The Haunting of Bly Manor (TV Mini Series) The Beast in the Jungle (2020) User Reviews

Appropriate ending, though with some weaknesses

[Ar_Pharazon_the_golden · 8/10 · 16 October 2020]

I don't know how much the series resembles The Turn of the Screw beyond the central idea, but throughout the season it was more Victorian ghost story than horror, and it follows this approach to the end, as it should. There's more melancholy mixed with hope at the final episode than there is plot, as the whole affair with the haunting ends early on, and the rest is devoted to closure.

The style is therefore correct, and the direction taken (Danny finds happiness - as do the other survivors - but only until the day the inner daemon takes over) is both cathartic and depressive. And it serves very well as a metaphor for either terminal or mental illness.

That said, there is a minor, yet enormously annoying detail in the whole framing of the series: it becomes clear quite early on in the episode that the narrator is Jamie, and the bride is Flora. Somehow, Flora has not just forgotten the whole thing (that can be accepted), but fails to even understand the story refers to her. She's like "huh, my middle name is Flora, what a coincidence". So, the whole story, the manor, the orphan siblings, the nannies, the uncle, the lake, not one thing tells her 'this story is about me, does it ring a bell?'. I mean, why was Jamie invited to the wedding at all if complete and total amnesia is what you are going with?

Another minor annoyance, the actors chosen to depict the older versions of the characters look absolutely nothing like them. Not one of them.

THIS IS NOT HILL HOUSE IT'S UNIQUE ITS A GOTHIC GHOST LOVE STORY

[Christianchancellor · 9/10 · 13 October 2020]

One of the best endings of a tv show I think I have ever seen. I laughed, I cried (which I never do) and just made me so happy. This ending of this series was one of a kind. This show was absolutely brilliant. Spooky not really super scary but I loved every single minute of it. Mike Flanagan and the crew you nailed it once again.

A slow burner, but worth watching till the end

[karlmccorry · 8/10 · 10 October 2020]

I found myself drifting to sleep during the first 7 episodes....it really was hard work and drawn out without anything happening. However the last two episodes were exceptional, and I was happy that I kept watching. Was it a ghost story?, was it a love story?, the beauty of this web series is that viewers can take something different from it. I'd recommend you watch it.

This is not Haunting of Hill House

[bryantbarry · 10/10 · 11 October 2020]

For the most part, all of the negative reviews I've seen have come from people who could not get past the first three episodes and were expecting "October jump scare horror". This show is not that. It's something else entirely and I am so happy they took the risk to make this.

I would say the majority of people watching this show are watching because of Hill House and rightfully so. When I saw that actors were returning for season one in a new house, I got worried. I was worried that this show would turn into another American Horror Story. But boy was I wrong.

This season reminds us that this is a show about characters. Not jump scares, not "horror", but about grief, pain, and sorrow. The horrors we experience through loss and what that truly does to someone. The journey from episode one was a slow build, but the last eight minutes of this episode had me in tears and justified every moment of slow build in the beginning.

If you're looking for a cheap scare, this season is not for you. But if you're here to invest in a love story that has ghost in it, hold on tight.

Not what I expected, but loved it anyway.

[standbyme-121-474707 · 10/10 · 11 October 2020]

Just finished the season. This wasn't like Haunting of Hill House, granted. It was a haunting love story. There are horror elements, of course and it is plenty atmospheric. There aren't may shows that make me weep, and I certainly wasn't expecting that this show would, but it did. Don't listen to the naysayers. Give it a watch. Don't expect jump scares though.

Amazing ending to an amazing story

[losanatuisawau-979-435245 · 10/10 · 10 October 2020]

The gripping horrors of the Bly manor, not knowing who's dead or alive all made sense in the last episode. The beginning foreshadowing the end making you realise which characters are who brings such relief knowing the characters built up their own story throughout the series. The sheer love story between the au pair made me fall in love with their characters even more.

Love a good horror, most horrors focus on scaring those who watch. However watching Bly manor made me focus more on the story which makes me concentrate more making the scary parts more thrilling and more jumpy. I enjoyed this series just as much as Hill House

Its a love story

[aboalhyjaa · 10/10 · 10 October 2020]

I had a tear or two while watching this episode. And in the same time i was happy, one of the best tv series made by Netflix ever

An eloquent analogy of terminal illness

[jmbailey-13239 · 10/10 · 13 October 2020]

I have to say, I was much more pleased by the ending of this series compared to the last series. But what will stand out to for a very long time is this episode. It's like the bride says to the narrator. This wasn't a ghost story, but a love story.

