The Haunting of Bly Manor - Friday, October 9 on Netflix

[Forsaken82]

This is funny, because I'm pretty confident Amelia Eve is actually English, and wasn't putting on that much of an accent at all.

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This is why I never feel comfortable talking shit about people's accents whether it's a fake accent or their own. Seems like the stupidest thing to complain about IMO. Like sure, I know that Henry Thomas isn't english, and his accent was not great based on what I've personally heard from western european accents, but for all I know, there are actually people who have similar accents... because that's just how the talk. I dislike Boston and New Yorker accents, doesn't mean I think it's a terribly fake american accent though.

 

[Addleburg]

I finished this earlier this week. I think I watched it faster than Hill House, but liked it less.

I didn't come away hating it or anything, but more like "This was fine." I really enjoyed the casting, and the actor that played Owen was probably my favorite of all of them due in part to how likable his character was. I respect the show for acknowledging that it's more of a love story than a ghost story, but... man, it kinda feels like it wants to play it both ways when a lot of the show is rooted in this ghostly mystery.

It's a good show, but I guess I just wanted it to scratch a different itch than it was trying to.

 

[Dervius]

Oh wow, that's interesting. I try my best to just listen to actors/actresses first before looking up what their nationalities are but I think similarly to how people in the US might hear a US actor do, say, a southern draw incorrectly, I assume in the UK they nitpick about their own talent fudging up dialects and such from specific areas over there too.

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We certainly do. Peter Quint's Scottish accent has been quick entertainingly needled on Twitter by the Scots, but it was far from the worst offender IMO.

I tried to look up the actress that played Jamie for that very reason but couldn't find much info on her.

Her accent (and Owen) was one of the only ones that sounded legit, but it's hard to tell sometimes unless it's glaringly bad. (looking at you Karl Urban)

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Amelia Eve is a relative unknown in the acting space, with the exception of a TV show she's helmed. I thought she was excellent in this.

(To the bolded) - Karl's ridiculous accent is almost certainly deliberate. Big old Billy Butcher with his streetwise English accent is basically a parody on its own, I think Urban is just reflecting that. Generally speaking the Aussies and Kiwis do excellent British accents.

This is why I never feel comfortable talking shit about people's accents whether it's a fake accent or their own. Seems like the stupidest thing to complain about IMO. Like sure, I know that Henry Thomas isn't english, and his accent was not great based on what I've personally heard from western european accents, but for all I know, there are actually people who have similar accents... because that's just how the talk. I dislike Boston and New Yorker accents, doesn't mean I think it's a terribly fake american accent though.

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This is probably good advice. I remember the voice actress playing Kassandra in Assassin's Creed: Odyssey getting flack for her "over the top accent" and then it turning out she was indeed Greek. Best to stay quiet and let the locals do the bashing themselves.

 

[Lotus]

This is why I never feel comfortable talking shit about people's accents whether it's a fake accent or their own. Seems like the stupidest thing to complain about IMO. Like sure, I know that Henry Thomas isn't english, and his accent was not great based on what I've personally heard from western european accents, but for all I know, there are actually people who have similar accents... because that's just how the talk. I dislike Boston and New Yorker accents, doesn't mean I think it's a terribly fake american accent though.

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I'm always fascinated by how much people obsess over accents. Guess I just have a higher tolerance lol

 

[Deleted member 13496]

I'm always fascinated by how much people obsess over accents. Guess I just have a higher tolerance lol

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Americans in general don't seem to care about accents in film.

Everyone else in the anglosphere gets annoyed but it's usually because it's almost always American actors in American shows butchering it.

Then there's Benedict Cumberbatch...

 

[Razgriz-Specter]

Then of course one also has to consider if Flanagan is even interested (he only wrote and directed the first episode this time and is in production on his next Netflix show Midnight Mass), or if Netflix would push on without him.

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Im curious as well, though him finishing up Doctor Sleep I can understand that taking significant priority.

 

[Thewonandonly]

Imma say it!! I like this more then house hill!!! Now don't get me wrong house hill was absolutely phenomenal and more creepy at just episode 1 as I started my rewatch. Yet, I find myself enjoying bly manor more and I only just finished episode 5 which was perfectly splendid. Honestly that's a understatement episode five is a perfect TV episode in all means, just like episode 5 of hill house (I think, I'm talking about the one with like 4 continues shots which blew my mind).

The reason I find this better so far is I'm way more attached to the characters. It's more of a tight knit group and you understand everyone's motive and why they are the way they are. All of the actors are phenomenal in this which is expected after hill house. For some reason though I really love the slow burn of this and really connecting with the characters. Overall the haunting series is just perfectly splendid!!

