The Haunting of Bly Manor (TV Mini Series) The Great Good Place (2020) User Reviews

A Perfectly Splendid Start

[XTheXXTruthX · 9/10 · 9 October 2020]

What a great opening episode, this was excellent. So well written, directed and acted and sets the series up terrifically well. Felt like it was on for about 20 mins I got totally engrossed. Victoria Pedretti, in an expanded role to her appearance in the first season, is so watchable she's like the next Rachel McAdam, both in looks and star quality. And the child stars were great. Loads of potential for scares later in the series as well.

A good start.

[teiixeiral · 7/10 · 10 October 2020]

This was a good introduction to the story for the season. The setting is very atmospheric and Mike Flanagan does such a good job telling a story. He's seriously one of the best working today in the genre. The acting from Vanessa is a standout. With that being said, I don't understand why people are giving this episode anything above a 7. It's not knock your socks off, amazing, transformative stuff.

A change of pace (8.3)

[zackriley-20196 · 8/10 · 9 October 2020]

During this episode I noticed the differences in pace from the first season. I liked the slow building tension from the children to capture how odd and mysterious This house is. I'm glad the creators are still using the large landscapes and hallways to place hidden shadows in a lot of the scenes like last season. I have high hopes for the rest of season 2.

The creepiest bit...

[darmal5-1 · 10/10 · 9 October 2020]

Aside from the wonderful location and the unsettling children, the creepiest bits of the show are the late 80s fashions and mom jeans! Chilling!

Perfectly Splendid

[lilbeartn · 10/10 · 9 October 2020]

Hill House being my favorite show of all time, this show has big shoes to fill. From my first watch of episode one, I can tell Bly Manor is going to be quite a story to be told. From introducing us to the children and their personalities to introducing the unsettling atmosphere around the manor, this first episode is sure to leave you wanting to come back for more.

Big boots to fill

[carley-37400 · 6/10 · 9 October 2020]

Some fantastic performances but some not so much. A terrible English accent and pretty annoying children let's it down hugely for be as it hasn't set the best start but I hope it starts to redeem itself going forward. After Hill House, this has some mighty big boots to fill.

Very atmospheric start...

[Jgc2004 · 9/10 · 9 October 2020]

First off, going into this show, expectations are sky high. Mike Flanagan is a true genius when it comes to storytelling enter woven with horror elements. I hope this story is just as good as the haunting of hill house. Chilling visuals!

Not ALL of the actors are bad

[boomer-kris · 7/10 · 10 October 2020]

I'm only reviewing this first episode, but the complaints about the acting only really applies to one of the characters. Unfortunately it's one of the leads but I'll try to ignore it and see if anything is better in the next few episodes. I'm surprised that such a big role was offered to someone with limited range. Let's hope that they improve as the show goes on.

Just woh

[sidney_amsterdam · 10/10 · 9 October 2020]

My kind of fav ghost stories Old school, very scary because what you don t see is even scarier .... don t see this alone before bedtime

Not engaged

[ahmegy-914-445509 · 7/10 · 9 October 2020]

Not that drawn or engaged to the initial storyline or characters. Find the children performances rather artificial. Probably too early to judge but having been waiting on tenterhooks since Haunted expectations are so high. Fingers crossed this doesn't just evolve into just another "ghost story" with cliché jumps and scares.

Perfectly splendid

[judetonynassar · 10/10 · 9 October 2020]

Just seeing "Victoria Pedretti" makes me so happy, her performance is the best, I loved the new characters, the creepy kids and was so Happy to see some characters from hill house! I'm just captivated and can't wait to see more.

Glaring inconsistencies

[anthonyjlangford · 7/10 · 12 November 2020]

Others have commented accurately on the pros and cons on this opening episode, (annoying kids, slow beginning. I personally didn't have an issue with either), so I will choose to focus on something that is very obvious and off-putting and that is the lack of accuracy of this time period and location.

We have a rural location in England in 1987 and yet we have (never stated but possibly Indian) non-white male chef, a black Governess and most ludicrously, a female gardener. If this was set in the modern day, it would be more plausible, but certainly not then and not in rural England. All would be white, the gardener would be a man and the chef a woman. That's simply the accuracy of the period. None of these people are right for the setting. It's not being intolerant. It's like setting a film in New York in 1960 and having your main characters Chinese. It's completely ludicrous. It's PC ideology. If that was their intent, set it in the modern day. Or has Hollywood gone so PC that Mike Flanagan didn't have a choice? It seems that Hollywood has gone PC mad. You have to tick all the correct 'diversity' boxes and to hell with authenticity.

Something tells me the gardener is going to be a lesbian too. I hope I'm wrong. (Not that I have any issue with lesbian gardeners but again, this isn't rural California in 2020. And last time I checked, heterosexual people still make up 90% of the population. (not according to Hollywood).

