Breaking Down ‘The Fall Of The House Of Usher’s’ Edgar Allen Poe References, From ‘The Raven’ to ‘The Black Cat’
variety.comHunter Ingram SPOILER ALERT: This story contains spoilers for all eight episodes of “The Fall of the House of Usher,” now streaming on Netflix, and several works of Edgar Allan Poe that have been available to read for more than 150 years.
Mike Flanagan never met a haunted house he didn’t want to peel back the wallpaper on and see what horrors lurk beneath. At Netflix, the writer/director has become a Halloween staple by exploring the hallowed halls of novelists Shirley Jackson (“The Haunting of Hill House”) and Henry James (“The Haunting of Bly Manor”).
On the big screen, he even helmed a Stephen King-endorsed return trip to Overlook Hotel for “The Shining” sequel “Doctor Sleep.” But for his final act at Netflix before his production company Intrepid Pictures begins anoverall deal at Amazon, Flanagan gets lost in a different type of literary labyrinth –– the mind of Edgar Allan Poe.
In “The Fall of the House of Usher,” Flanagan uses Poe’s 1839 short story to dismantle the dynasty of morally bankrupt Fortunato Pharmaceuticals CEO Roderick Usher (Bruce Greenwood), who built a legacy on his consumer’s dependence on his highly addictive opioid named Ligodone.
Read more on variety.com