The Haunting of Bly Manor

[jimboa24]

It just dropped a few hours ago. It doesn't look like there's a thread for it yet so thought I'd make one. I just started the first episode, and five minutes in I'm already immensely happy, because guess who we see almost immediately?

"OH HAI MARK!!!"

[Fencers]

Meh. Just like the Haunting of Hill House, this is too tame for me.

[Ragnarohk]

Meh. Just like the Haunting of Hill House, this is too tame for me.

For me, the Haunting of Hill House was a drama series, not horror. But that isn't something bad. It was a really good drama series. That last episode with Nell's speech got me. I hope they continue down that road and pray to god that they steer clear of cheap and unoriginal stuff like jumpscares

[jimboa24]

Meh. Just like the Haunting of Hill House, this is too tame for me.

Too tame? HoHH was a pretty damn good drama with some creepy as fuck scares. What's your definition of "tame"? And give me an example of something that's NOT "too tame." And don't say American Horror Story. That show is stupid and goofy as fuck as not scary in the slightest.

[Fencers]

Too tame? HoHH was a pretty damn good drama with some creepy as fuck scares. What's your definition of "tame"? And give me an example of something that's NOT "too tame." And don't say American Horror Story. That show is stupid and goofy as fuck as not scary in the slightest.

Martyrs, The Woman, Evil Dead (2013), Frontiers, Guinea Pig, I Stand Alone, Inside, We Are The Flesh, Baskin, Deadgirl, Begotten, Last House on the Left, The Thing, Men Behind The Sun, Flowers of Flesh and Blood, Baise-moi, Angst, The Exorcist III, The Serpent, and the Rainbow, The Believers, The House Jack Built.

I could go for a while.

Big fan of horror books, films, and series. If a film/series is trying to horrify me, they need to come at me reckless. I am very hardcore in my horror.

[jimboa24]

Martyrs, The Woman, Evil Dead (2013), Frontiers, Guinea Pig, I Stand Alone, Inside, We Are The Flesh, Baskin, Deadgirl, Begotten, Last House on the Left, The Thing, Men Behind The Sun, Flowers of Flesh and Blood, Baise-moi, Angst, The Exorcist III, The Serpent, and the Rainbow, The Believers, The House Jack Built.

I could go for a while.

Big fan of horror books, films, and series. If a film/series is trying to horrify me, they need to come at me reckless. I am very hardcore in my horror.

Those are all movies. Movies are easier as they're self-contained and tell a short, tight story in a single sitting. TV shows are a different animal. They have to tell a story over a longer period of time in a different format. They also have to be carried by a network willing to air them and presumably renew them for more seasons. They're never going to be as "reckless" or "hardcore" as movies can be.

[Fencers]

Those are all movies.

Yes, but you did not ask me to give you an example of a series.

Okay then; Slasher, Deadlands, Dead Set, Marianne, Rillington Place, Millennium, A Discovery of Witches, In the Flesh, The River, Dark.

They're never going to be as "reckless" or "hardcore" as movies can be.

And they continually are too tame for me.

[Mosha]

Yes, but you did not ask me to give you an example of a series.

Okay then; Slasher, Deadlands, Dead Set, Marianne, Rillington Place, Millennium, A Discovery of Witches, In the Flesh, The River, Dark.

And they continually are too tame for me.

So when you say tame you don’t mean the creepy ness of it you just mean the gore level of it?

[BeepBoo]

I loved HoHH and have been impatiently waiting for this to drop. Will be getting on it this weekend!

[jellmoo]

Martyrs, The Woman, Evil Dead (2013), Frontiers, Guinea Pig, I Stand Alone, Inside, We Are The Flesh, Baskin, Deadgirl, Begotten, Last House on the Left, The Thing, Men Behind The Sun, Flowers of Flesh and Blood, Baise-moi, Angst, The Exorcist III, The Serpent, and the Rainbow, The Believers, The House Jack Built.

I could go for a while.

Big fan of horror books, films, and series. If a film/series is trying to horrify me, they need to come at me reckless. I am very hardcore in my horror.

Deadgirl wasn't so much horror as it was just an utterly reprehensible concept put to film.

