The following article contains graphic discussions of violence and death.
Mike Flanaganis a modern master of horror, and some of the most shocking moments from his impressive Netflix horror shows prove how much he excels in the genre.Flanagan’s deal with Netflixturned out to be incredibly lucrative, as they are some of the best shows that the streamer has in their catalog. He knocked it out of the park immediately as well, withThe Haunting of HillHousebeing the first miniseries he released back in 2018.
He went on to create four more shows for Netflix followingHill House —The Haunting of Bly Manor, Midnight Mass, The Midnight Club, andThe Fall of the House of Usher.Mike Flanagan’s Netflix filmographyis strong across the board, with a few being some of the best horror shows ever made. Though a lot of his horror output explores its characters and stories deeper than just the scares, Flanagan has proven time and again that he is able to include truly shocking and twisted moments that stick with audiences for a long time.
10Dani Trapped In The Closet
The Haunting of Bly Manor
ThoughThe Haunting of Bly Manordidn’t focus on the scares to the same degree asThe Haunting of Hill House, there were still a number of chilling moments throughout the series. While Dani being trapped in the closet by Flora (Amelie Bea Smith) and Miles (Benjamin Evan Ainsworth) isn’t necessarily the scariest scene in the show, Victoria Pedretti’s performance is astonishing.She perfectly captures the anxiety of feeling trapped, and how it can become overwhelming quickly.
Of course, there is also the man with bright sunglasses whom Dani sees in the mirror as well, making her even more terrified while she hastily throws a blanket over it. She can’t run from her past in that closet, and the scene also acts as somewhat of a metaphor for her sexuality is genius. Dani is trapped physically and mentally, and the closet she finds herself in amplifies that even more.
9The Acid Rain Party
The Fall of the House of Usher
The Fall of the House of Usherwas the last miniseries that Mike Flanagan made for his partnership with Netflix, and he did a tremendous job with it, translating some of Edgar Allan Poe’s most significant works into a fascinating horror series. The series wastes no time getting into some horrific moments and the end of episode 2 is one of the most twisted things that he has ever created.
The Fall of the House of Usherisn’t a direct adaptation of any Edgar Allan Poe stories, as the series uses them as a framework to tell mostly its own story.
During a provocative club scene featuring Prospero Usher (Sauriyan Sapkota), the sprinkler system is turned on, but it ends up being acid that rains down on the partygoers, with them unable to escape the carnage that ensues.The graphic imagery and sound design in this scene are brutal, as the acid quickly burns through the crowd’s skin and the screams turn into quiet muffling accompanied by sickly sounds of death. The effects are stellar as well, making it feel even more palpable.
8Nell Scares Theo And Shirley
The Haunting of Hill House
Mike Flanagan’s first miniseries for Netflix still reigns supreme, as it features some of the scariest moments in his entire filmography. One in particular is a jumpscare so effective that it could make even the most hardened horror veteran outright startled. Theo (Kate Seigel) and Shirley (Elizabeth Reaser) get into a significant argument in the car, and as it continues to crescendo, the ghost of Nell (Victoria Pedretti) screams at them from the backseat.
It’s the best jumpscare of Flanagan’s career and the perfect example of how effective they can be.
In the context of the show, the scene is quite sad as Theo and Shirley are most at odds with each other at that point, while Nell just wants them to stop fighting, but it comes out of nowhere, making it incredibly effective. An inferior show or movie would have an obvious sound build-up to the scare, butFlanagan uses the argument in the same way, throwing viewers off as the dialogue itself is so engrossing. It’s the best jumpscare of Flanagan’s career and the perfect example of how effective they can be.
7Father Paul’s Congregation Kill Themselves To Be Reborn
Midnight Mass
Midnight Massis arguably Mike Flanagan at his most contemplative as he really takes his time to build up the atmosphere during the course of the show. While the main mystery is unraveled over the course of the first half of the series, the reveal that theMidnight Massis actually a story about vampiresis when it truly kicks into gear, leading to some of the most horrific moments in Flanagan’s entire career. One scene in particular is the culmination of everythingMidnight Masshad been working towards with its story.
After Father Paul (Hamish Linklater) gave those attending his church the blood of a vampire over the course of several communions, he finally asks his congregation during their final mass to take a leap of faith and end their lives by drinking poison so that they can be reborn into God’s army.The religious manipulation throughout the series is on full display in this scene, and while not everyone decides to drink the poison, those who are “reborn” end up slaughtering nearly everyone else in the church. It’s horrific to see it play out after following these characters' lives.
6Mike Flanagan Sets The Jumpscare Record
The Midnight Club
On the flipside ofHill House’s Nell jumpscare is Mike Flanagan’s liberal use of jumpscares in the first episode ofThe Midnight Club. The first couple may be frightening, but as the story progresses, they get more and more silly, making it an outlier alongside the rest of the list, but it is a must-include for the novelty of it.Flanagan actually set the Guinness World Record for most jumpscareswith 21 in the show’s first episode alone.
