This series is the one I was waiting the most in 2020 and sadly it is completely different than its predecessor, The Haunting of Hill House, which was a horror masterpiece and one of my favorite horror productions of all time.
The Haunting of Bly Manor is a good series, certainly a high-quality production but it is nowhere near to be considered a masterpiece, much less in the horror genre. This time, the creators decided to focus more on the drama and less on the horror which results in very few moments of actual horror throughout the series and a lot of time developing the drama that explains the haunting and how it affects people.
The first "The Haunting" series, Hill House, began with hardcore horror situations in the first episodes, and eventually, it became softer and softer as we learned more about the house and everything that happened there. This season, Bly Manor, begins very slow and I was hoping for the good horror to appear later in the season. That didn't happen. There are a few scenes here and there with some ghosts but it felt like too little for me.
The first season was successful because of its amazing horror and awesome twists and I don't understand why the producers/creators decided to have a completely different approach with a little horror, too much drama, and not that many twists.
As a horror fan, my disappointment in not getting the horror content I was expecting is similar to the one I felt after watching Black Mirror season 5, which was a completely inferior production when comparing it to previous seasons.
The series begins with a nanny or rather an au pair who gets hired to work at the Bly Manor. In this mansion, there are 2 kids, the housekeeper, the gardener, and the cook. The person in charge of everything is the kids' uncle and he doesn't even live there. In the beginning, the episodes are going to be mostly dedicated to a single character to provide information about his/her background.
The pace is slow and the lack of good horror scenes can end up boring people because there is little reward to those with enough patience. However, it is possible for people who aren't necessarily looking for great horror to be entertained and intrigued by the story.
Using "The Haunting" brand for this series might have been counterproductive because "The Haunting" is for both excellent horror and excellent story with twists, as was the case with Hill House. By watering down the horror parts and reducing the number of twists it just feels like a cheaper iteration of The Haunting brand. If they decide to produce a third season I really hope it is more similar to Hill House than Bly Manor.
The performances were good for the most part, the only character that I felt lacking in performance was the one called Peter Quint. The kids did a good job with their roles, the cinematography was good although the fact there were different directors for different episodes is noticeable. There were a lot of good things about this series but I guess the expectations were simply too high and the change of direction makes things worst.
As a horror series, I would give this a 6/10, as an entertaining production regardless of its genres I would give this an 8/10. I was disappointed that this isn't the horror series I was expecting it to be but I recognize the story was good and it can be enjoyable for most people.
The best
- Good nonhorror story.
- Great performances.
The worst
- It doesn't provide the horror I was expecting. The Haunting anthology series became very popular thanks to the excellent horror in Hill House. Getting rid of that high-quality horror doesn't make much sense, it is like getting rid of the scifi in Black Mirror.
More information: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10970552/ Review: AAA In numbers: 8/10