Cinema Lounge Reviews

After finally finishing The Haunting of Bly Manor on Netflix I think it’s safe to say I’ve got a mixed review about it. The first season, The Haunting of Hill House, was a fantastic show with everything you would expect from a horror genre. But does Bly Manor really live up to its predecessor.

If you haven’t seen it already, The Haunting of Bly Manor focuses on young nanny how has been hired to look after the children at the manor. However, during her time she begins to experience more horrifying paranormal events haunting the house as ghostly apparitions start to reveal them self. This show was derived from the popular next show The Haunting of Hill House which focuses on another haunted house and acts as its second season.

So you would’ve thought that because the same team and even some of the same cast members from Hill House have returned to work on Bly Manor you would think that it lives up to the first instalment. Unfortunately this time I don’t think that’s the case. Don’t get me wrong this is still a fantastic show which makes great TV and they have executed the horror aspect perfectly which in my opinion can rival some of the top horror movies out there.

However though, they’re some negatives we need to touch on. Overall the story of this house is very confusing at times with some parts not being explained fully leaving viewers confused on how certain aspects happened. For example, [SPOILER ALERT] during the episode which revealed Hannah was dead it was a tad bit puzzling in how exactly it happened. To be honest, that whole episode seemed to repeat itself which probably was one of the main reasons so many of us found so puzzling. Something which struck me right for the first episode is that I realised that some cast members from the first season (Hill House) have returned as a different role in this season. At first I thought the characters from last season are somehow making a return but soon learned that they have a completely different role. Nevertheless, it’s still amazing to see that they’re still involved with the show each season.

But of course with this show there’s always some positives to be found. What I loved to see was the same style of horror and cliff hangers which the Haunting of Hill House did in Bly Manor which made still made it a fantastic show with many on edge moments, twists and unexpected turn of events revealing more about the history or the family and the manor. Even though the ending was still mind-boggling in a way, it was a lovely ending once you understand the story and was a well performed conclusion to the season.