Mike Flanagan and crew have done what I felt he did so well in Doctor Sleep. Rather than just going for a pure horror story, he told a story that used horror to illustrate a real world issue. In this episode's case, it was dealing with a terminal illness. You know the end is going to come, you know that the person will one day be gone. But it doesn't hurt any less. I thought this episode captured that brilliantly, and honestly will sit with me for a very long time. I really do recommend this show series. Very well done!

CATHARSIS

[reynoldswraptpe · 10/10 · 14 October 2020]

Ignore the idiots who gave 1-star and 3-star reviews - one of them has no clue what "Deus Ex Machina" means, and the other clearly wasn't paying attention to what they were watching. This is an excellent season of television and the finale is a heartbreaker that simultaneously leaves you uplifted and inspired by the beauty and sorrow of love. No spoilers, but I promise it all makes sense in the end, and anyone that's ever lost someone they loved will be moved to the soul. Kudos to Mike Flanagan for knowing to step away from this season and let other writers and directors lead this into Gothic Romance instead of straight-up horror like "Hill House". And unlike "Hill House", the majority of everything makes sense after the first time finishing the series, instead of rewatching to understand who certain ghosts and characters (and their motivations) are. No, nothing in here is as immediately terrifying as the Bent-Neck Lady...but love can be a much more evil entity, and the ways it can haunt you will stick into your memory a lot longer than the dysfunctions of the Crane family ever did. 10/10 for the finale and for the series as a whole.

The story is beautiful but this ending didnt fit the series

[woeterman_94 · 6/10 · 11 November 2020]

I really love this series. It was scary and romantic at the same time. I also liked how everything came together near the end. (however the doll house was never explained). In my opinion this episode didn't match the style of the series... It was too slow and a bit boring.

Gracefully brings the season to a close

[douglas_harr · 9/10 · 11 October 2020]

After the perfect, beautiful and poetic 8th episode, this 9th, the closer, ties up most remaining loose ends from the series, while giving us an extended look at the heart rending relationship between the au pair and the gardener. Caps off this amazing series - one which is a bit more romance than horror but top notch on both fronts.

Nearly made sense

[njboden · 7/10 · 29 October 2020]

The series was very nearly explained in this episode, I think the general rule is that if someone is killed by Viola, the faceless lady in the lake, then they become ghosts who can't leave Bly Manor but if they hold hands with a ghost and say "you, me, us" then that's not entirely true. Basically, when the girl is being dragged into the lake, the au pair saves her by saying "You, me , us" to Viola which saves the girl and is a loving enough act to magically buy the au pair enough time to leave Bly with her lover Jamie. The gardener, Jamie, and the cook live in the village and come in and out of Bly and never die in the first place, it seems.

Jamie and the au pair then meet the cook at a restaurant and he says he says the children now live outside of the manor and remember Bly but don't remember the goings-on, so it seems as if the au pair's self-sacrifice meant that as the children only died by magically holding hands with Viola's ghostly victims, rather than being killed by Viola, they were magically brought back to life, to live outside Bly. Jamie is then invited to a wedding where all the Bly lot are present and tells them everything as a ghost story and they've forgotten everything and ask if Bly is real. This makes no sense for 2 reasons: firstly; why did they invite Jamie to the wedding as they seemingly didn't know her, secondly; why didn't the cook recognise her?

As the living dead au pair became increasingly haunted and possessed by Viola and so found it hard to resist the urge to murder Jamie, she'd left Jamie shortly before the wedding and gone to Bly, sacrificing herself to the lady in the lake. Jamie then went to Bly and swan to the bottom of the lake only to find that the au pair had magically merged with Viola, who was now too selfless to kill Jamie for the ghostly company.

Questions

[mazzoon_123 · 2/10 · 30 March 2021]

Why did Henry return to Bly suddenly after avoiding to go there for a very long time including when the kids were sick?!

Why would Jamie keep looking at water as is if Dani invaded her body like Viola did to Dani?