 

[Solo]

Im curious as well, though him finishing up Doctor Sleep I can understand that taking significant priority.

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Dr Sleep was 100% done though before they filmed a frame of Bly Manor.

 

[Rondre Tibet]

Wow yeah. This is a great comparison.

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True
Midsommar >>>>> Hereditary
Bly Manor >>>> Hill House

 

[thecowboypoet]

Finished Hill House last night, it was great but definitely lost it's spookiness at the end. After that I started Bly Manor and thought the first episode was ....perfectly splendid.

 

[Razgriz-Specter]

Dr Sleep was 100% done though before they filmed a frame of Bly Manor.

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Oh,you're right,

Oh well if Netflix can keep these at least around this level and pump them out every other October, i'd be in.
(Just keep it classic ghosts/hauntings and don't do monsters, demons, etc which are personally dull atm)

 

[Dalek]

I think If anything this proves how fantastic Mike Flanagan was. His absence for the majority of the season was sorely missed.

I'm definitely more excited for his upcoming show now.

 

[carlsojo]

I think If anything this proves how fantastic Mike Flanagan was. His absence for the majority of the season was directly missed.

I'm definitely more excited for his upcoming show now.

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For me it's the opposite. I hated what he did with Doctor Sleep, and this was overall a very disappointing unsatisfying season. Not sure what else I'd want to see from him.

 

[Dalek]

For me it's the opposite. I hated what he did with Doctor Sleep, and this was overall a very disappointing unsatisfying season. Not sure what else I'd want to see from him.

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Wow really? Because this scene alone is fantastic.

 

[carlsojo]

Wow really? Because this scene alone is fantastic.

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Yeah, it's a great scene. My main criticism is that the movie takes far too long to get to what was the main draw for me: the return to the hotel. So much time was spent getting to the hotel and when we finally get there it's like we have to rush to get back out. Flanagan had an incredible opportunity to do some crazy shit with the hotel, since in the books the hotel is rubble, and he really squandered that opportunity.

Spoiler

Ganking your main villain with the ghosts piling on her was terrible! The ghosts in the original never acted like that. They were always subtle, seductive, and creepy. And then making Danny go crazy so he could blow up the hotel in a nod to the original book ending? Why???

The book ending of Doctor Sleep was far more satisfying because Danny

Spoiler

got to make peace with his father.

Also the guy they got to play Jack Nicohlson was just weird.

I would argue that the climax of Bly Manor is equally as rushed, made even worse by it being broken up by the penultimate episode.

 

[Dalek]

Yeah, it's a great scene. My main criticism is that the movie takes far too long to get to what was the main draw for me: the return to the hotel. So much time was spent getting to the hotel and when we finally get there it's like we have to rush to get back out. Flanagan had an incredible opportunity to do some crazy shit with the hotel, since in the books the hotel is rubble, and he really squandered that opportunity.

Spoiler

Ganking your main villain with the ghosts piling on her was terrible! The ghosts in the original never acted like that. They were always subtle, seductive, and creepy. And then making Danny go crazy so he could blow up the hotel in a nod to the original book ending? Why???

The book ending of Doctor Sleep was far more satisfying because Danny

Spoiler

got to make peace with his father.

Also the guy they got to play Jack Nicohlson was just weird.

I would argue that the climax of Bly Manor is equally as rushed, made even worse by it being broken up by the penultimate episode.

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I absolutely agree! I love the movie but the books ending was easily superior-especially the AA scene where Danny gives his speech. Brought me to tears.

Also-the guy who played Nicholson was Henry Thomas!

 

[Deleted member 13328]

I enjoyed it, enjoyed Hill House much more.

 

[Swimble_87]

Just finished Bly Manor - actually quite enjoyed it throughout.

Thoughts on the final episode:

Spoiler

I see people have been critiquing some of the actor choices - my interpretation was that the choice of "older" actors might be trying to evoke dramatisation movies - in the credits they will sometimes show footage of the real people in contrast to the actors in the dramatisation.

I wondered if they were trying to go for that feeling - the younger actors in the "story" are intentionally different to the "real" older people - a lot of them seemed so drastically different in appearance (particularly Henry and Owen) that it made me feel like it was intentional, almost trying to give the story episodes the feeling that it's a dramatisation of a true story with real people - not sure if I'm expressing myself clearly, hopefully someone understands what I'm trying to say!

 

[Razgriz-Specter]

Also the guy they got to play Jack Nicohlson was just weird.

