Horror Netflix orders modernized 'Haunting of Hill House' from Mike Flanagan

[Captain Tired]

I fell asleep during Hill House several times, twice during the one shot episode. That didn't happen once during Bly Manor.

Yeah I think I might also prefer Bly Manor.

 

[Drizzle]

Count me in the group that prefers Hill House. I thought Bly Manor was okay but Hill House had the more compelling story and more interesting characters.

 

[Holy Slapper]

Even Jeremy Jahns liked it:

 

[Brother Jack]

This didn't hit me as hard as Hill House did, both emotionally and scare-wise, but I still liked it quite a bit. In certain narrative ways it's more ambitious than the first season; without getting into spoilers, it takes ideas presented in Hill House regarding the nature of time and dives further into them. Mike Flanagan is on a serious tear right now.

 

[flickchick85]

This one hit me more emotionally, but less on scares. I think the season was better-constructed narratively than Hill House though. That one felt like it meandered a little bit more, imo.

 

[GREEN =w= DAY]

Finished Bly Manor last night

I liked it for the most part though I enjoyed Hill House more. The last half of the season was very good after a slow start. As some have pointed out, not a lot of scares compared to Hill House but I thought the characters were very well done and it’s just as sad, if not sadder than Hill House, with how things ended for certain characters

While Hill House focused more on family, Bly Manor was more of a love story

Flanagan has done an amazing job with these shows and I’m looking forward to what the new series will center on. Just hope there are more scares

 

[Monsieur Xavier]

I echo what others have said, I also found Hill House to be better than Bly Manor.
For me it's not so much the heart of the story that matters but the circumstances and the origin of the events. In that regard, I prefer Hill House.
That being said, Bly Manor was well crafted with good acting.

 

[Holy Slapper]

‘The Haunting Of Bly Manor’ Has Ruled Netflix For A Week Straight

It's been number 1 here in Finland for a week as well.

 

[Holy Slapper]

 

[Persona]

Flanagan has done an amazing job with these shows and I’m looking forward to what the new series will center on. Just hope there are more scares

From what I know of MIDNIGHT MASS, I do think it will have a bit more of an edge to it than the THE HAUNTING OFs (as much as I love them) have had. How scary it is will be pretty subjective, of course.

I love how Flanagan and Kohli worked together so I am excited that Kohli is back for MIDNIGHT MASS. Also really curious about the Zach Gilford and Hamish Linklater characters. Linklater in particular seems like a perfect fit to become a new Flanagan regular.

And then after that Flanagan is supposed to do Stephen King's REVIVAL, which is gonna be some bleak ****.

 

[Persona]

I just finished the show and I totally get why a sizable chunk of people feel like they didn't get what they wanted out of this season.

Obviously, as up front as Netflix and Flanagan were about what this season was trying to do and the fact that the show itself makes it abundantly clear what kind of story it is, there were going to be built-in expectations based on the first season and mention of the horror genre that this season was never going to fulfill based on its intentions.

Was it sentimental? Yes. But the sentiment was earned based on the character work and the storytelling. There is not a lot of television out right now that invests so much in how it is telling a story from beginning to end and how it interweaves different character traumas and backstories and motivations into the fabric of its themes while using far-out horror/fantasy concepts to underline and extrapolate the thematic. When we get Peter's backstory and realize how it informs how he treats Miles, I mean, damn.

Yeah, it was a slow build. Yeah, not every character hit the mark completely. But most of them really did, episodes 5 and 8 were just outstanding television, and while a bit sappy I do think the finale was a very strong follow-through and denouement for everything that was on this season's mind and heart.

As an adaptation of Henry James, no, it doesn't really capture the essence or vibe of his work at all, but ultimately I am okay with that because I do think it was really impressive how it integrated various story ideas of his into one whole that felt very complete. And it did keep the meter of pace and method of quietly evolving story construct that James was so good at.

 

[Black Narcissus]

She is bloody great. I can see Kevin Feige wasting her in a thankless role soon.

 

[CaptainWagner]

I'm going to file myself under those who preferred Bly to Hill House. They're both great, but I felt like this season had a tighter storyline and I connected more to it emotionally. The cast and characters were all great, delivered some killer monologues, and the central story and reflection on love and loss was incredibly beautiful. I can't wait to see where they go with a future third season. Flannagan has a big slate, so it will probably be a long wait. But that means people like Pedretti and OJC can go and take other roles in the meantime. (Looking at Justice League Dark, especially)

 

[shauner111]

Victoria Pedretti can’t act, period. Completely over-acting in this season. A million smiley or frowny faces every 13 seconds. And was she playing a valley girl or was she from Europe because her accent was weird. She was better as Nell but that’s probably because she wasn’t in the first season much. As my friend says about her “She’s all mouth”. The English and Scottish accents were mostly parodies across the board.

This season was pure sleepy trash. Sulky and melodramatic for the entire duration. Including the score which trying SO hard to pull on the heartstrings in every scene. The “scares” weren’t there for me. Very corny CGI horror that has no effect. Nothing gets under your skin. It’s the problem I had with his Doctor Sleep. Muschietti and Flanagan are terribly overrated within this genre. Hill House was much better in the second half though.

I honestly thought this was a gruelling season to watch. Self important, over dramatic monologues that never seemed to end. Annoying kids (I was hoping Damien from the Omen would throw his sister down the goddamn well after the 85th time she said PERFECTLY SPLENDID!). Ugh.

0.5/5 horrendous waste of time.

 

[Captain Tired]

Victoria Pedretti can’t act, period. Completely over-acting in this season. A million smiley or frowny faces every 13 seconds. And was she playing a valley girl or was she from Europe because her accent was weird. She was better as Nell but that’s probably because she wasn’t in the first season much. As my friend says about her “She’s all mouth”. The English and Scottish accents were mostly parodies across the board.

