Natalia Night

The original Twister (1996) made me fall in love with tornadoes and stormchasing so much I considered going to get a meteorology degree to specialise in storms. I got halfway through this movie and was unbelievably bored. The cast, soundtrack, science and premise were so much better in the original. Not only did it show you how beautiful and dangerous these tornadoes are, but it also helped you see what a stormchaser sees when looking at a tornado, and why the work they do to study these storms to create new warning systems and save lives is so important despite the danger they face. These stormchasers were like caricatures of actual stormchasers, completely losing the effect of what they do, what they face every storm season, and why they couldn't imagine doing anything else. If the premise of this movie should have been about anything, it should have focused on how, even in 2024, many areas of tornado valley are completely underdeveloped and underprepared for tornados such as not having storm shelters and basements for public buildings should these storms hit. Instead, it wasted it to focus on making it a big bad monster movie about vanquishing a completely normal weather phenomenon. In all, just go watch the original instead, you really aren't missing anything with this movie.

If you're looking to be terrified out of your wits in the same manner that The Haunting of Hill House accomplished, you won't find such scares here. This horror, true to the book, is much more in the psychological vein rather than jump scares (though there are a few truly frightening scenes dispersed throughout the episodes) but pulls it off exceptionally, meaning that it holds up against its predecessor, just in a different way. Flanagan's incredible camera work and stellar performances from the actors both returning and new (The child actors for Miles and Flora are noteworthy while Oliver Jackson-Cohen truly shines as the malevolent Peter Quint) make this series gripping, with the continued horror coming through grim realisations as the story unfolds and human connection through the backstories of the ghosts of Bly Manor (something we didn't really get in Hill House despite the abundance of spooks) and how they met their tragic fates. Topped off with a truly bittersweet ending, this is definitely one to watch in the horror genre, especially if you're looking for the story as well as the scares.