution to the world of vampire cinema with the criminally overlooked Martin.

John Amplas stars as the titular Martin Mathias, a young man who comes to believe he is a vampire. To satiate his bloodlust, Martin drugs women and bleeds them dry. Though hes riddled with guilt over his murderous actions, his hunger is far too strong to ignore, and the troubled young man succumbs to a life of isolation and violence.

Romero considered Martin to be the best film hes ever directed, and for good reason: its an incredibly mature and probing look into the reality of being a vampire. The strength of Romeros film lies in its ambiguity: the audience is never quite sure if Martin really is a vampire or someone suffering from a worsening psychotic delusion. Hell, even Martin isnt sure, and all his efforts to rid himself of this curse end in vain. Its a clever, if incredibly downbeat, retooling of the classic vampire mythos that is worth a look.

Bill Gunns experimental vampire movie Ganja & Hess follows Dr. Hess Green (Duane Jones), an anthropologist who becomes a vampire after being stabbed with an ancient African dagger by his unstable assistant (Gunn), who then commits suicide. Hess struggles with his newfound bloodlust but finds solace in Ganja (Marlene Clark), his assistant's widow. The two fall in love, and Ganja agrees to become a vampire so they may spend the remainder of eternity together. But, of course, good things cant last forever.

When Ganja & Hess premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 1973, the unabashedly artsy film was met with critical acclaim. But when it made its U.S. debut, it was poorly received by critics who didnt understand (or care about) the films underlying political and cultural symbolism. The movies poor reception led to its producers selling the rights to Heritage Pictures, a distribution company specializing in Grindhouse-style movies. They recut the film to better fit their genre sensibilities, shaving off more than 30 minutes of footage and totally butchering Gunns vision in the process. Retitled Blood Couple, the film was an even bigger commercial failure.

Fortunately, Gunns original version of Ganja & Hess has been restored to its original glory and is widely available. (Sadly, Duane Jones and Bill Gunn both passed away before the film received its overdue critical reappraisal.) Its an avant-garde and socially conscious take on the vampire genre thats more than worth your time.

Loosely based on mile Zola's novel Therese Raquin, Park Chan-wooks darkly funny and positively wild Thirst is one of the best vampire films to release this century, but its been widely overlooked outside of South Korea.

The film stars Song Kang-ho as Sang-hyun, a Catholic priest who volunteers for a secret vaccine development project intended to eradicate the fatal Emmanuel Virus. The experiment goes awry, however, and Sang-hyun is left with an insatiable desire for blood and the pleasures of the flesh. To make matters worse, he begins a passionate and forbidden love affair with Tae-ju (Kim Ok-bin), the unhappy wife of his childhood friend, leading them both down an increasingly gruesome rabbit hole of depraved sex and violence.

Fans of Park Chan-wooks work know what to expect with Thirst: its provocative, boundary-pushing, and deliriously fun. Fans of South Koreas more extreme genre films (including I Saw the Devil, The Wailing, and Park Chan-wooks own Vengeance Trilogy) will surely cherish the gory delights of Thirst.

Indie horror maverick Larry Fessenden wrote, directed, and starred in his 1997 vampire horror film Habit, in which he plays Sam, a self-destructive alcoholic who meets the beautiful but mysterious Anna at a Halloween party. The two are immediately drawn to each other and embark on an all-consuming romance. But Sam starts to suffer from a strange illness and soon begins to suspect Anna is actually a vampire, and hes been turned.

Related: The Most Iconic Vampire Hunters In Movie History

Like Abel Ferraras The Addiction, its pretty obvious just by the title alone that Fessendens Habit is more or less an allegory for alcoholism and the self-destructive lifestyle of addicts. Its grim, dark, and gritty, with a heavy atmosphere thats hard to shake.

Jim Mickles indie post-apocalyptic vampire film Stake Land has gone underseen and underappreciated since its quiet release in 2010. Set in a dystopian world overrun by vampires following a viral outbreak, the film centers around a young boy named Martin who, after his family is killed by vampires, joins forces with a seasoned vampire hunter named Mister. Together, they embark on a perilous journey through the desolate American landscape, searching for a rumored safe haven known as "New Eden."

