This series produced by Netflix is not only based on the story The Fall Of The House Of Usher, it is a series that combines several elements and plots from some of Edgar Allan Poe's most popular stories. It has references to Poe's literature both in the scenes and in the dialogues that cite some of the texts used to construct this story. What the filmmakers decided to do makes sense because The Fall Of The House Of Usher is a short enough story to adapt into a series.
Here they decided to use the same formula that was used in The Raven adaptations that starred Bela Lugosi and John Cusack or some of the other Poe adaptations that were produced by Roger Corman. The series uses the mythology of Poe's literature to construct a story that works quite well. Although Poe is known for his style of gothic literature, the series chooses to do something more modern and aimed at generation Z. Surprisingly, this series manages to create a good balance, resulting in a modern series according to today's society and preserving the essence of Poe's works. Adaptations like Two Evil Eyes or The Black Cat by Lucio Fulci or others also took their free paths to do something more according to the time, with certain creative freedoms, but maintaining what makes Poe's works so dark and terrifying.
The Fall Of The House Of Usher decides to expand and deepen the story of the Ushers to understand what is happening and would be resorting to something similar to what Roger Corman did in his film House Of Usher, where he raised the idea that the Ushers were a family of criminals and that the family was cursed. Corman even recycled that idea in his adaptation of The Pit And The Pendulum. This series uses that idea by presenting the Ushers as a millionaire family who is vain, corrupt and full of unlimited power. The plot of the series and the horrors that the family members experience are constructed through other Poe stories.
The series is packed with elements and references to Poe's works such as The Masque Of The Red Death, The Black Cat, The Raven, Goldbug, The Tell-Tale Heart, Morella, Spirits Of The Dead, Lenore, The Pit And The Pendulum, For Annie, Annabel Lee, A Dream Within A Dream, The City And The Sea, The Murders In The Rue Morgue, The Narrative Of Arthur Gordon Pym Of Nantucket, The Spectacles, The Premature Burial, Metzengerstein, Tamerlan And Other Poems, Ligeia, Some Words with a Mummy, Never Bet The Devil Your Head and Hop Frog which are fairly easy to identify for someone who knows Poe's works. Even Roderick Usher's past life in his younger years has a couple of nods to Poe's life.
The mysterious woman played by Carla Gugino is a very clear equivalent to the raven that has always been a symbolic element in the figure of Poe. The figure of the crow has always been taken into account in the adaptations of The Raven with Bela Lugosi, Vincent Prince and John Cusack and also in the prologue of Two Evil Eyes. The animated film Extraordinary Tales also took into account the raven, using it as a representation of Poe's soul in his conversation with death. It is clear that the raven has always been symbolized as the messenger or angel of death and in this series it is the personification of death that goes after those who are hungry for power offering them everything they want at a high price.
There is no doubt that The Fall Of The House Of Usher is a series that knows how to reflect the vision of Poe's works, maintaining essential elements of these such as corruption, vanity, greed, madness, perversion and death. With good performances, a witty script, good direction and a somber soundtrack by The Newton Brothers, The Fall Of The House Of Usher is one of the best Netflix series with a great mix of drama, horror, suspense and black humor and a great homage to the works of Edgar Allan Poe that makes it one of the best adaptations of this writer. My final rating for this series is a 9/10.
Here they decided to use the same formula that was used in The Raven adaptations that starred Bela Lugosi and John Cusack or some of the other Poe adaptations that were produced by Roger Corman. The series uses the mythology of Poe's literature to construct a story that works quite well. Although Poe is known for his style of gothic literature, the series chooses to do something more modern and aimed at generation Z. Surprisingly, this series manages to create a good balance, resulting in a modern series according to today's society and preserving the essence of Poe's works. Adaptations like Two Evil Eyes or The Black Cat by Lucio Fulci or others also took their free paths to do something more according to the time, with certain creative freedoms, but maintaining what makes Poe's works so dark and terrifying.
The Fall Of The House Of Usher decides to expand and deepen the story of the Ushers to understand what is happening and would be resorting to something similar to what Roger Corman did in his film House Of Usher, where he raised the idea that the Ushers were a family of criminals and that the family was cursed. Corman even recycled that idea in his adaptation of The Pit And The Pendulum. This series uses that idea by presenting the Ushers as a millionaire family who is vain, corrupt and full of unlimited power. The plot of the series and the horrors that the family members experience are constructed through other Poe stories.
The series is packed with elements and references to Poe's works such as The Masque Of The Red Death, The Black Cat, The Raven, Goldbug, The Tell-Tale Heart, Morella, Spirits Of The Dead, Lenore, The Pit And The Pendulum, For Annie, Annabel Lee, A Dream Within A Dream, The City And The Sea, The Murders In The Rue Morgue, The Narrative Of Arthur Gordon Pym Of Nantucket, The Spectacles, The Premature Burial, Metzengerstein, Tamerlan And Other Poems, Ligeia, Some Words with a Mummy, Never Bet The Devil Your Head and Hop Frog which are fairly easy to identify for someone who knows Poe's works. Even Roderick Usher's past life in his younger years has a couple of nods to Poe's life.
The mysterious woman played by Carla Gugino is a very clear equivalent to the raven that has always been a symbolic element in the figure of Poe. The figure of the crow has always been taken into account in the adaptations of The Raven with Bela Lugosi, Vincent Prince and John Cusack and also in the prologue of Two Evil Eyes. The animated film Extraordinary Tales also took into account the raven, using it as a representation of Poe's soul in his conversation with death. It is clear that the raven has always been symbolized as the messenger or angel of death and in this series it is the personification of death that goes after those who are hungry for power offering them everything they want at a high price.
There is no doubt that The Fall Of The House Of Usher is a series that knows how to reflect the vision of Poe's works, maintaining essential elements of these such as corruption, vanity, greed, madness, perversion and death. With good performances, a witty script, good direction and a somber soundtrack by The Newton Brothers, The Fall Of The House Of Usher is one of the best Netflix series with a great mix of drama, horror, suspense and black humor and a great homage to the works of Edgar Allan Poe that makes it one of the best adaptations of this writer. My final rating for this series is a 9/10.