When building this definitive list of the great Horror/Thrillers, I was especially pleased that TV Movies and Mini-Series would be included if for no other reason than it meant the inclusion of Midnight Mass. The Haunting of Hill House is the more popular Mike Flanagan pick, but this was the one that had me in its grip the entire time. The show is slow and full of lengthy dialogue scenes, but Flanagan maintains a state of dread and barely contained panic that comes in the moments right before a life-changing event. It’s magical the way the story unfolds and reveals the secrets of this isolated island community.
In some ways this is the MOST Mike Flanagan story, a meeting point between his more well-known horror skills and the supernatural spiritualism of his lesser-known work. It’s not as scary, but the discussions about what we do with our time here, whether we believe in an afterlife and a final judgment, are as good as the spooky stuff. This is the story Flanagan has spent years working up to, he gets it done in seven episodes instead of the usual Netflix ten, and what everything is building towards easily meets the high expectations.
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