Following a series like The Haunting of Hill House wasn’t going to be an easy task, but Mike Flanagan smashed it out of the haunted mansion. Based on the turning of the screw which I haven’t read; but am told by someone close to me is amazing, Bly Manor is a whirlwind of ever-changing plot twists that had me guessing every time someone talked suspiciously (which is everyone, all the time).
When deciding I wanted to write about Bly, I thought to myself, why am I so hooked? I mean really it isn’t the scariest thing I’ve watched, not even the scariest TV program I have watched. That honor goes to American Horror Story: Roanoke. So why was I coming home from work and pestering my partner to sit down so we can carry on watching it. It wasn’t a long thought because the answer was simple, it’s the characters, the location and providing you hadn’t read the book, it was the constant need to figure out what was going on.
Its textbook horror, throw in a slightly creepy couple of kids and a house that, let's face it is too big for anyone and for some people that's enough to creep them out but Bly was different because they were creepy, but there was something else. The kids spoke different in every scene as if they were different characters themselves. The way Mrs. Grose spoke of them wasn’t how we had seen them. So creepy kids yes, but not in your classic overtly creepy way. You could say the way the children were was perfectly splendid. There to keep you on your toes, you didn’t know whether they were going to hug Dani or lock her in a cupboard again. The house was again filled with long winding corridors and big open rooms with ample space to I don’t know, hide a few ghosts. Of course, a massive house must have a wing which is off limits with everything covered in pristine white sheets. Normally I would roll my eyes and say the words “here we go” but I felt optimistic that we weren’t going to get the obvious jump scares and storyline that is associated with this type of horror environment, and thankfully I was right. It served the story in a different way; it was a place where characters and us the audience discovered more about the history of Bly and its previous residence. Accompanying the house were the grounds fit with its own chapel, cue eye rolls again. But as before the chapel wasn’t sinister at all, only another plot revealing location that was in no way unwelcome. If you want sinister then the lake with its faceless woman is the place for you, and Flora. But I'll get into that in a bit.
On top of the kids and house you had an array of wonderfully written characters that really tied the show together. I have to admit I really couldn’t gage Mrs. Grose, Owen, Jamie or Dani Clayton in the first few episodes. They all seemed odd and slightly unlikeable, with their own personal demons that Mike Flanagan seems to work so well in everything he directs. It wasn’t until we found out the fate of Mrs. Grose (Spoilers ahead) and how tragic it was, that I felt the other characters and her all come together as a really likeable bunch that really made me care for all of them. I suppose it was the mindset anyone has coming into watching a horror, suspicion that everyone is a killer or in fact dead.
Mrs. Grose being dead and wanting to leave with Owen to me was the most emotional of the series. Her episode, episode 5 and the highest rated episode of the series is beautiful. It is shot so well as is most of the series and focuses on her journey through memories that seem to grow ever more tragic and sadder all pulling towards the conclusion of her death. I felt her love for Owen after they met for the first time and until Miles kills her, I was longing for her to leave with Owen. But this is a horror show and somethings can’t be a happy ending. However much I want it.
If I was to recommend any of the haunting series to anyone, my go to selling point is everything that is hidden throughout. Like its predecessor, Bly is full to the brim of hidden ghosts and ghouls lurking in the background of what feels like every other shot. From the plague doctor that stalks Dani throughout the first episode to the soldier that stands to attention later on in the series you find yourself hunting for the faces and figures. Some are obvious, some require a harder look and some are not there, but you convince yourself you see something. This is a testament to the cinematography of Bly and Hill House; the shots are often left wide with long corridors and open doors making your eyes wonder and search. At the same time, it doesn’t distract from the character as they usually move so fluidly with the shot, that even as you see the face behind you are fully aware of everything else in the scene. This is a horror series with few jump scares, instead opting for lingering, statuesque ghosts that we rarely see move. I would say that is horror, the feeling of being watched at all times, I commend Mike Flanagan on this stunning piece of true scares.
The eighth episode for me was special, away from the characters that we had come to love and hate, we took a trip back in time to where all of the horror started. I loved it, a return from Hill House, Kate Siegel returns as Viola, a power loving lady of the manor. Her story is as most people in the series tragic but understandable, I often find that even the so called “bad guys” in Bly are not overly bad. I even had a slight soft spot for Peter. Only slight though, I mean he was a shit. But Viola’s story descends into really feeling for her as she is killed by her sister and then thrown into the lake. All she wanted was to hold her daughter. Bly toys with the idea that once you are forgotten by the living you forget yourself; it explains the faceless ghosts of Bly and for me had a resemblance to Disney's Coco. From then on you almost sympathize with the ghosts and with Viola as she becomes the lady of the lake we feared so much throughout.
For me Bly matched Hill House with beautiful shots and hidden pieces of terror throughout, although I found Hill House to be a scarier series, I feel for overall character development and storytelling Bly smashed it. I finished the series and wanted more, I wanted to watch it again, find things I hadn’t’ found before and just enjoy the characters again. I feel I could have spoken so much more about every single episode but I must return to the sofa to find something to fill the gap that I now have after finishing the Haunting series. I only fear that there won't be one as perfectly splendid as this was to watch.