How Hill House Helps Make Midnight Mass Even Scarier

Netflix horror The Haunting of Hill House’s sly framing and creepy background details helped ensure that Midnight Mass viewers were on the edge of their seats well before the series revealed its big twist. Midnight Mass is writer/director Mike Flanagan’s third foray into small-screen horror, and the miniseries may be his most critically-acclaimed outing yet. Although reviewers noted that Midnight Mass is less intensely scary and fast-paced than The Haunting of Hill House, the miniseries is also arguably a more mature and thoughtful work and is broadly agreed to be a stronger effort than Flanagan’s troubled 2020 effort The Haunting of Bly Manor.

However, Midnight Mass still manages to borrow some creative tricks from the creator’s two earlier shows, and viewers familiar with Flanagan’s work will find themselves scared as much by what’s not onscreen as what is shown. Flanagan’s first two television miniseries mastered the art of hiding ghostly apparitions in plain sight, with many of the show’s background scares only becoming obvious upon a rewatch. However, while Midnight Mass does not employ this technique, its framing and roving camerawork constantly suggests that it will – a trick that hides the real nature of the show’s supernatural elements.

It isn’t until the end of Midnight Mass’ third episode that the series reveals its big twist via a reference to Stephen King’s The Shining. The charismatic young newcomer Father Paul Hill is the ailing, aged Monsignor Pruitt, revitalized during his trip to the Holy Land by an encounter with a vampire who he brought back to his island home. Thanks to The Haunting of Hill House and The Haunting of Bly Manor constantly hiding ghosts in the background of innocuous scenes, viewers of Midnight Mass found their eyes drawn to what was behind the characters while watching the early episodes. Since Midnight Mass employs the same framing as those earlier shows, particularly in the first episodes before the twist is revealed, the series built up the sense of unease while implying the villain would be another form of ghost or specter – thus misdirecting the viewer until the big reveal of episode three.

The Haunting of Hill House and Bly Manor’s Ghosts Explained

In both The Haunting of Hill House and The Haunting of Bly Manor, background ghosts serve essentially the same thematic and aesthetic purpose. Flanagan leans into negative space in his framing constantly, leaving viewers constantly on edge whenever they see any background space that could hide an apparition. Black voids like doorways and empty rooms where anything could jump out are peppered throughout the visuals of both shows, designed to consciously mess with the viewer’s mind and ensure they are always prepared for a ghost to appear. In storytelling terms, this approach also underlines that both titular locations are doorways between the world of the living and the dead, and framing the ghosts as part of the location ensures they are as “real” to the viewer as each show’s living characters.

How Midnight Mass Exploits Flanagan’s Usual Style

Early on Midnight Mass, extended sequences take place in dark locations where backgrounds are murky and indistinct. Like The Haunting of Hill House and The Haunting of Bly Manor, Midnight Mass’ early excursion to the Uppards in episode one leaves viewers scanning the background of the scene for evidence of ghosts and thus subconsciously urges the viewer to assume the show’s villain is some form of ghost. Upon a rewatch, the twist of Midnight Mass is almost obvious and well telegraphed from the opening episode. Seeing Paul Hill knock on his trunk and receive a response from the thing inside reveals that the threat is something more solid and corporeal than a ghost, even if it does take another two episodes before his traveling companion is revealed to be a vampire.

Midnight Mass Uses Flanagan’s Style Against Viewers (At First)

While the first episode is the outing that features the most negative space in which to hide myriad ghosts, Midnight Mass episode 2 features another nod to Flanagan’s style that soon proves to be another misdirect for viewers familiar with the helmer. The opening scene is an elaborate, ambitious tracking shot that sees numerous characters discuss how to handle the bizarre deluge of dead cats that appeared on the beach overnight. The framing of the sequence will instantly remind viewers of the legendary 17-minute tracking shot found in The Haunting of Hill House. This similarity, combined with the fact that locals Riley, Erin, Omar, Wade, Warren, Ali, Bev, and Annie are all present in the scene, could lead many viewers to assume that this unlikely group will have to band together to take on the show’s supernatural threat much like The Haunting of Hill House‘s fractured family had to do after their lengthy tracking shot argument brought them together.

Instead, though, Riley dies early on while Bev becomes a lethal religious zealot akin to The Mist’s Ms. Carmody and turns into the show’s main villain. Meanwhile, Ali becomes a minor villain before redeeming himself, Annie dies near the show’s close, Wade becomes a relatively major villain, Erin and Omar sacrifice themselves to save the town, and Warren is one of only two characters to survive the series. The tracking shot is unlikely to mislead anyone unfamiliar with Flanagan’s work. However, much like the negative spaces leaves the director’s fans awaiting the presence of background ghosts, the roving camera bringing together this unlikely group is another case of the director leveraging his style against the viewer’s expectations.

Midnight Mass’ Biggest Twist Will Shock Flanagan Fans

From The Haunting of Hill House‘s Hugh Crain to the doomed Danny Torrance, star of Flanagan’s darker Shining sequel Dr. Sleep, it is not unusual for the director to have central characters sacrifice themselves to save others at the climax of his works. However, this is another area where familiarity with Flanagan’s work makes it harder, rather than easier, for viewers to guess where the plot is heading. From the first episode’s opening moments, it is clear that Riley Flynn is a deeply flawed person. Introduced having accidentally killed a girl via a drunk driving accident, the protagonist proceeds to return to his small-town home after a stint in prison and begin attending AA meetings with the charming Father Hill. Shortly after, he discovers Hill is a vampire after being attacked and becoming one himself. Instantly, it is clear to Flanagan fans that, as with Hugh and Danny before him, Riley will use his newfound powers to sacrifice himself and save the town by taking down Hill.

That’s when what appears to be a more Catholic-oriented remix of Stephen King’s Salem’s Lot takes a sharp left turn when Riley kills himself the same night he becomes a vampire. With the antihero dead, it is up to his love interest Erin Greene to fulfill the requisite sacrificial hero role, and thus it becomes clear that Flanagan has once again played viewers who are familiar with his work by upending a theme he has revisited before. Hence, Midnight Massmanages to use Flanagan’s earlier shows The Haunting of Hill Houseand The Haunting of Bly Manor to make viewers assume they know where the story is going, only to twist their expectations at the last moment.

About The Author

Cathal Gunning
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Cathal Gunning has been writing about movies and TV online since 2020. His obsessions include The Simpsons, Stephen King, the Scream series, and the horror genre in general. He has spent more time thinking about Stranger Things than the writers of Stranger Things, and he has never seen a Star War.

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