Despite its obvious low budget, Mickle mines the most out of his limited resources via strong characterization and powerful performances from his two leads, Connor Paolo and Nick Damici. The direction is assured, and Mickles ability to maintain a brooding atmosphere - thanks in no small part to Jeff Graces fantastic score and Ryan Samuls crisp cinematography - really helps Stake Land stand apart from other low-budget post-apocalyptic monster movies (of which there are many). Its a unique take on the vampire mythos, with more in common with The Walking Dead than Dracula, and is well worth checking out.

John D. Hancocks psychological horror film Let's Scare Jessica to Death revolves around Jessica (Zohra Lampert), a troubled woman who has recently been released from a psychiatric institution and moves to a secluded farmhouse in rural Connecticut with her husband Duncan (Barton Heyman) and their friend Woody (Kevin O'Connor). But as they settle into their new home, Jessica begins to feel something is wrong, especially after her encounter with a mysterious woman named Emily (Mariclare Costello), who may very well be a vampire.

Initially conceived by writer Lee Kalcheim as a satirical horror film about a group of hippies preyed upon by a monster in a lake, Hancock opted to make a more straight-forward horror film once signing on, inspired specifically by such classics as The Turn of the Screw and The Haunting of Hill House. Hancock wanted to center the screenplay on a protagonist whose credibility could be questioned by the audience. The result is an atmospheric and unsettling vampire film that also doubles as a ghost story. If Lets Scare Jessica to Death isnt on your watchlist, its time to rectify that immediately.

Excerpt from:

Obscure Vampire Movies You've Probably Never Heard Of - MovieWeb

Eagle-eyed members of the Word Guy Blooper Patrol have detected a score of linguistic blunders in newspapers and magazines. Can you spot the blots and correct them?

1. "Rather than rant about injustice, reign in your emotions." Be the monarch of your passions! 2. "Climactic differences made sharing of technology very difficult." 3. "Both sides sited previous court rulings." 4. "Everyone waited with baited breath." Were they fish?

5. "To bowlderize Shakespeare a little bit..." Censor the Bard's gutter ball language? 6. "He alluded police by fleeing into the woods." As he fled, did he cite Javert and Barney Fife? 7. "The doctor was pedaling bad Covid advice." Was he riding a bicycle at the time? 8. "Rouge financier may need public defender." To help him "make up" an alibi?

9. "Local teams fair well." Showing good sportsmanship, no doubt. 10. "You have a tough road to hoe." Asphalt is hard! 11. "Thank you for a delightful story with an O'Henry ending." Never realized he was Irish! 12. "She had to fill out a sheath of forms." Was a cover up involved?

13. "Russell's trademark was her long main of voluptuous curls." And the secondary curls weren't bad either. 14. "It's something that has fallen by the waistside." A dieting plan perhaps? 15. "This statement does not tow the party line." 16. By confessing, he's hoping for ablution. A session on the ducking stool?

17. "Today is an opportunity to tell a risky joke or flirt with someone." 18. "(The plan) is to keep the wires taunt in hot weather, but slack when they contract in cold weather." 19. "One sage noted that idleness leads to mental illness and immortality." Which explains why I do nothing all day. 20. "It's taken three years to assess the human toll extracted in the first year of the novel coronavirus pandemic."

Corrections:

1. rein in 2. climatic differences 3. cited 4. bated breath 5. bowdlerize Shakespeare 6. eluded police 7. peddling 8. rogue financier 9. fare well 10. tough row to hoe 11. O. Henry 12. sheaf of forms 13. long mane 14. by the wayside 15. toe the party line 16. absolution 17. risque jokes 18. taut 19. immorality 20. human toll exacted

Rob Kyff, a teacher and writer in West Hartford, Connecticut, invites your language sightings. His book, "Mark My Words," is available for $9.99 on Amazon.com. Send your reports of misuse and abuse, as well as examples of good writing, via email to [emailprotected] or by regular mail to Rob Kyff, Creators Syndicate, 737 3rd Street, Hermosa Beach, CA 90254.

Photo credit: Federico Giampieri at Unsplash

Read more:

Blooper Patrol Settles the Score, by Rob Kyff - Creators Syndicate

You can see it in the discourse surrounding artificial intelligence (AI) over the last year: AI is going to change everything. Some think it’s going to do this for the better. Others think it’s a technological handmaiden for world destruction if its programming goes awry or worse: AI becomes self-determining and sentient.

