The Haunting Of Bly Manor releases on Netflix October 9th, 2020, and the early reviews have all but promised that viewers will not be disappointed — here's what critics are saying about it. Mike Flanagan's The Haunting Of Hill House was a resounding success when it released in 2018. Its follow-up series is loosely based on the novella The Turn Of The Screw by Henry James, and promises to be just as scary as its predecessor.
The original 1898 horror story has been adapted several times due to its immense popularity among horror fans and scholars alike. In January 2020, James' story was adapted into a feature-length supernatural movie directed by Floria Sigismondi titled The Turning. It received an overwhelming amount of negative reviews in comparison to Flanagan's upcoming adaptation. Given that the most recent adaptation bombed at the box office, fans of The Turn of the Screw will likely pay attention to how close The Haunting Of Bly Manor stays to its source, especially when The Innocents and The Nightcomers already did such a impeccable job in retelling it for the big screen.
Due to The Haunting Of Bly Manor's ability to expand the story beyond the traditional run time of a horror movie, it will feature various themes and elements previous excluded from other adaptations. Flanagan has already proven to be a talented creator and adaptor with The Haunting Of Hill House's source material of the same name by Shirley Jackson. His latest series has already received positive reviews with a 93% on Rotten Tomatoes - which may go up or down in the next coming days. Most critics have praised Flanagan's ability to capture the gothic setting of Henry James's novella as well as the atmospheric horror that The Haunting Of Hill House is known for. Here are some of the positive reviews The Haunting Of Hill House has received so far.
"The cast remains consistently solid as a rock top to bottom, led by Pedretti, who needs to be in the conversation about our best modern-day horror leads. Pedretti plays the part of Dani like she’s constantly one stiff breeze away from a panic attack, but in ways that make the character feel stronger."
"Mike Flanagan has pitched this new season as a love story, and it largely nails its gothic romance narrative, it just feels like horror fans will be anxiously awaiting some terror that never quite comes. Still, Bly Manor is a well-made adaptation of James novel and something that’s mild enough to fire up this Spooky Season with even your most horror-adverse friends or family members."
IGN:
"Flanagan successfully employs some of his best storytelling techniques used in Season 1, like bouncing through time in order to offer more revelatory context and depth to each character. Each backstory is carefully crafted in such a way that, by the end of the series you have a strong sense of why each character made the decisions that they did."
As with any new release, there are negative reviews to accompany the positive ones. Most critics find that The Haunting Of Bly Manor has the difficult task of following up the success of The Haunting Of Hill House as well as lacking in the scares that its predecessor created so flawlessly. Flanagan's adaptation of The Turn Of The Screw is said to be more of a gothic love story than it is a horror story and, as such, its supernatural elements are not at the forefront. Just as The Haunting Of Hill House focused primarily on a grieving family, The Haunting Of Bly Manor sets its sights on a tragic love story with an unsettling atmosphere. Despite the somewhat negative criticisms given to the upcoming series, there is some positivity as well.
"The story itself is also not as tightly wound. There are plenty of scares to keep you enthralled, but the pacing's not as bracing as the former series, which started with one of the most haunting scenes in television history. The mystery of Hill House was better explored within the opening episodes, which heightened the scares. Here, there's a slower burn and a reliance on Pedretti's Dani to keep us interested as she takes on the dominant point-of-view for the most part."
"As was the case with Hill House, Pedretti is once again the best member of the ensemble, delivering a tender, often frantic performance full of big emotional moments. Pedretti is quite skilled at making us both root and fear for her, and it’s impossible not to get swept up in Dani’s storyline as things grow direr and direr."
"The performances are all around strong, but it’s like the actors are using heart-wrenching work to try to break out of a story that is melodramatic, flat, and relatively humorless."
The Haunting Of Bly Manor has received positive reviews primarily for its ability to capture the gothic setting in a way that isn't over-the-top, and rewards its viewers with a detailed story of love and the supernatural. While Flanagan has not announced whether he anticipates creating another addition to his series, it's entirely plausible that these positive reviews may call for a third installment in the Haunting series. Ultimately, The Haunting Of Bly Manor's reviews will fall to the audience's opinion once it releases on Netflix on October 9th.