[Fencers]

So when you say tame you don’t mean the creepy ness of it you just mean the gore level of it?

Could be creepy. I mean, I want to be horrified when I am enjoying horror. That is the central point of the genre; Exorcist 3, is creepy AF and that horrified me. Not much gore in that film. Its pretty intense and not tame by any stretch.

When I label a horror product tame, I mean to say I am not scared, creeped out, scared, heebeegeebees, etc. Its not scary to me; it doesn't do anything for me.

Big meh on HoHH and Bly Manor for me.

[Mosha]

Could be creepy. I mean, I want to be horrified when I am enjoying horror. That is the central point of the genre; Exorcist 3, is creepy AF and that horrified me. Not much gore in that film. Its pretty intense and not tame by any stretch.

When I label a horror product tame, I mean to say I am not scared, creeped out, scared, heebeegeebees, etc. Its not scary to me; it doesn't do anything for me.

Big meh on HoHH and Bly Manor for me.

Exorcist III was for sure a good one, just pointing out most of the ones you shown there were just gore flicks pretty much. I mean, to each their own. I personally get creeped out by subtle things unless the movie/show can still turn it up to 100 in pace while also having the story there to set the atmosphere.

For me half of the things you pointed out I would just get bored with the amount of blood splatter and guts and gore that it would be super hard for me to get 'into' the movie/show. Like I said that doesn't mean I don't think a gorey show can't be scary or spooky but when it's noticeable that the story comes second to the gore thats when I just get disappointed.

[jimboa24]

Yes, but you did not ask me to give you an example of a series.

Okay then; Slasher, Deadlands, Dead Set, Marianne, Rillington Place, Millennium, A Discovery of Witches, In the Flesh, The River, Dark.

And they continually are too tame for me.

Ok Edgey McEdgelord. Then why the hell did you bother posting in this thread? Just so you could publicly stick your nose up like some kind of horror snob and make a pretentious-as-fuck declaration about how the show fails to live up to your oh-so-edgey standards?

This is my impressed face . We're all so impressed with your "sophisticated" tastes, Mr. McEdgelord. Now that you've made your big show about how the show in question isn't good enough for you, why don't you skiddaddle off to somewhere else "worthy" of your interests?

[Fencers]

Exorcist III was for sure a good one, just pointing out most of the ones you shown there were just gore flicks pretty much.

I don't really actively make a distinction based on gore or no gore; if a work is effective at scaring me is the only thing that matters.

I personally get creeped out by subtle things unless the movie/show can still turn it up to 100 in pace while also having the story there to set the atmosphere.

There doesn't have to necessarily be an either/or. Halloween and The Thing are but horrific films and incredibly tense, moody, and "subtle".

For me half of the things you pointed out I would just get bored with the amount of blood splatter and guts and gore that it would be super hard for me to get 'into' the movie/show. Like I said that doesn't mean I don't think a gorey show can't be scary or spooky but when it's noticeable that the story comes second to the gore thats when I just get disappointed.

You're just describing stuff you are uninterested in, which is fine. As you said, to each their own, and perhaps nowhere is a greater breadth for subjectivity than in what we may personally find spooky.

Overly supernatural stuff often bores me, for example, because magic is bullshit obviously so. It takes a lot to spook me with an inherently magical premise as the source of horror. Pulling it off can be done, but it's tougher for me to be scared by a haunted house or demon poodle. Not that it can't be done, I thought the first Conjuring was pretty effective.

I like effective filmmaking of any genre. Preoccupation with style is not necessarily a correct view of creative work in my opinion.

Ok Edgey McEdgelord. Then why the hell did you bother posting in this thread? Just so you could publicly stick your nose up like some kind of horror snob and make a pretentious-as-fuck declaration about how the show fails to live up to your oh-so-edgey standards?

This is my impressed face . We're all so impressed with your "sophisticated" tastes, Mr. McEdgelord. Now that you've made your big show about how the show in question isn't good enough for you, why don't you skiddaddle off to somewhere else "worthy" of your interests?

Why so defensive, bro?