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Also
Young Hugh on Hill House

Henry Wingrave on Bly Manor

Most famously

Elliot in E.T

 

[sumo]

Spoiler: Number 2

it's shown for like 10 minutes of her episode that she's "tucked in" for periods of time, and occasionally wakes up for reasons she can't remember but she vaguely remembers where her daughter slept so she walks that path. They said she went many years without waking up so that justifies the frequency.

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Also

Spoiler

a few times we're told the muddy footprints appear every couple of weeks, also the lady in the lake does the same route to the bed and takes anyone she finds on the way, so why did she never take the kids parents or even their parents from when Henry and his brother were growing up in the house?

 

[carlsojo]

Also
Young Hugh on Hill House

Henry Wingrave on Bly Manor

Most famously

Elliot in E.T

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I really liked him in Bly the most out of all those roles.

 

[Ashdroid]

I really enjoyed it, really loved the slow-burn nature of it. The cast was great, and I absolutely adored Hannah (T'Nia Miller) and Owen (Rahul Kohli).

This show was the first time I've been glad that Netflix skips intros. I would not have been able to handle seeing those faceless portraits repeatedly.

 

[deimosmasque]

Just finished Bly Manor - actually quite enjoyed it throughout.

Thoughts on the final episode:

Spoiler

I see people have been critiquing some of the actor choices - my interpretation was that the choice of "older" actors might be trying to evoke dramatisation movies - in the credits they will sometimes show footage of the real people in contrast to the actors in the dramatisation.

I wondered if they were trying to go for that feeling - the younger actors in the "story" are intentionally different to the "real" older people - a lot of them seemed so drastically different in appearance (particularly Henry and Owen) that it made me feel like it was intentional, almost trying to give the story episodes the feeling that it's a dramatisation of a true story with real people - not sure if I'm expressing myself clearly, hopefully someone understands what I'm trying to say!

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This was definitely what they were going for. It was entirely this concept.

Spoiler

She also changed the names which is why "Flora" commented on the "coincidence." it was a way for the children to know the story without having to inflict the horror of the events on them.

 

[Addleburg]

Wow really? Because this scene alone is fantastic.

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Dude, watching this scene in theaters made me wanna clap my hands and shout at the screen. It was such a good reversal.

Yeah, it's a great scene. My main criticism is that the movie takes far too long to get to what was the main draw for me: the return to the hotel. So much time was spent getting to the hotel and when we finally get there it's like we have to rush to get back out. Flanagan had an incredible opportunity to do some crazy shit with the hotel, since in the books the hotel is rubble, and he really squandered that opportunity.

Spoiler

Ganking your main villain with the ghosts piling on her was terrible! The ghosts in the original never acted like that. They were always subtle, seductive, and creepy. And then making Danny go crazy so he could blow up the hotel in a nod to the original book ending? Why???

Click to shrink...

Maybe it speaks to why you disliked the film and why I loved the film, but I thought the hotel was easily the worst part of Doctor Sleep, but for different reasons. I agree that he mis-characterized the ghosts, but ultimately I felt that Doctor Sleep did such an excellent job on its own with telling Danny's story and exploring these new characters that returning to the hotel just felt like a very fan-service-y "Hey guys, remember this?!" kind of moment. I would have been a-okay with the film never going back there at all, although I do appreciate the purpose it serves thematically.

Doctor Sleep is a long film, but I never felt like any minute of it was wasted. It was a great use of an admittedly long running time IMO.

 

[carlsojo]

Dude, watching this scene in theaters made me wanna clap my hands and shout at the screen. It was such a good reversal.



Maybe it speaks to why you disliked the film and why I loved the film, but I thought the hotel was easily the worst part of Doctor Sleep. I agree that he mis-characterized the

Spoiler

ghosts

, but ultimately I felt that Doctor Sleep did such an excellent job on its own that returning to the hotel just felt like a very fan-service-y "Hey guys, remember this?!" kind of moment.

Doctor Sleep is a long film, but I never felt like any minute of it was wasted. It was a great use of an admittedly long running time IMO.

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I can absolutely agree that the hotel was the worst part. I think he "had" to go to the hotel since that's the structure of the book, but it was also weird in the book too. They could have left out the hotel part in general and the narrative wouldn't have suffered.

Even so, if the story "requirement" was that Flanagan/Danny had to go to the hotel, he squandered that advantage of being able to use such a famous setting in film history.

 

[ronpontelle]

This is funny, because I'm pretty confident Amelia Eve is actually English, and wasn't putting on that much of an accent at all.

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She's English, but from hearing her speak she sounds Southern, she's got a pretty neutral accent. And in this I guess she's going for a Yorkshire/northern accent.

