Mike Flanagan’s latest Netflix series is a ghoulishly fun cross between Succession and Edgar Allan Poe.

PLOT: In this wicked series based on the works of Edgar Allan Poe, ruthless siblings Roderick and Madeline Usher have built Fortunato Pharmaceuticals into an empire of wealth, privilege and power. But past secrets come to light when the heirs to the Usher dynasty start dying at the hands of a mysterious woman from their youth.

REVIEW: Since the premiere of Before I Wake and Hush on Netflix in 2016, Mike Flanagan has called the streaming platform his creative home. But, it was not until The Haunting of Hill House that Flanagan became a recognizable name to the masses. With an original film and four series for Netflix, Mike Flanagan’s final project under his overall deal may be his most ambitious until he rolls on his potential adaptation of Stephen King’s The Dark Tower. Drawing inspiration from another master of the macabre, Flanagan’s The Fall of the House of Usher is an unconventional twist on the iconic short story of the same name. Bringing together his repertory players from virtually all of his films and series to date, Flanagan’s version of The Fall of the House of Usher is a grand guignol blend of gothic horror with the cutthroat world of the ultra-wealthy. Consider it Succession if Edgar Allan Poe wrote it, and you know what you are in for. This is a spooky series with some truly innovative takes on the source material that will please fans of Flanagan and Poe alike.

Knowing what Flanagan has done with the classic stories of Shirley Jackson and Henry James, I expected a contemporary twist on The Fall of the House of Usher. Instead of updating that single Poe yarn, Flanagan took a cue from last year’s Christopher Pike mash-up The Midnight Club and modernized multiple tales from the classic author. At its core, the Fall of the House of Usher tells the story of Roderick Usher (Bruce Greenwood), a rich man whose crumbling manse represents his own downfall. But, by widening the scale of the story, Flanagan inserts a greatest hits compilation of Edgar Allan Poe stories organically into the narrative structure. From the trailer alone, you can tell that Usher includes riffs on “The Masque of the Red Death,” “The Black Cat,” “The Tell-Tale Heart,” “The Murders at Rue Morgue,” “The Raven,” and many more. The sheer number of Poe references in this series is staggering and goes beyond full stories into names pulled from the author’s poems and contemporaries from his life. Short of a true biopic, The Fall of the House of Usher is the ultimate homage to one of the icons of horror literature.

The Fall of the House of Usher begins with Roderick Usher’s six children dead without divulging how each Poe story factors into the overall narrative. Amid a massive lawsuit against his company, Fortuna Pharmaceuticals, Roderick invites prosecutor C. August Dupain (Carl Lumbly) to his home, where he plans to tell the lawyer his confession. Over the eight-episode series, Usher’s tale includes a chapter focused on the demise of each of his kids and flashbacks to what set this entire series of events in motion. By allowing each chapter to connect to the next and serve as a partially standalone story, The Fall of the House of Usher works as both an anthology and a singular tale anchored by the central conversation between Usher and Dupain. Bruce Greenwood, who stepped in for Frank Langella early in production, previously worked with Flanagan on the Stephen King adaptation of Gerald’s Game. Usher is a triumphant role for the veteran actor who has appeared in everything from J.J. Abrams’s Star Trek to playing John F. Kennedy in the film Thirteen Days. While spending most of his time with Lumbly, a veteran of Flanagan’s Doctor Sleep, Greenwood is astoundingly good as the patriarch watching his empire and family crumble before him.

