Haunted House Entertainment
If I had to limit myself to just one movie / TV genre, I’d likely choose horror – that most subversive species of filmic categories. Slasher slush aside, I can’t get enough of those stories, because underneath their scary surfaces lurk deeper, hidden truths that don’t usually come out in the daytime.
With Halloween approaching, I’m sharing my recommendations for a few movies and series that blend real estate and horror – mainly in the form of haunted houses. Please enjoy!
The Haunting of Hill House (series)
Mike Flanagan is one of my favorite filmmakers. His newest creation – a remake of Carrie the movie and based on Carrie the novel – is currently airing on Prime. (I’ve watched the first four episodes and so far, so brilliant!) Flanagan previously contracted with Netflix to crank out half a dozen scary series, all of which I’ve seen and nearly all of which I’d watch again. Tied for my favorite Flanagan – along with Midnight Mass – is The Haunting of Hill House.
At first, Hill House just seems like a slick, commercial show in the horror genre. But then it dives into themes of childhood trauma, alcoholism, drug addiction, undiagnosed mental illness and a lot of other chilling real-life stuff. Bonus: Flanagan uses the same cast members for many of his works, and once you get to know them, that’s part of the fun.
Barbarian
If you want a straight up silly-scary home invasion romp, watch The Rental from 2022. But if you’re interested in a twistier, weightier visit to an AirBnB from hell, check in to Barbarian. This same director, Zach Cregger, made last year’s Weapons, so if you liked that movie with all its nasty surprises, you’ll like this one too.
The set up? Nice young woman checks into her AirBnb in a disintegrating neighborhood in Detroit, only to find that a young man has already checked in and insists that she is mistaken. The first indication that something might be wrong? The man is played by Bill Skarsgard of the It franchise, only this time he’s not dressed up like a clown. In fact, he appears to be completely normal. It's campy, crazy and pretty darn creepy.
This one is another link in a long chain started by Henry James’ 1898 novella The Turn of the Screw. Less said, the better, lest I spoil it for you. But it gives new meaning to the imprint that past lives can have on a house. (The house, in this case, is the one pictured above; it's Palacio de los Hornillos in Cantabria, Spain. An example of English neoclassical style, it was built in 1840 and designed by the British architect Ralph Selden Wornum. Doesn't look like it's haunted...)
Poltergeist
Poltergeist is the ultimate movie involving the long tail of unscrupulous real estate development and its unfortunate impact on one ordinary suburban family. It’s been parodied and referenced hundreds of times, and the film critic Pauline Kael called it a “dumb concoction.” Yet it holds up nicely in all its 80s’ glory and it might cause you to think twice about purchasing property in – say – San Francisco’s Lone Mountain area where all the cemeteries used to be. If nothing else, you can marvel at Zelda Rubinstein’s all-in performance as a psychic brought in to calmly negotiate the eviction of numerous ghosts squatting in one of the upstairs closets.
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