In the same way that someone from California might not be able to do an accurate Boston accent, just because they're American.

I thought it was ok. I enjoyed Hill House, but I found the characters fairly annoying and the accents were pretty distracting. I had to make myself watch it after the first three episodes, but I'm glad I watched it with my wife, who enjoyed it.

Spoiler

I saw it coming that the narrator was actually Jamie, because the narrator's occasional drifts into a northern accent for just the odd word or phrase was hilariously bad and increased towards the end

 

[Bear]

Holy shit this episode about Hannah is horrible. What a boring, inconsequential character.

 

[RedEye]

She would sleep
She would wake
She would walk
She would sleep
She would wake
She would walk
She would sleep
She would wake
She would walk
She would sleep
She would wake
She would walk
She would sleep
She would wake
She would walk
She would sleep
She would wake
She would walk
She would sleep
She would wake
She would walk
She would sleep
She would wake
She would walk
She would sleep
She would wake
She would walk
She would sleep
She would wake
She would walk
She would sleep
She would wake
She would walk
She would sleep
She would wake
She would walk
She would sleep
She would wake
She would walk
She would sleep
She would wake
She would walk
She would sleep
She would wake
She would walk
She would sleep
She would wake
She would walk
She would sleep
She would wake
She would walk
She would sleep
She would wake
She would walk

🙄

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This was honestly the only part that I wish they shortened

 

[Shadownet]

True
Midsommar >>>>> Hereditary
Bly Manor >>>> Hill House

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So you like Bly Manor more than Hill House?

 

[Solo]

Just finished Bly Manor - actually quite enjoyed it throughout.

Thoughts on the final episode:

Spoiler

I see people have been critiquing some of the actor choices - my interpretation was that the choice of "older" actors might be trying to evoke dramatisation movies - in the credits they will sometimes show footage of the real people in contrast to the actors in the dramatisation.

I wondered if they were trying to go for that feeling - the younger actors in the "story" are intentionally different to the "real" older people - a lot of them seemed so drastically different in appearance (particularly Henry and Owen) that it made me feel like it was intentional, almost trying to give the story episodes the feeling that it's a dramatisation of a true story with real people - not sure if I'm expressing myself clearly, hopefully someone understands what I'm trying to say!

Click to shrink...

I think you are WAY overthinking it. The truth is much simpler and practical.

Spoiler

the older versions of the characters at wedding look so different because otherwise the audience would have known the twist (that the narrator was older Jamie at older Flora's wedding) right out of the gate in episode 1.

 

[Bear]

And they spend 10 minutes talking about flowers in episode 6. This is slow as hell.

 

[tellNoel]

Wow. Both made me cry but this one made me cry a little harder.
Hill House and Bly Manor are like night and day of each other, and i'm totally fine with that. I went in expecting to be creeped out by freaky ghosts but we don't really get much of that here. It's okay though because the creators brought their A-game where it mattered the most again: the characters.
I love practically all of them but Hannah really resonated with me for some reason. I adored her arc.

And the ending... was it not just perfectly splendid?

 

[metsallica]

I just finished episode 8 which took nearly 3 hours to slog through. After Doctor Sleep I guess I shouldn't be surprised, but wow is this season terrible. Not sure I'll finish this and won't be back if they make more.

 

[RumbleHumble]

Loved the whole thing. It's definitely different, simultaneously too dependent on both horror elements and romance elements to recommend to people who exclusively prefer one to the other, but I loved it. It's sincere, corny as hell, tells you exactly what its about over and over again until you can't possibly stand it, and I wanted nothing else all week this week.

 

[Zip]

I think you are WAY overthinking it. The truth is much simpler and practical.

Spoiler

the older versions of the characters at wedding look so different because otherwise the audience would have known the twist (that the narrator was older Jamie at older Flora's wedding) right out of the gate in episode 1.

Click to shrink...

Yeah the reasoning for the choice of actors at the wedding was most definitely for this, and most likely after reflecting upon the first series and how it spoiled it in the first episode.

I felt like they could have communicated it better with something like knowing nods and other exchanges between some of the older people, rather than what they did to literally show the audience. That gets into an issue for the show of being heavy on spelling things out.

Otherwise the show seemed pretty well made and I enjoyed it. I also do second the questioning of the lady's walking though.

Spoiler

How did the previous families survive at all in the house if she would always go to the master bedroom? Even if only a few times of year she would have run into the kids parents, or the parents before then, or found them in bed and killed them.

She also didn't go the exact same path the night she killed Quint it seemed, as he wasn't right next to the stairs but rather closer to the kids' rooms when she appeared and grabbed him.