As much as The Fall of the House of Usher is a greatest-hits compilation of Poe stories, it is also a mega-cast of Mike Flanagan’s extended roster of talent. The main cast includes actors from multiple of the director’s projects, including Carla Gugino as Verna, Henry Thomas as Frederick Usher, Kate Seigel as Camille L’Espanaye, Samantha Sloyan as Tamerlane Usher, T’Nia Miller as Victorine LaFourcade, Rahul Kohli as Napoleon Usher, Sauriyan Sapkota as Prospero Usher, and Ruth Codd as Juno Usher, Amongst the supporting cast are Katie Parker from Flanagan’s Absentia, Michael Trucco from Hush, Annabeth Gish from Before I Wake, Lulu Wilson from Ouija: Origin of Evil, Kyleigh Curran from Doctor Sleep, Robert Longstreet from The Haunting of Bly Manor, as well as Crystal Balint, Matt Biedel and Zach Gilford from Midnight Mass, and Igby Rigney and Aya Furukawa from The Midnight Club. New additions to Flanagan’s world are Willa Fitzgerald and Mary McDonnell as Madeline Usher, Mark Hamill as Arthur Pym, and Paola Nunez as Alessandra Ruiz. Everyone in this cast is well-suited for Flanagan’s style, which the series’ tone accentuates. A pitch-black sense of humor pervades the somber themes, but it never boils over into pulp or melodrama. That being said, this series is closer to The Midnight Club than Midnight Mass.

Based on the character names listed, you could dig through Poe’s bibliography to determine which stories they are connected to. Still, Flanagan and co-writers Justina Ireland, Dani Parker, Jamie Flanagan, Emmy Grinwis, Matt Johnson, Rebecca Klingel, and Kiele Sanchez are not beholden to the source material. The core of the stories are translated here, but the narrators and victims from the written page are switched around often to keep the viewer on their toes. But, as each Usher family member meets their untimely demise, you will make no mistake as to which Poe story their comeuppance was sourced from. Flanagan, who directed half of the series and handed the other four episodes to his long-time cinematographer Michael Fimognari, takes a cue from his idol Stephen King in imbuing real-world events into the mix. The Ushers are responsible for the opioid epidemic in this tale, a timely connection to current news. There are also many jabs at political figures who remain nameless, but an astute viewer will know exactly who the writers are mocking.

As a big Flanagan fan, I cannot help but find parts of this series uneven. So many of these performances are excellent, especially Bruce Greenwood, Carl Lumbly, and the always great Carla Gugino, but there are also some odd missteps along the way. Ruth Codd, who rose to fame on social media and stood out in The Midnight Club, is oddly cast here as Roderick Usher’s new wife, Juno. The role feels somewhat forced and didn’t entirely work for me as Juno seems more comic relief than a vital part of the tale. Mark Hamill is good in an understated role as the Usher’s primary attorney and fixer. Still, Mary McDonnell’s awful wig often overshadows him when they share scenes together. Rahul Kohli and Samantha Sloyan own their scenes as two Usher siblings. However, their performances sometimes feel like takes on Kieran Culkin and Sarah Snook in Succession rather than original creations. These are nitpicks in the grand scheme of things, as The Fall of the House of Usher is built around the main characters being on the brink of death. We have a front-row seat to their karmic retribution, but I could not help but feel that many character traits are introduced that do not get explained in a worthwhile manner as the series heads toward the big reveal at the end.

The Fall of the House of Usher does not quite reach the level of The Haunting of Hill House or Midnight Mass. I expect fans will find this series closer to The Haunting of Bly Manor, which I do not mean as a slight in any way. Like Edgar Allan Poe’s tales, this series focuses on short stories with romantic and gothic tones that feature a main character getting their just desserts. Flanagan brings his eye for the macabre and injects the right amount of blood and guts to make this a ghoulish experience. Most of these characters deserve what is coming, so witnessing them suffer is a cathartic experience. By incorporating Poe’s poetry and figures from the author’s real life, Mike Flanagan and his writing team have built a beautiful ode to Poe and one that should open a whole new generation to check out his writing. The Fall of the House of Usher is a haunting and beautiful series. While a few characters and subplots do not quite work, the vast majority of them do. This is not as scary as Hill House, but it is every bit the worthy Halloween binge this October.

The Fall of the House of Usher premieres on October 12th on Netflix.

