Season 1

Netflix’s The Haunting of Hill House: Season 1 Review

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The-Haunting-of-Hill-House-Netflix-Theory-1.jpgOne of my favorite series on Netflix over the last few months has definitely been The Haunting of Hill House.  If you are a huge fan of the novel from Shirley Jackson written back in 1959 then you need to see this adaptation of the popular horror novel.  One of the best parts about this show is the drama it brings to the screen, but also a level of terrifying moments that truly dig deep into the roots of the horror genre.

Following the Crain family and the ghosts of their past in 10 emotional packed episodes left me with needing to see more of this show now.  The show starts with the Crain children, who, after growing apart, are tragically brought back together after one of the siblings dies. The Haunting of Hill House is loaded with a timeline you have to keep up with pretty close as each timeline is impacted throughout the season.

hhhh.jpgWhen the kids are young and still living in Hill House, they continually get visions of ghosts, zombies, and a tall slender man, but these visions follow them into adulthood, but most of these ghosts they face seem to be of their own making.  There’s a complex theme throughout the story concerning the house’s complicity in all of the kids’ failings as adults. This is where the show begins to take a really scary turn as things begin to manifest in the adult’s lives, and the plot really begins to thicken with a rich story.

When the story begins to expand on the children’s lives, Hill House and their father the scares kick off big time.  In the flashbacks with the children, the directory used an amazing slow camera pan technique that really added a dark feeling to the overall story. While the children are the main focus of the narrative for Hill House, a family tale of ghosts and curses wouldn’t be complete without Mom & Dad.  Hugh and Olivia Crane are introduced early on in the show but with a twist that unfolds throughout the entire season.  Carla Gugino plays Olivia Crain, and Hugh Crain is played by Timothy Hutton which the two made a great pair and delivered some amazing performances.

dfb4cae0-be66-11e9-aa95-bfeb4caf612e_800_420.pngOlivia like here children are affected by the house, but you also see a woman who is losing grip on reality which could be due to a troubled marriage, and stress of raising her five children.  The director did something brilliant through the telling of the story and how things unfold to create a doubt in your mind as the viewer.  You truly aren’t sure if what you are watching unfold on screen is because of a crazy family with mental issues, or if this family truly is seeing ghosts and have been living in a haunted house.  Personally, the Haunting of Hill House has been one of the best Netflix original horror series released to date.  Season 2 can’t get here fast enough to continue the unfolding of America’s most haunted family and haunted house.

All Things Geekery Podcast Episode 4 – Stranger Things

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In this episode:

  • Iogro talks about some new changes that will be happening to the podcast over the next few months.
  • We talk Netflix and some of it’s original series
  • **Spoiler** about a new Destiny Lore series coming this year
  • We take an in depth look at Netflix’s original series Stranger Things

 

 

Be sure to subscribe to the All Things Geekery Podcast with any of your favorite podcast apps.  Stop by and drop us a review  so we know how we’re doing.  Thanks for listening, and we can’t wait to hear from you!

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Social Contacts

Iogro Merrybelly / Victus Darkaero

Twitter @iogromerrybelly
Blog @ http://www.ahobbitsjourney.com

Twitter @victus_darkaero

ATG Podcast

Twitter @allthingsgeekry
Blog @ http://www.allthingsgeekery.com

Music Credit Erik Skiff

Stranger Things: Season 1 Review

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Did you grow up in the 80’s, or a fan of the 80’s films?  I sure am and if you haven’t seen Netflix’s new series Stranger Things then you are just flat missing out.  This show was so satisfying to watch, I honestly could watch it over and over again.

Stranger Things Season One Trailer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWxyRG_tckY

Set in the early 80s, the show is an 80’s influence and nostalgic throwback of the good old days when I grew up.  The series centers around a mysterious disappearance of a young boy, Will (Noah Schnapp), and the finding of a young girl known as Eleven (Millie Brown). Will is one of a group of four friends who make up a very tight knit and adventurous bunch.  When Will’s friends Mike (Finn Wolfhard), Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo), and Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin) find out he’s missing they go on a desperate quest to find him.  They are also the ones who discover the young mysterious girl only known as Eleven and quickly find out she’s not a normal girl.

Will’s friends aren’t the only one’s looking for him as his mother, Joyce (Winona Ryder), and older brother, Jonathan (Charlie Heaton), are also trying to find him.  Along the way both Will’s friends and his family discover some very dangerous and disturbing moments that this small Illinois town has potentially been hiding.

As soon as Stranger Things begins it sucks you right into the story line, nostalgia of the 80’s and drops you right into a very familiar place with the 80’s films we once enjoyed. The creators of the show Matt and Ross Duffer bring the 80’s influence to this show brilliantly and bring us something new we haven’t seen in a long time…originality!  The depiction of these young kids and the way they speak, interact and, yep, ride bikes together when it’s dark outside, feels just like an old Spielberg movie!  As soon as I saw the kids on their bikes after dark it sparked the childhood memories of E.T. and the adventure scenes of one of my favorite films to date The Goonies, which was also produced by Spielberg.

Stranger Things doesn’t just bring an influence of the 80’s like Spielberg moments, but a much larger cast of our favorite childhood influences!  My favorite thing about the show is the overall feel they gave it with the opening credits, music, and vibes!  You get to see a John Carpenter mash-up of intense suspenseful music and opening scenes which brings a scariness to the show.  This show brings the horror fans of us out as we do get to see some gore and very intense scary moments for one unfortunate soul in the opening.  The Duffer Brothers have even said that Stephen King, Carpenter and Spielberg were very much a primary influences on them and it sure shows in all it’s magical Stranger Things glory!

