This year, Fantasia will be awarding their 2024 Cheval Noir career award to U.S. filmmaker Mike Flanagan. “For his imaginative and heartfelt horror visions; boundary-breaking achievements in making soulful, character-driven genre television commercially viable without compromises; and the extraordinary work he’s done in popularizing landmark authors to a new generation, While it may strike some as odd to bestow an achievement award to an artist who’s almost certainly not yet reached a mid-career place, Flanagan has been so extraordinarily prolific and consistently brilliant in his output that the filmmaker has already accomplished several lifetimes of creation.”
In honor of his stellar achievement, here are five of My Favorite Mike Flagan productions – so far. As he has a long, rewarding life of filmmaking and film curating ahead of him, I imagine this list will look different in fifteen years.
Ouija: Origin of Evil (2016)
2014’s “Ouija” was a flat, dull and lackluster thriller. Enter Mike Flanagan who signed on to direct the prequel and give it a much needed shot of adrenaline. “Origin of Evil” Is a period piece set in the fifties that tells the story of the Ouija board we learn about in the original film, and actually spends time making sense of plot points that felt incomplete or incoherent in the original movie. What’s more is “Origin of Evil” is actually really creepy and ends on a memorably spooky final scene.
Absentia (2011)
One of Mike Flanagan’s earliest horror films, this considerably low budget thriller channels the likes of Lovecraft and Cronenberg to build on a reality shifting horror mystery. I originally emailed Flanagan in 2011 requesting a screener for review and loved the flavor he brought to the genre. “Absentia” has all the interesting hallmarks of his future projects, and it’s a great debut for folks that must see everything Mike Flanagan directed.
Hush (2016)
Flanagan’s Netflix film is a wonderful example of a home invasion film that unleashes impossible stakes on a likable protagonist. Flanagan’s wife, actress Kate Siegel, is great in the role of a deaf and mute author who retreats to a cabin for a weekend to write her book. When she’s stalked by a masked maniac, she has to rely on her wits and her other senses if she wants to survive. “Hush” is highly acclaimed and an absolute horror gem with some great twists and bang up performances. It’s become somewhat infamous for not being on physical media despite fans begging for it, but current news indicate we just may see a physical media release very, very soon.
Doctor Sleep (2019)
Sadly, this was a flop upon its initial release, which pains me to say since “Doctor Sleep” is a brilliant and excellent sequel to “The Shining.” Stephen King has made it abundantly clear that he hates Stanley Kubrick’s version of his novel, so Mike Flanagan uses the presence of “The Shining” as more of an amorphous specter that channels both the novel and movie. Meanwhile we’re given a fantastic reunion with Danny Torrance who does battle with a traveling rove of vampires that feed on “The Shining” from their victims. “Doctor Sleep” is a creepy, weird, but stellar film and I’m saddened we’ll never get well deserved follow ups to Danny Torrance’s saga.
The Haunting of Hill House (2018)
Mike Flanagan proves he’s not only an ace filmmaker, but an ace television director, to boot. “The Haunting of Hill House” very well could have been a dull and droning supernatural drama. Instead, it’s masterfully crafted, beautifully composed, and features some of the most shocking and mind-blowing twists and turns ever put to film. Deep down though this re-imagining is a remarkable tale about family, and grief. Flanagan shows here that he’s more than capable of delivering episodic scares and a slow boil horror story that explodes when you least expect it.
This year the Fantasia International Film Festival runs in Montreal from July 18th to August 4th.