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Preparing for Saw X, the latest episode of the WTF Happened to This Horror Movie video series looks back at 2005’s Saw II

It’s time for another episode of the WTF Happened to This Horror Movie? video series, and with this one we’re preparing for the September 29th theatrical release of the latest Saw sequel, Saw X, by looking back at the first Saw sequel: 2005’s Saw II (watch it HERE). To hear all about it, check out the video embedded above.

Directed by Darren Lynn Bousman, who also wrote the screenplay with Leigh Whannell, Saw II has the following synopsis: On the hunt for the twisted vigilante and serial killer Jigsaw, Detective Eric Matthews and his team must apprehend the elusive murderer to rescue eight people trapped in an abandoned house, before they succumb to his torturous and murderous games. One twist to this task is that Matthews’ own son, Daniel, is among the eight people Jigsaw has chosen to test for their lack of morality. With nerve gas pumping through the house, every second counts.

The film stars Tobin Bell, Shawnee Smith, Donnie Wahlberg, Erik Knudsen, Franky G, Glenn Plummer, Emmanuelle Vaugier, Beverley Mitchell, Timothy Burd, Dina Meyer, Lyriq Bent, Noam Jenkins, Tony Nappo, Kelly Jones, Vincent Rother, and Arrow in the Head founder John Fallon.

This is what the WTF Happened to This Horror Movie series is all about: Hollywood has had its fair share of historically troubled productions. Whether it was casting changes, actor deaths, fired directors, in-production rewrites, constant delays, budget cuts or studio edits, these films had every intention to be a blockbuster, but were beset with unforeseen disasters. Sometimes huge hits, sometimes box office bombs. Either way, we have to ask: WTF Happened To This Horror Movie?

The Saw II episode of WTF Happened to This Horror Movie? was Written, Narrated, and Edited by Tyler Nichols, Produced by Lance Vlcek and John Fallon, and Executive Produced by Berge Garabedian.

A couple of the previous episodes of the show can be seen below. To see more, head over to our JoBlo Horror Originals YouTube channel – and subscribe while you’re there!

What do you think of Saw II, and are you looking forward to Saw X? Let us know by leaving a comment!

The Expendables franchise seems to be over as the fourth film will limp its way to the top of the charts with a potential single digit opening

Numbers have begun rolling in for this second to last weekend of September 2023 and to be brutally honest: they are pretty terrible. Expend4bles is looking to come in severely under where even the most modest of tracking had it with what is looking like an $8-$10 million opening. In our Thursday predictions I saw that the fourthquel was tracking to a mid teens opening and thought it could get to around $17 million. It seems audiences decided to go the other way with this one and let it die a quiet death, the way many members of the Expendable team seem to have, as the film only features a handful of returning stars.

In his 5/10 review for the film, our Editor in Chief Chris Bumbray said that the film was neither as bad as most critics had written, yet still not very good. I would say I agree with that assessment, although I think I may have liked it better than his 5/10. Perhaps going into the movie after reading a lot of those negative reviews tempered my expectations and when it ended I was able to say that it wasn’t nearly as bad as I had read. Although the reports of this movie having some horrible CGI/ Green Screen are not exaggerated. There is one scene in particular that I won’t spoil here that is embarrassingly bad for all involved. With a reported $100 million budget, I have to assume that money went to catering and not the VFX crew.

We will see where final estimates end up tomorrow, but it appears Expend4bles is a massive box office bomb. The good news is that even with that horrendous opening, the film will still more than likely lay claim to the top spot at the box office.

Coming in second place and proving to have some solid staying power is The Nun II with what is looking like a $7-$8 million third week take. By the end of the weekend the supernatural tale should have nearly $70 million in domestic receipts with worldwide grosses pushing this one to around $180 million. Not too shabby for a movie budgeted in the $30 million range. 

Third place will go to Hercule Poirot as Academy Award Winner Kenneth Branagh’s third Agatha Christie inspired tale, A Haunting in Venice looks to drop nearly 60% of his audience with a $5-$6 million second weekend take. According to producer James Prichard, there could potentially be more Hercule Poirot adventures in the future, although I’m not sure the box office returns on Haunting in Venice are giving the studio much enthusiasm to pursue such projects. 