An insightful article at Vox by Sigal Samuel considers this doomsday/salvific kind of rhetoric and points out that AI developers sound a whole lot like religious priests, prophesying doom, promising salvation, warning the populace to heed the coming armageddon. He writes,

These technologists propose cheating death by uploading our minds to the cloud, where we can live digitally for all eternity. They talk about AI as a decision-making agent that can judge with mathematical certainty whats optimal and whats not. And they envision artificial general intelligence (AGI) a hypothetical system that can match human problem-solving abilities across many domains as an endeavor that guarantees human salvation if it goes well, even as it spells doom if it goes badly.

Samuel argues that Christianity, particularly medieval Catholicism, saw technological innovation as a good that should be pursued in keeping with man’s reflection of the Divine as a “maker.” In addition, when Darwin came along preaching his theory of evolution via natural selection, not all religious believers cried foul. In fact, some embraced the theory and incorporated it into a broader notion of “cosmic evolution.” Such people included Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, a French Jesuit who

believed that human evolution, nudged along with tech, was actually the vehicle for bringing about the kingdom of God, and that the melding of humans and machines would lead to an explosion of intelligence, which he dubbed the omega point. Our consciousness would become a state of super-consciousness where we merge with the divine and become a new species.

Such radical utopian hopes for the human species sound equivalent to today’s transhumanists, who purport that AI will aid us in entering into a post-human future. Samuel’s point, which he argues compellingly, is that such ideas have so-called “religious” roots. I put religious in quotations marks, since orthodox Christian teaching would hold transhumanism in distrust. For instance, Wesley J. Smith, frequent contributor here at Mind Matters,wrote in First Thingslast year that Christianity and transhumanism shouldn’t be melded. They are contradicting worldviews. Smith writes,

First principles matter, and those of transhumanism and Christianity could not be more contradictory. Transhumanism is materialistic. Christianity is theistic. Transhumanism is utopian. Christianity sees the fallen world realistically. Transhumanism perceives immortality as something that can be achieved by men. Christianity identifies eternal salvation as the mercy of a loving God. Its eschatology focuses on Gods promises, not upon advanced scientific applications. 

As we’ve noted here many times, AI’s greatest threat may not be its sophistication, but our own over-reliance on it. As a technology, it has its uses and benefits. As a religion, it fails.

Read the rest here:

AI as Refashioned Religion - Walter Bradley Center for Natural and Artificial Intelligence

Think your roommate problems are bad? Imagine a world where house drama never diesliterally, your roommates are immortal vampires. Fortunately for us, the hit sitcom What We Do in the Shadows lives on for its highly anticipated sixth season.

This mockumentary-style comedy television series, based on the 2014 film of the same name, was co-created by Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi. It follows a group of vampires who share a house in Staten Island, New York, as they navigate the challenges of coexisting in the modern world. Adulting in the 21st century is tough enough, but when your roommates have centuries-old habits, it inevitably leads to some comedic clashes.

With an impressive 97% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, both critics and audiences have applauded the show's witty writing, dry humor, and its knack for satirizing vampire tropes and everyday life. TV adaptations often struggle to capture the essence of their source material, but What We Do in the Shadows has successfully translated the original film's charm to the TV format, thanks in part to the continued involvement of creators Clement and Waititi.

While the series shows no signs of slowing down with Season 5 recently released to once again favorable reviews, fans will have to wait a bit longer for Season 6. In the meantime, here's everything we know about What We Do in the Shadows Season 6.

The renewal of the show for Seasons 5 and 6 was announced over a year ago, shortly before the premiere of Season 4. While fans are aware that Season 6 is in the works, an official release date has yet to be confirmed.

Season 5 was released on July 13, 2023. Assuming the upcoming season follows previous release patterns, we can expect Season 6 to premiere sometime in mid-2024. However, this pattern could be disrupted by the ongoing writer's strike and the SAG-AFTRA strike, which may delay filming. In this case, the release might be pushed closer to late 2024 or even into 2025, depending on the duration of the studio negotiations.

The show will air on FX and be available for streaming on Hulu the next day. As for fans in the UK and Canada, we can speculate that Season 6 will join the previous seasons and will be available for streaming on Disney+.

RELATED: 10 Best Horror Mockumentaries, Ranked

Unfortunately, there has been no trailer released yet for What We Do in the Shadows Season 6.

The trailer for Season 5 was released shortly before its premiere, so it's safe to say that we'll need to wait a bit longer before we catch our first glimpse of the upcoming season.