The framing narrative ofThe Midnight Clubis a group of sick teenagers sitting around telling each other scary stories, and Natsuki (Aya Furukawa) includes as many jumpscares as possible during hers. Of course, Flanagan is essentially making fun of the fact that some might think the only way anything can be scary is with a jumpscare, as that isn’t what he is exactly known for within his filmography.
5Theo Learns Who Mr. Smiley Actually Is
InThe Haunting of Hill House, it is revealed that Theo can feel others' emotions and experiences just by touching them,an interesting premise that Mike Flanagan is able to make tragic in so many ways. One in particular is when Theo, a child psychologist, is working with a young foster child who constantly refers to seeing the face of Mr. Smiley down in the basement, something that continues to haunt the young girl.
It’s a horrific thing to have that Theo had to come face-to-face with, finally understanding the terrible things that the young girl was being put through.
When Theo goes to the girl’s house to investigate it, after feeling various items and finally lying on the couch, she ends up discovering that the foster father has been abusing the young girl in the basement, and there is a faint outline of a smiley face on the ceiling. It’s a horrific revelation that Theo had to come face-to-face with, finally understanding the terrible things that the young girl was being put through.
4Perdita Smothers Viola To Death
The Haunting of Bly Manoris more tragic than scary, with some of the most emotionally resonant moments happening in the series, which is something Mike Flanagan is really great at doing. One in particular is the entire backstory of Viola (Kate Siegel) and her sister Perdita (Katie Parker), who now haunts the halls of Bly Manor. As it explores their past, Viola grows sick following the birth of her daughter, but hangs on to life for years beyond what she was expected to.
In that time, she grows resentful and full of anger, channeling it mostly into her sister Perdita, whom she suspects has something going on with her husband. After a lot of verbal abuse, Perdita decides to kill Viola by smothering her.It’s sad to see how far the two sisters had fallen, and Viola’s spirit eventually ends up killing Perdita after she accidentally frees Viola from the trunk she was still in. The ghost of Viola eventually loses everything she knew about herself, becoming the faceless Lady in the Lake, killing and trapping countless victims over the years.
3Frederick Removes Morrelle’s Teeth
Few scenes in Mike Flanagan’s filmography are as disturbing as the moment inThe Fall of the House of Usherwhere Frederick (Henry Thomas)brutally removes the teeth of Morelle(Crystal Balint), following her getting severely burned by the acid rain earlier in the season, on the grounds that he was disturbed by her trying to cheat on him. As Morelle lies in bed helpless, Frederick turns on her with pliers.
Frederick had become obsessed with Morelle’s teeth while the rest of her body had fallen apart, and in the scene, he claimed he fell in love with her because of her smile. Unable to get past what Morelle did to him, he wants to destroy the last thing he loved about her, and decides to remove all of her teeth. Just the idea of this is incredibly disturbing, and the way it plays out is truly twisted,one of the most grotesque things Flanagan has ever included in one of his projects.
WhenMidnight Massfinally reveals that it is about vampires, horrific things really begin to pick up in the story. One in particular is the tragic end to Joe’s (Robert Longstreet) life, the town drunk who is attempting to move past the worst thing he had ever done while also trying to get sober. After a particularly hard moment where he feels like drinking again, Joe goes to Father Paul, but something sinister is waiting for him.
At this point, Father Paul had officially turned into a vampire, and his hunger for blood was at an all-time high. Unfortunately, Joe just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, and after falling backwards and hitting his head while trying to break free of Father Paul’s grasp, he is essentially paralyzed as he bleeds out. In one ofMidnight Mass' most unsettling moments, Father Paulbegins to drink the blood pouring out of his head before he begins to basically feast on Joe’s head, cradling him as he kills him, a truly chilling moment.
1Nell Becomes The Bent-Neck Lady
Nell’s story inThe Haunting of Hill Houseis a genuine tragedy, and some of the saddest moments that Mike Flanagan has ever written. When the Crain family moves into the Hill House, a young Nell begins to be haunted by what she refers to as the “Bent-Neck Lady,” a ghost shrouded in darkness with what appears to be a broken neck, every time she tries to go to sleep. The sight of the Bent-Neck Lady in general is terrifying, but the revelation about her is so sad and so twisted.
When she is an adult, Nell eventually goes back to the Hill House and hallucinates seeing her family and her late husband, before she eventually throws herself off the banister with a rope around her neck. Her spirit moves through time, appearing before Nell at various moments, revealing thatNell was the Bent-Neck Lady the entire time, and she had been haunting herself for nearly her whole life. She could never escape the tragedy coming for her, and it might beMike Flanagan’s most shocking revelation.
