Change Your Image
tjosephubert-86619
Reviews
The Haunting of Bly Manor (2020)
Beautiful, Intricate, Tragic, Haunting in the Best Way
I can see why people don't this show as a follow-up to Hill House. Hill House was a vision of true terror, executed with perfection and told with nuanced storytelling. Bly Manor is a different sort, but one that is, ultimately, more impactful.
If you're watching this to be terrified like you were in the first season - you won't be. While Bly Manor is eerie and tense, there are few instances where it's scary. It is told more delicately with a theme of loss rather than terror. If you wanted scares or were expecting them, you will be let down.
When I watched it, I found it a bit hard to engage in the first four episodes because the pacing was slow. Of course when I finished the show I realized that it was all to build towards the grand reveal of the show's mystery. The final climax is such an intense rush of lachrymose energy that you're left with a lingering sense of sorrow and dread. And then you realize this was perhaps one of the most beautiful tragedies ever written. It all comes full circle in a way both heartbreaking and full filling.
Bly Manor is not your typical horror show - if you can call it horror at all. It is an more of a ghost drama, a gothic masterpiece. Though some will wish it was scary, others will vastly appreciate the story it has to tell. Just remember that the second half is much more intriguing and I think you'll enjoy it.
Lovecraft Country: I Am. (2020)
Great Episode About Self-Discovery and -Value
Don't believe some reviewers when they say "this is the worst episode of anything ever" - please, judge it for yourself. Truthfully, this episode was intimate and sweet and it felt like a relief from the oppressiveness of the episode before it. Anyone who said this was bad writing did not delve deeper to find the meaning of its metaphor. The episode is about self discovery, facing one's demons and overcoming them to become something more. It is an powerful truth conveyed through mystifying VFX and parallels.
Enjoy it.