Courtesy of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on CBS
John Carpenter’s Halloween is widely regarded as the gold standard for slasher cinema. Though it isn’t the first of its kind, the film nonetheless established the template for the slasher picture and remains the benchmark by which all subsequent efforts are compared.
Many filmmakers have tried to match the kind of atmospheric tension that permeates Halloween, but precious few have executed on such lofty aspirations. It’s no easy feat trying to live up to an all-time great. With that said, there are a handful of creatives who have delivered on that level. Mike Flanagan is surely one of them. The great Stephen King even backs up that bold claim.
King has long been a champion of Flanagan’s. In fact, he was absolutely blown away when he took in Hush. The best-selling author previously shared his enthusiastic reaction to the film on social media, comparing it to Halloween and another tried-and-true classic.
Here’s what Stephen King has to say about Hush:
How good is HUSH? Up there with HALLOWEEN and–even more–WAIT UNTIL DARK. White knuckle time. On Netflix.
— Stephen King (@StephenKing) April 21, 2016
I concur that Hush is all but guaranteed to resonate with fans of both Halloween and Wait Until Dark. Both of the reference points feature a cat-and-mouse dynamic sure to send chills down your spine. The same is absolutely true of Hush.
What is Hush about?
Maddie, a deaf writer who retreated into the woods to live a solitary life, must fight for her life in silence when a masked killer appears in her window.
As you might remember, Hush premiered as a Netflix original in 2016. But when the agreement with the streamer lapsed, the rights reverted back to Flanagan’s Intrepid Pictures. That development made the film impossible to watch legally for an extended stint. However, it ultimately proved a fortuitous turn that saw the film getting the physical media treatment courtesy of Scream Factory. If you’re looking to stream the flick, that’s also an option. You can catch Hush on Tubi as of the publication of this post.
Flanagan co-wrote Hush with his partner, Kate Siegel, who also plays the lead role. John Gallagher Jr. stars alongside Siegel as a ruthless home invader who relentlessly torments lead character Maddie.
Flanagan keeps the scope of the picture deliberately small, with a core cast of just five credited actors listed on IMDb. That underscores the sense of isolation at play and helps escalate the tension significantly.
That’s all that we’ve got for you, for the time being. Stay tuned to Dread Central in the near future for more recommendations from your favorite personalities in the genre space.
Categorized: News