What I like the best about the show is that it’s not just a copy cat of famous 80’s script writers and directors as the show creates a very intriguing and eye catching world of it’s own.  Well written and thought out, the show is centered around a great group of likable characters which is in part to how well the kids themselves interact and work as a group. The Duffer brothers did a fantastic job of finding a cast who wasn’t a polished set of actors, but brought a realness to the show which helps draw the audience even closer.

So this is showcasing the great 80’s right, well you can’t do that without having some teen drama in the show.  Nancy (Natalia Dyer) is the older sister of Mike who is one of Will’s friends and she also brings a very real feeling to the screen.  The one person who I felt stand out in performance was (Wynona Ryder) as Joynce, which plays the single mother who through the eight episode season grows worrisome, estranged at times, and very volatile with her emotions, understandably of course.  One of my favorite roles in the show is (David Harbour) which plays the local arrogant tough guy police chief.  He’s a very complex character once you get to see his part unfold in the story.

If the show had one area it’s lacking, I would say tying things up from a story standpoint was the only minus I’d give the show.  The show had so many mysteries that unfolded in this season it kept you on edge most of the show, but I just wish it felt more fully formed! But I’m not a director and this may have been done on purpose so they could pull that story line into season 2 if Netflix decides to pick them up for season 2 that is.  This show had so much going on, and they came from all sorts of angles it always kept you guessing as to what was coming next, just like a good horror / suspense film would have.  Some of those things included government and scientific conspiracies, to the growth of relationships the boys had to go through while looking for their friend. All in all at the end of the show I felt we were left with an unsatisfied question of what just happened, but at the same time enjoyment and awe of what comes next.

Overall this series get’s an A+ in my book as the love for the works of all the great 80’s directors that brought us so much joy and excitement in the horror, science fiction realms. The Duffer Brothers have done an amazing job combining all of these different tones and genres together to make us feel right at home.  The show goes from moments of questionable actions to moments of absolute terror all set among a very curious bunch of of kids and does it without making you feel like it’s a knockoff 80’s horror film!

Go check it out and let me know what you thought of the show in the comments.  Would love to hear your feedback on the show, and what you did or didn’t like about it.

Until next time!

A Glance at The Walking Dead: The Game Season 1

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Happy Halloween Everyone!

I thought it quite fitting and ironic that these last few weeks of gaming have been intense, suspenseful, questionable, and even down right horrifying.  It’s Halloween and nothing else would even be right…right?  Well anyways….Zombies have completely overtaken my gaming experiences of late and it’s all due to the amazing work that Telltale games has put into “The Walking Dead Game” which has it’s flaws but delivers an amazing game experience like none other that I soon won’t forget.  I’m currently playing through season one of the game, and it’s unique player choice system, and award-winning script writing has won this game multiple awards.

images (15)This game was originally released to be five episodes in which you play a character named Lee Everett, a convicted murderer on his way to prison.  Though the convicted murderer has something much bigger than trying to learn the inmates code on his hands, and that is the zombie apocalypse that has broken out.  This gives Lee a whirlwind of decisions that he is now having to make, and guess who is in charge of those decisions and all the steps in between; yep you guessed it, it’s YOU! The decisions that you make in the heat of the moment have rewards, or great consequences that stay with you throughout the entire journey of the game.

This game is an adventure game by nature which is ultimately based off the critically acclaimed comic book and television series.  This isn’t your typical adventure game though, and as you play through the five episodes, the really important moments of the game come when you choose how Lee responds to situations and what he says in conversations with his fellow survivors.

images (14)This is a choice based game and specific dialogue comes up on your screen with timers, and you literally have seconds to choose exactly what Lee will do or say next….In this game when you choose and make your decision, the game adapts the story and moves on in the timeline, so choose wisely and choose quickly.  This exact feature is what makes The Walking Dead so special… everyone playing this game has the same task a head of them, which is to protect a little girl named Clementine that you encountered on your journey and you’ve taken her under your wing for protection.  The cool part about the decision system is everyone goes about the game a different way.  I might choose to befriend someone you hate, and you might choose to leave someone I took. I might blowup in anger, but you may keep a cool level headed mind. Whatever group you have with you will remember the decision you have made and that creates the dynamic of the group and how people react to you.

images (18)Once you are done with an episode of the game, it gives you a recap of your choices and how it compared to the percentage of what other players have chosen in that moment. The game itself has a way of drawing you into the moment, and you are basically the artist making the sketches for how the story plays out.  The main story has a very black and white foundation, and we’ve been hired as gamer’s to finish the drawings with whatever colorful choices we see appropriate at the time. Which is what makes this game such an emotional roller coaster and endearing.  Part of that connection comes from amazing writers in which they’ve added comedy, suspense, horror, and all those emotional moments seem to happen at just the right time.  The other big factor is the great voice acting, and visual style that is a picture perfect image out of the comic books.

Ok, now time for my critiques of the game and what I’ve seen fallen short or even off the wagon at times.  As much as I want to praise the whole game at being a superstar, there are a few things that really stood out to me as being what the heck just happened moments.  For instance, scenes will freeze as the next one loads, game play will slow down as the game tries to process intense action sequences, and at times the voices aren’t synced to the visuals on screen.  Even with these few hiccups in the game design, this is one of the best games I’ve ever played and don’t mind setting through a few flaws for the experience of a game like this one.

Over the next few weeks, I’ll be taking a look at each of the five episodes of season one and can’t wait to play season two, though I’m waiting a bit as I’ve heard season three won’t be out until sometime in 2015.

scr.ee tags:

#thewalkingdead #seasonone