My wife and I are actually just now starting on Hill House. It definitely seems creepier than Bly, but I think I liked the group at Bly better. So far at least don't care about all these kids.

 

[Nerokis]

Just finished it.

I ended up enjoying it quite a bit. Sometimes the pacing was off, sometimes it was self-indulgent, sometimes the writing was awkward, but it all ended up falling into place for me quite nicely. My favorite episodes: 5, 8, 9.

 

[Kain]

This is a well done show but the pacing is terrible and the writers could use some much needed restraint. Sometimes the characters would just monologue for 10 minutes killing so the mood and the rythm.

 

[Razgriz-Specter]

I seriously can't get the theme of this and Hill House out of my head since watching it


Its so good.

 

[samoscratch]

I'm usually patient but this one lost me after a few episodes, not grabbing my attention.

 

[noyram23]

Such an absolutely beautiful ending, it perfectly wraps up all the themes it's going for. Sure it could do some cuts here and there but, I know this biased, but maybe that's the point. We just have enjoy those easy silence.

 

[Blade24070]

So this show mixes elements of

Spoiler

American Horror Story Murder House and surprisingly The Skeleton Key.

Interesting, I guess. I've never read Turn of the Screw so those elements might've come from that story.

Also (episode 7 spoiler)

Spoiler

Flora acts like a total idiot at the end of episode 7, completely out of character.

I hate kid characters 😂

 

[sumo]

Yeah the reasoning for the choice of actors at the wedding was most definitely for this, and most likely after reflecting upon the first series and how it spoiled it in the first episode.

I felt like they could have communicated it better with something like knowing nods and other exchanges between some of the older people, rather than what they did to literally show the audience. That gets into an issue for the show of being heavy on spelling things out.

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But let's be real, we all knew the story was hers and about the woman getting married by that point. Then she mentions the names and we see the ring on her finger. Then there was a bit of knowing glances, ok hammering it home but go on. Then they did the showing the current day people as they were in the story, ok we get it, move on. It's like the director thought the audience are idiots. It was the same with the scene with Peter in the loft talking to the kid, it was about 10 minutes longer than it needed to be.

 

[silva1991]

Finished Hill House yesterday. Deffo prefer Bly Manor. Story is much better imo.

 

[Fiddle]

Just finished this and I'm very surprised that theres so much negativity around here and in general about Bly Manor. Bly is 7.6 on IMDB vs Hill House's 8.7! I feel both series' are easily as good as each other, both excellent with pros and cons of each. Both really great concepts with great writing and characters. They're really high quality and I'm very happy we have them. Flanagan is a genius.

 

[ron_bato]

I'm usually patient but this one lost me after a few episodes, not grabbing my attention.

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I was at this point by episode 2, but the show turned a corner for me by episode 3. Part of it was I was expecting more scares than what we got by the end of episode 2, and part of it is just the show taking it's time to let everything come together.

In the end, I thought this was a great show. The story was fantastic, performances were great (though Dani's portrayal was a bit heavy-handed at times), but the one area that the show came up short for me was the scare factor.

I prefer Hill House in terms of scares, but I think I prefer the story of Bly Manor.

 

[Solo]

Be kinda neat if they expanded beyond a house for the next season.

 

[AllThingsPurple]

As someone that absolutely loved everything about hill house, I went into this with probably unfair expectations.

Bly didn't meet any of them.

It was fine but I wanted great. For me the story, characters and scares were all weaker than hill.

Other than Owen and Hannah, I didn't really care about any of the characters. The awful accents we get in the first episode definitely didn't help shape my opinion but I just didn't really care about the kids, dani.. it was obvious the narrator was the gsrdener and the wedding was one of the kids.. that whole present time exchange in the last episode didn't work at all..

I know they made the point of saying it was a love story not a ghost story but there were like two scares the entire series.

The hannah episode was great though.

I give it a 7/10, hill was a 10/10 for me.

Still hope we get a third season anyway.

 

[Jaime.GGG]

Episode 7 was the worst, I can't stand Peter.

 

[carlsojo]

Cosigning this, will watch anything with this guy in it now. iZombie is great.

 

[lazerface]

Me and the wife finished up last night, and wow, this show definitely hit some emotional notes with me. I ended up loving this story way more than hill house, the pacing issues people are bringing up had absolutely no effect on me, I was in it from the start. While the scare factor is definitely subdued, this is truly a chilling ghost story. Arguably one of the best ghost stories I've ever seen. Mike Flanagan has become a master of his craft and IMO one of the best directors working today.