Coming in fourth place is the Denzel Washington franchise finale The Equalizer 3 with what is looking to be a $4-$5 million weekend as the film begins to even out in its fourth week of release while the IMAX release of Barbie helped propel the blockbuster film to a tenth straight weekend in the top five with an estimated $3-$4 million weekend. 

What do you make of Expend4bles dismal opening? Is the franchise DOA or can international numbers save it? Let us know in the comments your thoughts and don’t forget to check back tomorrow when we have a full rundown on this weekends box office numbers.

Some cliche somewhere said that ‘a picture is worth a thousand words.’ This has proven to be the case for me and especially when it comes to fan art. I have always sought out great fan art and have wanted to share it with as many people as possible. “Awesome Art We’ve Found Around The Net” is the outlet for that passion. In this column, I will showcase the kick-ass artwork of some great artists, with the hopes that these artists get the attention they deserve. That’s the aim. If you have any questions or comments, or even suggestions of art or other great artists, feel free to contact me at any time at [email protected].

Ahsoka by Paul Leon

Baldurs Gate by Bryan Kirk

The Big Lebowski by Chris Ayers

Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure by Bryan Johnson

The Deer Hunter by Edgar Ascensão

Interstellar by Alan David

Nosferatu by Joel Herrera

Talk To Me by Sorin Ilie

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin by John Dunn

Tetris by Scott Balmer

If you go to the multiplex, it’s not surprising that some sort of sequel to a previous film will be playing. Now, studios consider IP (Intellectual Property) as the big selling point rather than well-crafted storylines or impressive visuals. This alone will pull people into the theater. If the movie happens to have the other two things, then great. This wasn’t always the case.

There was a time when making a sequel was looked at as a hack idea, and most studios passed on the idea. That’s a shame, as there are a lot of great classic movies that deserve a sequel. Even some films that have come out when sequels were popular still missed getting another chance at the big screen. Which movies deserved a sequel?

After Stallone delivered a live-action Judge Dredd film back in the mid-90s, fans of the comics hopped to see a closer adaptation of the violent hero. One that wouldn’t take his helmet off. We finally got one in 2012, and fans greatly enjoyed Karl Urban’s take on the character. Hope for a sequel quickly fell off when the film didn’t earn back its production budget. Despite this, Urban has continued to push for a sequel to the film. Talks have been ongoing about possibly making a sequel series for Netflix or Amazon. With the popularity of Urban’s Amazon series The Boys, this would seem like a no-brainer.

This film showed that the film equation of Arnold Schwarzenegger plus James Cameron creates on-screen gold. A simple computer salesman (who looks like Schwarzenegger, yeah right) is actually a spy. His family has no idea, but when his wife, played by Jamie Lee Curtis finds out, she gets pulled into a world of intrigue and secrets. The film did well at the box office, and audiences enjoyed the fun romp through the world of spies. It seems like getting a sequel together would be easy.

Everyone was interested, but Cameron was working on a little film called Titanic. Once that was over, he was ready to return to the world of True Lies. A script was ordered, and Jeff Eastin was brought on to write it. All the major players liked what had been put together, but the process began to drag on. Once the September 11th attacks happened in 2001, Cameron said he didn’t think he could make the movie. There were a lot of set pieces that involved planes and terrorism, and he felt all that would have to be re-written.

Schwarzenegger then ran for Governor of California in 2003, putting the project on hold. He was still interested in doing the movie once he was out of office, but it never came together. A TV series was created for CBS that was a reboot of the film, but it was canceled after one season.

The quintessential teenager film from the 1980s had viewers deciding if they were an athlete, a princess, a criminal, a basket case, or a brain. By modern standards, the film has a lot of problems, but as a time capsule, it works to show a typical teen comedy/drama from the time period. Five high schoolers get stuck in Saturday detention and discover they may have more in common than they thought.