The way Henry Thomas converses with the staff in the bar is also off. Did the filmmakers not do any research at all or are they just hoping that the audience is all American and under thirty and won't know the difference?

See where it goes as a drama but the characters are all jarring so far. The only thing that actually feels like 1987 is Dani's jeans.

Not bad but too dialogue heavy in the first half hour.

Bad acting Vs decent atmosphere

[jonnydc93 · 4/10 · 11 October 2020]

I've seen people complaining about the child actors, and rightly so, they're awful. But I didn't enjoy the performances of most of the actors. The Americans are awful at British accents, the lead woman doesn't know who her character is.. I don't know if it's entirely their fault. The script is dreadful. Unbelievable dialogue right throughout. Yes, it's a fictional horror story, but it's hardly engaging when the characters are so hard to believe.

The atmosphere earns the points, but even that is lacking in comparison to Hill House.

Overall, a bad start to the difficult second album.

The atmosphere!

[markal-01985 · 10/10 · 9 October 2020]

I enjoyed episode because it layed out good grounds for the series ahead. I'm an avid horro fan but this made me feel very uneasy as soon as we were introduced to Bly manor! I'm looking forward to see how the story unfolds

Perfectly Splended

[waleedasim01 · 10/10 · 9 October 2020]

The starting is *in British accent* perfectly splended

Flora is splendid

[dantascezar · 7/10 · 10 October 2020]

Flora alone runs this first episode. She is "perfectly splendid". I still don't know if I am going to keep watching the show, because it is not exactly what I like, but one thing I know for sure: Flora is amazing.

So far even better than Hill House

[mostlyharmless-30728 · 10/10 · 10 October 2020]

This episode is a very good start to what could be an excellent show. I disagree with the acting being bad, it really isn't (for any character so far), and the story is very focused in a way it's predecessor isn't. Some have said it's not as scary as Hill House, but that can't be all that drove Hill House to it's success, can it? The tone is one of the most impactful things about both these shows, and, I would argue, that this one possesses a superior atmosphere. But then again, I am an anglophile.

Felt like ripping off of The Innocence

[tliu-36681 · 7/10 · 10 October 2020]

The plot of the first episode is exactly like Jack Clayton's film The innocence. Wonder if the main character's last name is Clayton for this exact reason.

The Bent-Neck Lady

[fareslazari · 9/10 · 10 October 2020]

A good performance from Victoria pedretti I think she'll be a big star in the future , and I liked the deference between the first and this season and the psychological horror, perfectly splendid

Story seems compelling but art direction is less so

[maxapotowski-38415 · 7/10 · 15 October 2020]

Story for the first episode was exciting, but the set designs, lighting and art direction are distracting. To modern, to light and just not spooky.

It was perfectly splendid!

[aboalhyjaa · 9/10 · 9 October 2020]

Loved the episode and how it was going. Awesome soundtracks and a very good cinematography. 10 out of 10 for the kids acting and an 8 for the rest of the staff

DEJA VU! Perfectly SPLENDID!!!!

[wandernn1-81-683274 · 7/10 · 21 October 2020]

Big Fan!! OF HILLHOUSE!!! So let's see how this one goes!!!

Start out at a wedding rehearsal for RICH PEOPLE right? And El Matriarch sits down to tell a GHOST STORY.

+1 Star for the subtlety of how the HAUNTS begin to manifest in the BLY HOUSE....

I like how NELLLIE from HILLHOUSE got her very own GIG here in the BLY HOUSE. NOT SURE that i like her as a blonde tho! And I love this HOUSE!! i REALLLY NEED TO GET ONE OF MY OWN LIKE THIS!!!

+1 sTAR FOR THE CREEPY DIRT FOOTPRINTS IN THE HALL...

Okay not bad for an EP. 1. We'll see if it can get more riveting as we go on.

7/10

It's "ok"

[philwonderwall · 4/10 · 27 October 2020]

If you can get past the bad acting from the kids and female lead actor, the terrible dialogue and lack of any real tension for what is supposed to be a scary tv show, then you'll no doubt enjoy this opening episode. Personally I was quite disappointed, having seen and loved Hill House, you just assume the next season is at least going to be on a par with the first. I'll give episode 2 a go, but I'll be surprised if I get any further with this. I should also add, to be fair to the lead female actor, that it's possible she's a great actress with better direction and better writing to work with. But in this everything is signalled, overacted and feels quite unoriginal to be honest.

Interesting start

[Calicodreamin · 8/10 · 18 October 2020]

An interesting start to the series, good character introduction and storyline set up. Vibes were spooky and eerie, great cinematography.

I started, I hope to be surprised

[Rodzman · 8/10 · 14 January 2021]

I liked the beginning, the soundtrack and the opening remind me of Hill, it brought me good nostalgies, I hope to be surprised in this series too 8/10