We might not always get around to watching shows when they air, but when we do, it can be the same revelation that those catching the premiere had. That’s what recently happened with Stephen King, who got around to Mike Flanagan’s The Fall of the House of Usher two years after it creeped to Netflix.
King recently took to social media to share his take on The Fall of the House of Usher, going as far as to put creator Mike Flanagan in the same breath as Quentin Tarantino. “THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER (Netflix): I missed this when it bowed due to hip surgery, but this is a case of delayed gratification. Scary, involving, with writing that’s witty and moves the plot. There’s a case to be made for Mike Flanagan being the Quentin Tarantino of horror.”
Now, what exactly King means when he compares Flanagan to Tarantino isn’t clear, but we can say with confidence that Flanagan is one hell of a writer, with some truly terrific dialogue/monologues throughout his works and a complete understanding of his characters – it’s not as if there’s a scene where Carla Gugino rambles on about an obscure cereal from the ‘60s… Whatever King fully means there, it’s a major compliment and at the very least a way of saying that he’s one of the best in the game right now. Heck, even QT himself is a fan of Flanagan, once saying that his favorite series was The Haunting of Hill House, Flanagan’s first foray into television. And considering Tarantino is hesitant to heap praise on a lot of modern TV, that’s yet another major win for Flanagan.
Flanagan, of course, has marked himself as the go-to guy for adapting the works of Stephen King, having directed Gerald’s Game, Doctor Sleep and last year’s The Life of Chuck, with a miniseries version of Carrie set up at Amazon Prime Video. Considering Tarantino ranks Brian De Palma’s Carrie among his favorite films of any genre, we do have to wonder if he’ll be checking that out as well.
What are your own thoughts on Mike Flanagan as a writer?
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