What We Do in the Shadows was brought to life by the creative duo of Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi. Jemaine Clement, a New Zealand comedian, musician, and actor, is well-known for his work as one-half of the musical comedy duo Flight of the Conchords. His career spans various comedy projects and acting roles in films such as Men in Black 3 and Dinner for Schmucks. Taika Waititi, also hailing from New Zealand, is a filmmaker and actor acclaimed for his talent for blending humor with unconventional storytelling. He directed and starred in films like Hunt for the Wilderpeople and Thor: Ragnarok.

The two have collaborated since 2007 when Waititi wrote and directed an episode of the TV show Flight of the Conchords.

The film What We Do in the Shadows marked Clement's directorial debut and together Clement and Waititi's creative vision and comedic sensibilities have imbued the TV series with the same charm that endeared the original film to cult audiences.

The cornerstone of any great sitcom lies in its ensemble cast. Assembling a group capable of sustaining a series over multiple seasons is a daunting task, but what makes What We Do in the Shadows stand out in the sea of sitcoms (aside from the whole vampire thing) is the extraordinary synergy of its core cast, a group that has proved itself season after season.

Kayvan Novak stars as Nandor the Relentless, a former Ottoman Empire warrior who now employs his centuries-old leadership skills to assert authority over his roommates, although it often results in more inconvenience than actual control. Kayvan Novak is best known for co-creating and starring in the comedy series Fonejacker, for which he won the BAFTA Television Award for Best Comedy (Programme or Series) in 2008.

He is joined by Matt Berry, another BAFTA winner for Best Male Performance in the series Toast of London who plays Leslie "Laszlo" Cravensworth, a 310-year-old British nobleman with a penchant for causing chaos and indulging in hedonistic pursuits. He was turned into a vampire by his current wife, the seductive and alluring Nadja of Antipaxos, played by Natasia Demetriou.

Harvey Guilln plays the unfortunate human Guillermo de la Cruz, Nandor's long-suffering mortal familiar who has worked for over a decade for his master in the hope of being turned into a vampire, a lifelong dream complicated by the fact that he is the descendant of the infamous vampire hunter Abraham Van Helsing.

Rounding out the core group is Colin Robinson, portrayed by Mark Proksch. Unlike traditional vampires who feed on blood, Colin Robinson feeds on the energy of others, specifically by draining people's boredom, frustration, and annoyance. He fittingly works a 9-to-5 office job where he manages to stay quite well-fed.

RELATED: This Was the Best Cameo So Far in What We Do in the Shadows'

While Season 5 had its fair share of comedic drama, the plot line that will have the biggest impact on Season 6 is Guillermos journey to fulfilling his lifes mission to finally becoming a vampire and his transformation back to human once he quickly realized that the whole murdering humans and drinking their blood part of the deal wasnt for him.

The character who experiences the most dramatic turn of fate in Season 5 is Derek, portrayed by Chris Sandiford. He gets to move into the house, gain a close group of friends, and find a place in the world where he is finally wantedall for the small price of having a stake through his heart for the rest of eternity! But, as with any new roommate, there will surely be some growing pains.

With no trailer and no plot details released the plot of Season 6 is only speculation, but it can be assumed that the series will pick back up shortly after the events of Season 5.

Although there was a reconciliation of sorts after Nandor did some soul-searching, ultimately reaching the conclusion to not kill Guillermo, there will inevitably be some tension between the two as we enter Season 6. Can Guillermo truly go back to being a human familiar if he was once a vampire? Has his brief moment of immortality made any impact on his whole genetically gifted-to-kill vampires thing?

Audiences will get to watch this relationship dynamic figure itself out and more in the upcoming Season 6.

Read more:

'What We Do In the Shadows' Season 6: Release Window, Cast, Plot ... - Collider

The Fall of the House of Usher premieres on Netflix October 12. This spoiler-free review is part of our Fantastic Fest 2023 coverage.

The first thing you need to know about Mike Flanagans The Fall of the House of Usher is that its not the story youre expecting. Dont take that to mean that reverence for Edgar Allan Poe isnt front and center, though: Every minute of this series worships Poe. But rather than directly translating the authors tale of a man whose internal rot is symbolized by his crumbling abode, Flanagan uses the short story as what could almost be described as the wraparound segment in an anthology, with each chapter tackling another one of Poes fables while mummified in the wrappings of The Fall of the House of Usher. What comes out of that mummification is some of Flanagans best work.

