The Fall of the House of Usher Reimagined: Movie Review (2023)
"The Fall of the House of Usher" updates Edgar Allan Poe's stories for the modern age, chronicling the fall of a wealthy American family.
It combines elements of "Succession" and "The Tell-Tale Heart", exploring themes of power, vengeance, betrayal and violence.
The series sometimes feels overcrowded as it incorporates various Poe sources while maintaining a relatively thin narrative.
Mike Flanagan's direction and the return of familiar cast members increase the series' appeal to fans of his previous works, such as "The Haunting of Hill House" and "Midnight Mass".
Roderick Usher (played by Bruce Greenwood) invites explorer C. Auguste Dupin (played by Carl Lumbly) to his home one stormy night.
Roderick Usher offers to uncover his family's dark history of crime and violence.
Notably, Dupin is a character from Poe's other works, not just the title story of 1839, which adds a unique twist to the narrative.
"The Fall of the House of Usher" takes inspiration from various works of Poe, including "The Masque of the Red Death," "Murder in the Rue Morgue," "The Black Cat," "The Pit and the Pendulum," "The Raven," and others.