There were rumblings at one time that a sequel might be in the works. The idea would have seen all the characters reconnect at a high school reunion. Once they started to get to know each other again, they would quickly learn they had become everything they had hated about adults when they were teenagers. It would be hard to capture the lightning in a bottle that the John Hughes films did in the 80s, but it might have been nice to revisit these characters again.

This Halloween anthology was supposed to have a wide theatrical release in 2007 but ended up sitting on the shelf until 2009. It went straight to home video but quickly earned a cult following. Sam is the spirit of Halloween and seems to show up as ghoulish things happen. Five interconnected stories play out as we learn about zombie children, vampires, werewolves, and the importance of giving out candy on Halloween night.

Creator Michael Dougherty has pushed for a sequel to be made as soon as it was released. In 2013, it was officially announced that a sequel was moving forward, but quickly afterward, the management at Legendary Pictures changed. It has been put on hold ever since, but Dougherty says he is still in active development on getting a sequel made. Sam even appeared in new short films on the now-defunct horror channel FearNet, showing him celebrating other holidays.

The good news is, just about everyone involved with this film wants to do a sequel. Why it’s taken this long is anyone’s guess. Emily Blunt has assured everyone it’s not her. A cowardly army officer is put on the front lines of a war with aliens. He kills one of them but is drenched in its blood. Now he keeps jumping back to the exact moment in time any time he dies. He finds someone else who has had the same experience, and together, they try to figure out what is happening and how to win the war.

This movie seems perfect for a follow-up. Even before the film starts, this type of thing has happened before. It’s no stretch to think that it could happen again. Putting our characters in a new situation or location could freshen it up. Emily Blunt has stated there is a script that exists for a sequel. It may just be waiting for everyone’s schedules to line up.

the two finally go toe to toe Everyone’s favorite big-screen maniacs finally faced off in 2003. With a rabid fanbase and a tidy profit from the release, surely a sequel was coming quickly. Unfortunately, this ended up being a one-off. When everyone in Springwood forgets who Freddy Kruger is, he resurrects Jason to begin a killing spree to make everyone think Freddy is back. Jason gets out of hand, and when Freddy is pulled into the real world they finally go toe-to-toe.

I guess it shouldn’t be a big surprise as it took over a decade just to get this film on the big screen. A proposed sequel that would bring Evil Dead‘s Ash into the fold looked like it might happen at one point, but cross-company deals can be hard to hammer out. That went on to become a comic book series, so we at least got to see how the story would have played out. This movie still deserved a sequel.

The most famous day off in cinema could surely use a follow-up. Ferris is one of the most well-known kids in his school. He decides to take a day off from school and goes on an epic adventure with his best friend, Cameron, and his girlfriend, Sloane. Ferris is determined to make his friend Cameron have fun. The school principal is trying to catch Ferris playing hooky but can never catch up to him.

According to Broderick, he and John Hughes discussed what a sequel would look like. They couldn’t find anything that didn’t feel like it was just a copy of the original. After Hughes passed away, there were some ideas of maybe seeing an older Ferris, who was now a high school principal, trying to catch students skipping school, but it never happened. A spin-off film following the valets that take the group’s car for a joy ride in the movie has been discussed but has yet to move forward.

The Goonies end up on a wild adventure that involves bank robbers, pirate ships, and lots of rich stuff. They hope to find the treasure of the pirate One-Eyed Willy. With it, they can stop the town real estate developer from tearing down their homes and keep their friends together. This film was a big hit in cinemas and only seemed to get bigger once it landed on home video.

The idea of a sequel had been thrown around since the early 2000s. Some cast members had been passionate about it happening, while others seemed to think the idea was better left alone. Ideas were about the adult Goonies coming back together to help their kids solve a new dilemma. Richard Donner kept pushing for a sequel to move forward, and Steven Spielberg was open to the idea but said they could never find an idea worthy of the Goonies title. This movie deserved a sequel but does it really need one?