Which isnt to say that the shows story comes off as disjointed. What Flanagan and his team of writers did wasnt just develop individual odes to The Masque of the Red Death, The Black Cat, The Tell-Tale Heart, and more they married them together to create what is one of the most impeccable shows in recent memory. What makes this House of Usher decidedly not an anthology is the way that the writers intricately weave the main players stories throughout each episode.

The Usher family is quite big. This is thanks largely to Roderick Ushers (Bruce Greenwood), well, lets just say appetite. Only some of the mothers of his children are seen, but the matriarchs that matter to the story are Rodericks sister Madeline (Mary McDonnell), and much-younger wife Juno (Ruth Codd), who youll hear called child bride quite often. Much of our attention is focused on the children, who fall into one of two camps: Tamerlane (Samantha Sloyan) and Frederick (Henry Thomas) are the only two direct Usher heirs born in wedlock, while media mogul and sex addict Camille (Kate Siegel), game developer and drug addict Napoleon (Rahul Kohli), surgeon Victorine (TNia Miller), and screwup Prospero (Sauriyan Sapkota) are The Bastards. There's also a granddaughter in the mix: Lenore (Kyliegh Curran). Joining the Effed-up Family of the Year in their complicated and messy lives are Mark Hamill as Arthur Pim, Carla Gugino as Verna, and Carl Lumbly as Auguste Dupin.

The point of prattling off all of these names is twofold. First, they offer hints for those with a keen eye for Poes work. And second? Every single performance listed above and even some that are saved for later is perfect. Without an ounce of sarcasm, hyperbole, or figurative speech, they are all just perfect.

Over the years, Flanagan has cultivated a stable of actors the Flanafam, as theyre known to fans many of whom are showcased in The Fall of the House of Usher. Whats kept things from getting stale as the company has moved with the filmmaker through the works of Stephen King, Shirley Jackson, Henry James, Christopher Pike, Hasbro, and now Poe is that none of them are ever typecast. Sloyan and Kohli are oceans apart from their Midnight Mass characters here, while The Haunting of Hill Houses Theodora Crain would have smacked Camille into oblivion. The Fall of the House of Usher gives the entire cast a brand new playground, and everyone is having the time of their lives. (Or time of their deaths? You get the idea.)

The Haunting of Hill House set the bar for scares in Flanagans filmography, and The Fall of the Usher meets those expectations with ease thanks to the work of cinematographer Michael Fimognari (Flanagan and Fimognari have enjoyed a long partnership, dating back to 2013s Oculus). Like Hill House before it, House of Usher features a good blend of slow, spooky scares and outright shrieks as Roderick recounts his complicated tale to Auguste in the musty carcass of his childhood home. Both the past and present timelines are filled with the kind of horrors youve come to expect from Flanagan, but he really flexes in the methodology of murder as tragedy barrels its way through the Usher family.

Of course, that tragedy is more for the patriarch than it is for us, and their deaths, while instrumental to the story, arent really what its about. Though their respective demises come in varying degrees and patterns of awful, almost every member of the House of Usher is despicable in their own way. Imagine watching Succession and seeing each of the series miserable players get what they deserve in the most lethal way possible? Thats the type of delicious schadenfreude that The Fall of the House of Usher offers. We watch on as each victim Usher or otherwise makes their proverbial bed despite the grace of the literal warnings offered. After all, hubris, like any of the fine products from the Roderick-run Fortunato, is a hell of a drug.

The Usher empire is propped up by both. In bringing Poes fables to the contemporary world, Flanagans The Fall of the House of Usher centers on some of todays greatest evils. Fortunato the Ushers pharmaceutical company and a name plucked from Poes The Cask of Amontillado is the core driver behind all of Roderick and Madeline Ushers actions. Meanwhile, the latters obsession with immortality is constantly playing on the fringes, only brought to the forefront to appropriately mock AI and any place it has in storytelling or the human experience as a whole.

Theres not a moment where The Fall of the House of Usher doesnt shine, whether its in the gloss of Louboutins or the pools of blood. From Susan Davis costume department to the extensive visual effects team, each crew came together to deliver their absolute A-game. The new entry into the Mike Flanagan pantheon is always firing on all cylinders, and its sure to join many a fans annual rotation of spooky time traditions.

Originally posted here:

The Fall of the House of Usher Review - IGN