Haunting Of Hill House Blu-Ray Commentary Biggest Reveals

Here are some of the biggest reveals from Mike Flanagan’s commentaries on The Haunting Of Hill House Blu-ray. The Haunting Of Hill House is a loose adaptation of the classic novel of the same name, which was first adapted as 1963’s The Haunting. This timeless chiller is considered one of the best horror films of all time and relied on a psychological, understated approach rather than jumpscares. Over 30 years later came Jan de Bont’s The Haunting, which cast Catherine Zeta-Jones and Liam Neeson in the lead roles.

The Haunting remake ditched the subtlety of the 1963 version in favor of CG and loud noises, and while it received mostly bad reviews, it was a modest success. The most recent adaptation was 2018’s The Haunting Of Hill House show from Netflix, which reframed the story as a family dealing with the trauma of having lived in the titular house decades prior. The Haunting Of Hill House reviews praised its powerful performances and for mixing drama with some genuinely chilling horror.

The Haunting Of Hill House ratings on Rotten Tomatoes stands at 93% from critics and 91% from audiences, so it’s safe to say the show was well received. A year on from its Netflix debut the series landed on both Blu-ray and DVD, with three episodes featuring extended cuts. The Haunting Of Hill House director Mike Flanagan provided commentary on four key episodes, and here are some of his biggest reveals.

“Steven Sees a Ghost”

Flanagan starts his Haunting Of Hill House commentary detailing how he first came on the series and his notion for expanding the book, by focusing on the aftermath of the haunting. Surprisingly, despite featuring many Flanagan regulars in the cast – including his wife Kate Siegel – he reveals Michiel Huisman was the first of the Crain family cast.

Huisman’s Steven was named for Steven Spielberg, while every family member cast as a Crain needed to bear some kind of resemblance to the actor. Mike Flanagan also reveals the production had to be careful with their framing of the Bent-Neck Lady ghost to obscure that she was really Victoria Pedretti’s Nell.

“The Bent-Neck Lady”

According to Mike Flanagan’s commentary, his insistence on directing The Haunting Of Hill House’s “The Bent-Neck Lady” led to him helming the whole series since other factors forced him to take on the other episodes too. This decision could cause him a great deal of stress as production wore on.

Other reveals from this episode include Bruce Greenwood’s uncredited cameo as a ghost, who is seen over the shoulder of Carla Gugino’s Olivia in one scene; the two previously co-starred in Flanagan’s Gerald’s Game.

“Two Storms”

“Two Storms” is one of the most impressive episodes of TV in recent years, and from the sounds of it, one of the most stressful to plan and shoot. Flanagan’s Haunting Of Hill House’s Blu-ray commentary reveals it was inspired by Hitchcock’s Rope, and that his wife Kate found out she was pregnant during filming.

He points out the technical aspects and happy accidents, like Timothy Hutton briefly forgetting a line that added to the scene as a moment of reflection. The stress of filming also made the acting more intense as the cast were genuinely frustrated by the process of long takes, and that while Flanagan is (understandably) very proud of the end result, he never wants to attempt it again.

“Silence Lay Steadily”

Mike Flanagan’s final Haunting Of Hill House Blu-ray commentary is for the finale, which is the episode he’s the proudest of. He points out the Doctor Sleep book easter egg was added after he was hired to direct the movie adaptation. Despite fan theories disputing otherwise, he states the family definitely AREN’T in the Red Room at the end, and while there was discussion of burning the house down, Flanagan decided against it.

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Padraig Cotter
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It’s pronounced Paw-rick, not Pad-raig. Now that’s out of the way, a brief introduction. Padraig has been writing about film online since 2012, when a friend asked if he’d like to contribute the occasional review or feature to their site.

A part-time hobby soon blossomed into a career when he discovered he really loved writing about movies, TV and video games – he even (arguably) had a little bit of talent for it. He has written words for Den of Geek, Collider, The Irish Times and Screen Rant over the years, and can discuss anything from the MCU – where Hawkeye is clearly the best character – to the most obscure cult b-movie gem, and his hot takes often require heat resistant gloves to handle.

He’s super modern too, so his favorite movies include Jaws, Die Hard, The Thing, Ghostbusters and Batman. He can be found as i_Padds on Twitter making bad puns.

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