TV Mini Series Review: The Fall of the House of Usher

The Fall of the House of Usher

Intrepid Pictures

Netflix

Release date

October 12th, 2023

Description

From Mike Flanagan, the creator of The Haunting of Hill House and Midnight Mass, a wicked horror series based on the works of Edgar Allan Poe. Ruthless siblings Roderick and Madeline Usher have built Fortunato Pharmaceuticals into an empire of wealth, privilege and power. But past secrets come to light when the heirs to the Usher dynasty start dying at the hands of a mysterious woman from their youth.

Express Review

Roderick (Bruce Greenwood) and Madeline Usher (Mary McDonnell) built an abundantly successful company called Fortunato Pharmaceuticals.  All of a sudden, the children in the Usher family start to die off under mysterious circumstances.  The question is why?  Do Roderick and Madeline have a secret?

The Fall of the House of Usher is the perfect series to watch this Halloween season.   

The series is based on the works of Edgar Allan Poe. 

Episode count

8 Episodes

Series

Horror, Drama

Created by

Mike Flanagan

Based on

"The Fall of the House of Usher" and other works by Edgar Allan Poe

Written by

Mike Flanagan

Directed by

Mike Flanagan and Michael Fimognari

The Fall of the House of Usher

Starring

Carla Gugino as Verna

Bruce Greenwood as Roderick Usher

Zach Gilford as young Roderick Usher

Mary McDonnell as Madeline Usher

Willa Fitzgerald as young Madeline Usher

Carl Lumbly as C. Auguste Dupin

Malcolm Goodwin as young C. Auguste Dupin

Samantha Sloyan as Tamerlane Usher

T'Nia Miller as Victorine LaFourcade

Rahul Kohli as Napoleon Usher

Kate Siegel as Camille L'Espanaye

Sauriyan Sapkota as Prospero Usher

Katie Parker as Annabel Lee

Michael Trucco as Rufus Wilmot Griswold

Henry Thomas as Frederick Usher

Mark Hamill as Arthur Pym

Paola Nuñez as Dr. Alessandra "Al" Ruiz

Matt Biedel as William "Bill-T" Wilson

Crystal Balint as Morelle Usher

Kyleigh Curran as Lenore Usher

Igby Rigney as Toby

Aya Furukawa as Tina

Daniel Jun as Julius

Annabeth Gish as Eliza

Robert Longstreet as Mr. Longfellow

Sarah-Jane Redmond as Mrs. Longfellow

Nicholas Lea as Judge John Neal

JayR Tinaco as Faraj

Tommy Nelson

Lulu Wilson

Composer

The Newton Brothers

Executive producers

Mike Flanagan, Trevor Macy, Emmy Grinwis, Michael Fimognari, and Melinda Nishioka

Cinematography

Michael Fimognari

Editor

Brett Bachman

The Fall of the House of Usher

Bruce Greenwood discusses his character Roderick Usher 

“Roderick Usher is a guy who has never had to pay for any trespass” 

“He’s moved forward in his life without impediment at the expense of everybody and everything around him, and he’s never paid for it in any way at all.”

Carla Gugino discusses her character Verna 

“Unfortunately, most people are made of who they are from the start, and so they rarely change their minds. But I think that the cool thing about Verna is that she always has some kind of –– if not faith, fascination –– in human beings” 

“She is always waiting for the occasional one that will actually make a different decision.”

Mary McDonnell discusses her character Madeline

“I’ve played a lot of empowered women or women in power, but they’re still aware of certain kinds of rules and decorum. And Madeline really doesn’t give a f*ck about it” 

“And I love that about her. She just does not care. So there’s freedom in her, along with all of the other things that attracted me to her.”

The Fall of the House of Usher

Mark Hamill discusses his character Arthur Pym

“[Pym’s] the investigative thread providing a lot of exposition for the audience wondering, ‘What’s going on? Who is this? Why is this happening?’ ” 

“That’s my job, to figure out what’s going on.”

Carl Lumbly discusses his character Auguste Dupin

“Charles Auguste Dupin is a simple man” 

“He believes in simple things like justice and love. He thinks that the nobler ideas that we carry about ourselves as human beings are worthy of defense. He believes in justice. He believes in love the hard way. Love that is not always soft and/or pretty, but that involves an opening of the heart, a love that involves a sacrifice, and that people need to be held accountable for what they do.”

Samantha Sloyan discusses her character Tamerlane Usher

“Tamerlane Usher considers herself a true Usher” 

“She is the daughter of both Roderick and Annabel Lee, his first wife. And I think she aspires so much to please her father and to make him proud. And that has distorted her ambition in a way that has caused her to lock out all other things from life. [There’s] a single-mindedness to her and she’s put so much pressure on herself and so much importance on her success that her anxiety level has just gone through the roof. She’s created this circumstance for herself [where] she’s not sleeping. She’s not doing anything. She's just completely focused on her one goal. And through that laser focus, she kind of loses the plot entirely — loses the point of everything.”

T'Nia Miller discusses her character Victorine

“She wants to basically be the new Roderick” 

“She wants to be the CEO. She wants to run things.” 

The Fall of the House of Usher

Rahul Kohli discusses his character Napoleon “Leo” Usher 

“Leo is one of the children from Roderick’s adventures that find out later in life that their father is Roderick Usher” 

“Leo’s thing is indulgence and greed. And he tends to supplement his life with either. He treats people almost like drugs. So if he wants an upper or a downer, he uses people that way. And when they’re no longer of any use to him, he disposes of them.”

Kate Siegel discusses her character Camille L’Espanaye

“Camille’s a stone-cold b*tch. There is no stopping her” 

“She loathes human emotion in any way, shape, or form and thinks weakness is probably the most embarrassing thing that could happen to a person.” 

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