Why did they go in so much details about Dani and Jamie w which felt like a waste of time.

Not a satisfying ending!

Emotional Finale

[geoffkholdsworth · 10/10 · 17 October 2021]

This show hits all the marks when it comes to engaging the audience with each character. You really care for these people.

The very last shot made me cry.

The most heartbreaking ending

[jakobkraft-551-868975 · 10/10 · 18 October 2020]

As the bride at the end says "it's not a horror but a romantic tale". This episode was so filled with beautiful loving moments, but also sad and heartbreaking moments. All in all, a beautiful love story.

Great ending

[Calicodreamin · 8/10 · 19 October 2020]

A great ending for a beautifully made series, I jumped, I cried, it was everything I wanted it to be. I feel like most of my questions were answered and just the right amount left open to interpretation.

It's not a ghost story, it's a love story.

[shari_m_marshall · 10/10 · 27 October 2020]

Not what I expected from a 'horror' series - to quote (or misquote) a main character - this is not a ghost story, it's a love story. I was bawling like a baby. Brilliant.

Spoiler gegs

[freddysantoso · 10/10 · 11 October 2020]

I liked the last part the most, I was in tears. Jamie and Dani's love story is very touching. even though her ghosts are few who walk around. There are some parts that make me confused Hanna is dead, how come you can hang out with the living? for the film as a whole the ending is also clear in my opinion. This film about a love story is not a ghost story I agree with flora. i love flora she is very cute and adorable if you have a younger sister like her.

Perfectly splendid,but sad ghost story.

[john-mather43 · 10/10 · 15 October 2020]

I said it was a ghost story but it isnt. It's brillaintly filmed and acted and achingly beautiful story,it draws you in and in the last episode when you realise what is happening it breaks your heart.Just quality TV only Netflix makes. People rating it low have no concept of good drama.

Episode 9

[bobcobb301 · 6/10 · 23 December 2020]

They wrapped things up too early and then struggled to figure out what to do with it.

Not horrible, but a little weak and a bit of a cop out.

Amazing. Truly amazing.

[stelancaster83 · 10/10 · 24 October 2020]

Wow. This is a masterpiece. A love story showing what extremes people will go through for love.

Eventually

[bluebirdstreet-08258 · 6/10 · 11 October 2020]

It took the last few episodes for me to eventually suss out what was going on And it took an entire episode of a narrator to explain it, it was done very well to be honest. It sounds like I didn't like it, but I did I'll watch it all again, next time I'll watch it soba

Nightmare... terrifying... in all the wrong ways.

[DCJayhawk57 · 4/10 · 16 December 2020]

How this episode (or show) has the rating it does, I don't know. Nothing about this episode makes sense, and none of it was set up in the preceding 9 hours to make there be any sort of payoff. It's just nonsense horror tropes. People losing their memory of Bly after leaving was lifted directly from IT. Mostly it's just Victoria Pedretti looking frightened or sobbing (I know, shocker) until the possession she inexplicably absorbed draws her back to Bly and drowns her so she can become a "good" spirit. And suddenly the perspective shifts to make it seem like the freaking gardener was really the lead the whole time? What? Why?

Flanagan comes up with some good ideas with his shows, but they invariably devolve into melodrama and incoherence. The script and dialogue are on par with a greeting card. Also, the horrible English accents are incredibly distracting, especially from his wife in the I-don't-need-to-exist penultimate episode (which, on another note, can be skipped entirely without any impact on the final episode).

I don't know if someone was thinking like me!

[yunan-68599 · 9/10 · 28 October 2020]

This sason was wonderful from A to Z, but the only thing I didn't like is the song in the backround at the end, if it was The Haunting theme song I'm sure it's gonna be great ending

Dani's story.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 9/10 · 17 August 2022]

Dani's life hangs in the balance, her future seems very uncertain.

It's definitely not the type of episode I was expecting to round the series off with, but I thought it was an excellent, emotion packed finale, it really did deliver on all counts.

Effectively it's like a ticking time bomb, you feel it's just a case of when, it's so well acted, it's superbly acted, it's full of surprises.

This show has made the most of the concept of time, jumps back and forth, repetition, here we get a look into the future, and it's a great story.

Dani was introduced as the central character, she's not been the main focus for a little while, in this final part she's very much centre stage, she has a great story.

9/10.