The cast members in the best Netflix horror show did such an incredible job of carrying its story that the streamer could not help but have them return as the leads in several other series. Successful Netflix horror shows have a lot going for themselves, but one major factor that helps them perform well among viewers and critics is their cast.
Horror television can always be a little tricky to pull off because audiences always expect it to instill a constant sense of dread and tension, along with other complex emotions. Owing to this, it can often be hard to find horror shows that not only succeed at delivering genuine scares but also compelling story beats and emotional depth.
One Netflix horror show, however, is often touted as one of the best additions to the genre because of how it manages to have all the right ingredients that make horror storytelling truly gripping. The show in question also has the perfect cast that kept reappearing in several other Netflix horror shows.
The Haunting Of Hill House’s Cast Is The Reason It’s Netflix’s Greatest Horror Show
All Cast Members In The Show Perfectly Embody Their Characters
Mike Flanagan deserves a lot of credit for how he captures the essence of Shirley Jackson’s novel in The Haunting of Hill House, despite introducing many significant changes to the original story. However, more than that, the show’s cast deserves to be appreciated for how brilliantly they capture the intense family drama that drives the show’s narrative.
Like most horror shows and movies, The Haunting of Hill House features its own share of jump scares and eerie visuals to keep audiences engaged. However, what makes it stand out is its emotional core, which comes from its depiction of the complex dynamic between the members of a family.
Even though there are many supernatural elements in the series, almost every paranormal figure or story beat serves as an allegory for something incredibly human in the series, making it far more relatable than most regular horror shows. If it wasn’t for The Haunting of Hill House‘s performances, none of these relatable aspects would have carried such emotional weight.
Netflix & Mike Flanagan Kept Reusing The Series’ Cast For Its Later Horror Series
The Same Actors Play Different Characters In Flanagan’s Other Shows
After The Haunting of Hill House, Mike Flanagan went on to create four other Netflix horror shows: The Haunting of Bly Manor, Midnight Mass, The Midnight Club, and The Fall of the House of Usher. While The Midnight Club primarily featured a young and new set of actors, all three other shows marked the return of many cast members from The Haunting of Hill House.
As a viewer, it is hard not to always associate an actor with a given set of tropes and character beats after seeing them in a show. Owing to this, one could only see The Haunting of Hill House‘s cast members as their respective characters from the series.
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However, despite being cast in significantly different roles in other Mike Flanagan Netflix shows, none of the cast members leave viewers with a feeling of dissonance. With their impressive range and versatility, all repeating cast members from Mike Flanagan’s horror universe seamlessly slipped into their new roles with each new show.
Featuring the same actors in different roles could have been disastrous for the horror director. However, his decision works wonders because of how impressively the recurring stars adapt to their new roles.
The Success Of Haunting Of Hill House’s Stars Gave Mike Flanagan’s Shows A Deeper Connection
All Flanagan Shows Feel Similar In More Ways Than One
Despite having similar names, Mike Flanagan’s Netflix shows do not have any direct narrative connections. All of them seem to feature well-rounded stories that stand on their own and even explore distinct facets of horror. Yet, the recurring cast members bring a sense of familiarity to all of them.
While the supernatural drivers of each narrative are quite different, the actors ground them in believable emotion, which makes all the shows a reflection of the human condition.
The way the actors capture their respective characters’ grief, trauma, greed, and other human tendencies adds a similarly powerful emotional undertone to each series. While the supernatural drivers of each narrative are quite different, the actors ground them in believable emotion, which makes all the shows a reflection of the human condition.
Given how Mike Flanagan’s tenure with Netflix has long ended, it is hard not to be curious about how his future shows will unfold. The director seems to be working on quite a few series, like Carrie and The Dark Tower, which will again mark the return of many of his recurring cast members. It would be interesting to see how these shows, too, will be similar to his Netflix series in more ways than one.