This season was pure sleepy trash. Sulky and melodramatic for the entire duration. Including the score which trying SO hard to pull on the heartstrings in every scene. The “scares” weren’t there for me. Very corny CGI horror that has no effect. Nothing gets under your skin. It’s the problem I had with his Doctor Sleep. Muschietti and Flanagan are terribly overrated within this genre. Hill House was much better in the second half though.

I honestly thought this was a gruelling season to watch. Self important, over dramatic monologues that never seemed to end. Annoying kids (I was hoping Damien from the Omen would throw her sister down the goddamn well after the 85th time she said PERFECTLY SPLENDID!). Ugh.

0.5/5 horrendous waste of time.

 

[shauner111]

She is bloody great. I can see Kevin Feige wasting her in a thankless role soon.

More like bloody awful.

 

[antsman41]

Victoria Pedretti can’t act, period. Completely over-acting in this season. A million smiley or frowny faces every 13 seconds. And was she playing a valley girl or was she from Europe because her accent was weird. She was better as Nell but that’s probably because she wasn’t in the first season much. As my friend says about her “She’s all mouth”. The English and Scottish accents were mostly parodies across the board.

This season was pure sleepy trash. Sulky and melodramatic for the entire duration. Including the score which trying SO hard to pull on the heartstrings in every scene. The “scares” weren’t there for me. Very corny CGI horror that has no effect. Nothing gets under your skin. It’s the problem I had with his Doctor Sleep. Muschietti and Flanagan are terribly overrated within this genre. Hill House was much better in the second half though.

I honestly thought this was a gruelling season to watch. Self important, over dramatic monologues that never seemed to end. Annoying kids (I was hoping Damien from the Omen would throw his sister down the goddamn well after the 85th time she said PERFECTLY SPLENDID!). Ugh.

0.5/5 horrendous waste of time.

 

[Black Narcissus]

More like bloody awful.

 

[SwordOfMorning]

Not as powerful as Hill House but given Hill House is for my money was the best piece of horror media to come out in the 2010s that is a super, super high bar. Once again Flanagan proves he understands the essential tragedy and complexity of ghost stories better than anyone else. I was concerned it would suffer from only one episode being directed by him but everyone involved did a phenomenal job and the scripts are just absolutely beautiful, elegantly constructed pieces of writing.

My only real criticism is that the accents are pretty shaky but that is profoundly insubstantial, especially when the performances overall are so powerful. I'm really not sure there's anyone making movies/TV right now who appeals to my personal sensibilities quite as much as Flanagan.

 

[Marvolo]

Victoria Pedretti can’t act, period. Completely over-acting in this season. A million smiley or frowny faces every 13 seconds. And was she playing a valley girl or was she from Europe because her accent was weird. She was better as Nell but that’s probably because she wasn’t in the first season much. As my friend says about her “She’s all mouth”. The English and Scottish accents were mostly parodies across the board.

This season was pure sleepy trash. Sulky and melodramatic for the entire duration. Including the score which trying SO hard to pull on the heartstrings in every scene. The “scares” weren’t there for me. Very corny CGI horror that has no effect. Nothing gets under your skin. It’s the problem I had with his Doctor Sleep. Muschietti and Flanagan are terribly overrated within this genre. Hill House was much better in the second half though.

I honestly thought this was a gruelling season to watch. Self important, over dramatic monologues that never seemed to end. Annoying kids (I was hoping Damien from the Omen would throw his sister down the goddamn well after the 85th time she said PERFECTLY SPLENDID!). Ugh.

0.5/5 horrendous waste of time.

 

[CaptainWagner]

Victoria Pedretti can’t act, period. Completely over-acting in this season. A million smiley or frowny faces every 13 seconds. And was she playing a valley girl or was she from Europe because her accent was weird. She was better as Nell but that’s probably because she wasn’t in the first season much. As my friend says about her “She’s all mouth”. The English and Scottish accents were mostly parodies across the board.

This season was pure sleepy trash. Sulky and melodramatic for the entire duration. Including the score which trying SO hard to pull on the heartstrings in every scene. The “scares” weren’t there for me. Very corny CGI horror that has no effect. Nothing gets under your skin. It’s the problem I had with his Doctor Sleep. Muschietti and Flanagan are terribly overrated within this genre. Hill House was much better in the second half though.

I honestly thought this was a gruelling season to watch. Self important, over dramatic monologues that never seemed to end. Annoying kids (I was hoping Damien from the Omen would throw his sister down the goddamn well after the 85th time she said PERFECTLY SPLENDID!). Ugh.

0.5/5 horrendous waste of time.

Obviously to each their own/everyone has their own taste but I don't know if I've ever disagreed more with a non-political post on this site.

 

[Calvin Ellis]

After watching this over the weekend I think comparing the two shows is like apples to oranges. One show (Hill House) is more of a horror series while Bly is more or less a tragic love story for multiple people with just 3 ghost thrown into the mix. So as I said before it's kind of hard to compare the two although if I had to I Would prefer Hill House over Bly.

 

[Captain Tired]

I honestly wouldn't even call Hill House a horror. It was more of a domestic drama with elements of horror. Similarly, Bly Manor was a tragic love story with elements of horror.

 

[Calvin Ellis]

I honestly wouldn't even call Hill House a horror. It was more of a domestic drama with elements of horror. Similarly, Bly Manor was a tragic love story with elements of horror.

Agreed.

 

[Closerframe]

Hill House had a larger impact, overall, for me. Bly Manor tried to balance too many gothic concepts and only executed a couple of them properly. I hope whatever they come out with for the next story it’s more compelling and horrific.