You make a public thread about a new, popular piece of media. One comment, my own, had an impression unlike your own; "Meh."

Then you ask for more of my opinions, I obliged and replied sincerely. This didn't satisfy you, so I obliged again.

And your takeaway, to a public thread for anyone to comment on the show, is I am being an elitist and somehow am burying this show with my pointed "Meh. Too tame for me."

Well, okay, sensitive Sam. May you continue to enjoy whatever it is you enjoy in your own time.

[Mosha]

I don't really actively make a distinction based on gore or no gore; if a work is effective at scaring me is the only thing that matters.

There doesn't have to necessarily be an either/or. Halloween and The Thing are but horrific films and incredibly tense, moody, and "subtle".

You're just describing stuff you are uninterested in, which is fine. As you said, to each their own, and perhaps nowhere is a greater breadth for subjectivity than in what we may personally find spooky.

Overly supernatural stuff often bores me, for example, because magic is bullshit obviously so. It takes a lot to spook me with an inherently magical premise as the source of horror. Pulling it off can be done, but it's tougher for me to be scared by a haunted house or demon poodle. Not that it can't be done, I thought the first Conjuring was pretty effective.

I like effective filmmaking of any genre. Preoccupation with style is not necessarily a correct view of creative work in my opinion.

Why so defensive, bro?

You make a public thread about a new, popular piece of media. One comment, my own, had an impression unlike your own; "Meh."

Then you ask for more of my opinions, I obliged and replied sincerely. This didn't satisfy you, so I obliged again.

And your takeaway, to a public thread for anyone to comment on the show, is I am being an elitist and somehow am burying this show with my pointed "Meh. Too tame for me."

Well, okay, sensitive Sam. May you continue to enjoy whatever it is you enjoy in your own time.

I wasn’t just tellin you what I’m interested in or not just pointing out that those movies you posted were mostly gore flicks, so I explained why I think those aren’t scary or spooky because it’s almost impossible to get past the “oh wow look another scene where they are attempting to scare me with graphic images, how spooky”.

[Fencers]

I wasn’t just tellin you what I’m interested in or not just pointing out that those movies you posted were mostly gore flicks, so I explained why I think those aren’t scary or spooky because it’s almost impossible to get past the “oh wow look another scene where they are attempting to scare me with graphic images, how spooky”.

Yea, as I just said. That's really subjective like most media. If you know what triggers your hair raising, great.

[grettin]

Deadgirl wasn't so much horror as it was just an utterly reprehensible concept put to film.

Baise-moi isn't even a horror film at all.

[jellmoo]

Baise-moi isn't even a horror film at all.

To be fair, it's one of two movies from the list I haven't seen. And there are some very solid movies on the list (The Thing and The Serpent and the Rainbow are fucking masterpieces). Also, I just realized that We Are The Flesh is also on the list, and that's also a pretty messed up film.

Still, taste is subjective. I'd hail the original Dawn of the Dead as one of my all time favourite movies but wouldn't even consider approaching the genre of horror. Others disagree. There are precious few movies that can legit scare me, yet I still love the genre. I think the last one I can remember was Gerald's Game, which isn't an amazing movie, but was still effective and freaking me out.

[Sughs]

Really well done. Hope there's a season 3.

[jimboa24]

Really well done. Hope there's a season 3.

I liked it alright, but in terms of horror it was definitely a step down from Hill House. I've heard Bly Manor described as an old fashioned-style, Victorian gothic romance with horror elements, and that's pretty much the most accurate way to describe it. It's more of a supernatural mystery. Hell, the show, towards the end even admits that it was more of a love story than a ghost story.

Again, there's not necessarily anything wrong with that - I can appreciate a gothic romance story because they frankly just don't make those anymore. But it lacks the "bite" of Hill House. With Hill House, there was far more menace, dread and horror; one of the fun things about it was looking in the background to see if there were any ghosts or signs of ghosts lurking somewhere on frame and there almost always was. By comparison, Bly Manor felt very...empty. Bly Manor had more heart to it perhaps, and I think the characters were more interesting, and most of their fates were quite depressing.

I just wish that it scratched that horror ghost story itch that Hill House did.