Mike Flanagan knows a thing or two about horror, having built up a reputation as one of the genre’s premiere auteurs over the last decade by scaring audiences witless with the likes of Oculus, Hush and Ouija: Origin of Evil, and proved just as adept at the more cerebral and existential aspects of filmmaking with Gerald’s Game and Doctor Sleep.
He’s no stranger to finding massive success of Netflix, either, after creating the streaming service’s The Haunting anthology series, and both Hill House and Bly Manor scored widespread critical acclaim and racked up huge viewership numbers in the process. The 42 year-old is currently hard at work on his next Netflix project Midnight Mass, but recently took some time to praise Remi Weekes’ phenomenal His House.
The low budget chiller was released right around Halloween, and freaked out subscribers around the world on its way to cracking the Top 10 most-watched list. The tale of two refugees who fled from Sudan only to discover that they’d literally brought their ghosts with them has quickly gained a reputation as perhaps the year’s finest horror movie, and still boasts a perfect Rotten Tomatoes score of 100% with over 70 reviews in the can. Flanagan had high praise for His House, too, as you can see below.
HIS HOUSE on @netflix is a stunning debut. Jaw-dropping. Remi Weekes is the real deal. #HisHouse
— Mike Flanagan (@flanaganfilm) November 2, 2020
As far as calling cards go, they don’t come much better than this, and Weekes’ next project will instantly generate plenty of interest from anyone that’s caught his debut feature, one that offers a deft balance of social and political subtext in among the genuinely terrifying scenes that have instantly marked him out as a fast rising talent behind the camera that’s well worth keeping an eye on.