While we got a few Roger Rabbit shorts in front of some Disney properties, we never did get a full-on sequel. The original was set in a film noir-inspired world where toons and humans live together. When Roger is framed for murder, he turns to Eddie Valiant to help find the real killer and clear his name. The film was an instant smash and set the industry on fire with its innovative live-action/animation techniques.

There were talks right away of doing a sequel, but a story couldn’t be settled on. One idea saw a prequel where we would get Roger’s origin as he set out from his midwest home to find his mother in Hollywood. He would meet Jessica and fall in love. While he was drafted into the army to fight during World War II, Jessica would get kidnapped and forced to make Nazi propaganda films. After Spielberg made Schindler’s List, he decided he couldn’t do anything that satirized Nazis and stepped down. Other ideas have popped up now and again of a buddy cop film starring Roger and Mickey Mouse as a loose remake of the film The Stooge.

Bob Hoskins would sign on to do a sequel as late as 2010, but he would sadly pass away before movement on the film could happen. When asked about it, Robert Zemeckis has stated that a script does exist. He doubts it would ever get made as the current corporate structure wouldn’t allow some of the more adult content of the film and wouldn’t allow Jessica Rabbit to be used in just about any form. The time of Roger Rabbit seems to have passed, but he did make a small cameo in the recent Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers.

One of the biggest films of all time doesn’t have a sequel. When an alien is left stranded on Earth, he befriends a young boy named Elliot. Together, they learn about each other and work to get the alien back home to his planet. This film was a monster at the box office and had numerous re-releases in theaters. A sequel could have easily cashed in and made the studio a lot of money. Surprisingly, it wasn’t pushed into production right away.

While the film was crushing in theaters, Spielberg did come up with a treatment for a sequel. It was titled E.T. II: Nocturnal Fears. Elliot and the other kids from the first film are kidnapped by evil aliens. They try to communicate with E.T. to get him to help them. Once everything was written out, Spielberg decided against going forward with it. He felt it betrayed the first film and didn’t want to just cash in. However, Universal didn’t feel as adverse when Elliot and E.T. reunited in a Comcast commercial in 2019.

What are some movie sequels you would like to see? Let us know in the comments.

Pauly Shore is calling on fans to help him land his next big role: that of flamboyant fitness icon Richard Simmons.

What’s up, buuuuuddddyyy? Ready to wheeze the juice and burn some calories? It seems as though Pauly Shore may be gearing up to play reclusive fitness guru, pop culture personality and David Letterman foil Richard Simmons in an upcoming biopic. Feel free to let that sink in before proceeding…

OK, rested up? Paul Shore took to social media to confirm that he has indeed spoken to Richard Simmons about the potential for a biopic, further urging his fans to do their part to make sure it gets greenlit. “I’ve noticed all the reactions to me playing Richard Simmons in a new biopic. So I reached out to him. I heard he’s living deep in Big Bear. We’ve been playing phone tag (yes, he still has a phone). I’m trying to make it happen for you guys. Be optimistic. In the meantime, hit up Hulu, Amazon, Disney, HBO and all the big producers. I definitely can morph into this guy. I’ll see you at the Academy Awards 2025.” Hey, it beats a Bio-Dome sequel!

So let’s unpack this. The guy from Son in Law and the voice of the strangest Pinocchio in cinema history would like to star as the razzle dazzle staple of your aunt’s workout VHS collection. Hey, you know what? The more I write about this the more I think we need Pauly Shore as Richard Simmons. This is officially an all-hands-on-deck mission, people!

Richard Simmons has long been out of the spotlight, so much so that investigations and podcasts have been launched over his well-being. Fortunately, the Sweatin’ to the Oldies icon — who turned 75 over the summer — is apparently doing just fine. Last year, a rep for Richard Simmons was essentially forced into telling the media that he was in good spirits. “Richard is eternally grateful for the continuous outpouring of love and gratitude he has received from across the Globe…He is happy, healthy and living the life he has chosen to live.”

How do you feel about the initiative to get Pauly Shore to play Richard Simmons? Could it work? Let us know below!