The Haunting of Bly Manor - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

The Haunting of Bly Manor



Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:

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Movie
Better late than never they say. 2 years after the incredible The Haunting of Hill House we get ANOTHER year of Mike Flanagan’s “haunting” anthology series with a follow up season with another house, another family, and more drama and hauntings. The show got it’s debut on Netflix last year, and Paramount finally dropped the Blu-ray release THIS October (although we got it a bit after release date to review due to the supply chain issues that have been haunting the studios this last year).

Those of you familiar with horror tropes will recognize the setup and execution of many of the plot points in the show, but Mike Flanagan’s attention to detail and dramatic tension between characters instead of jump scares keeps the audience guessing till the very end. This new home and new haunting revolves around American teacher Dani Clayton (Victoria Pedretti) who has fallen in love with jolly old England and wishes to stay on that side of the pond. She applies for the position of an au pair (an adult version of a foreign exchange) to a pair of British school children living ant Bly Manor, an aging old estate out in the country.

As you would guess, there’s more to Mike Flanagan’s haunting stories than an innocent school teacher looking to make a life for herself elsewhere. The two children Flora (Amliea Bea Smith) and Miles (Ben Evan Ainsworth) are a bit “different”. At first she settles into a new life fairly amicably, but soon it becomes very obvious that something is very “wrong” at Bly Manor and her own subversive desire to be there boils to the surface.

It wouldn’t be a Haunting show if there wasn’t more to the story than just some supernatural elements. There’s a TON of interpersonal dramatic issues as well. Childhood trauma, romance, twisted secrets behind the romance, and of course creepy supernatural elements that make the story a true Haunting film. One of the biggest boons to the show is just how much space and breathing room it has to flex the narrative. Instead of a quick setup and “boom!” we get horror! Is the 9 nearly hour long episodes that allow the series to breathe and unravel naturally. Horror is usually relegated to 90 minute intervals to keep the jump scares or gore interesting, but having a full 9 episodes allows a much more intimate look at the characters before the scares start truly kicking in. While shows like American Horror Story usually have a lock on the horror market, it does show with barely connected episodes, while The Haunting of Bly Manor creates a more serialized slow burn horror story.

Even though there is a lot of familiar horror tropes within, Mike Flanagan’s passion for the show keeps it fresh and exciting throughout. I’m usually very critical of horror shows (I actually despise American Horror Story), but this anthology show really has proved to stand head and shoulders over more horror TV by a fairly large margin. Good writing by Flanagan, great acting, and the perfect length to keep things interesting, but not over stay it’s welcome.




Rating:

Rated TV-MA by the MPAA




Video:

The 2.00:1 AVC framed Blu-ray looks VERY similar to The Haunting of Hill House Blu-ray, and by that I mean that it is HEAVILY stylized and fantastic to look at. The daylight sequences and brightly lit shots have a thick and dreamy haze to them, with over saturated white levels that result in a dreamy and overblasted look. Fine details are still fantastic, but the show reminds me of walking through a thick and heavily textured dream, with lights that look almost creamy and honey dipped, and some of the backgrounds can look a TEENSY bit soft. Night time shots and interiors have a heavy blue and brown tinge to them, so much so that it almost reminds me of a less gray version of the Underworld series. The gray fog just rolls and permeates many of the tnight time shots, and the blacks still remain inky black. I DID notice some banding near the beginning of episodes and in some of the dimmest scenes, but they're not that heavy and annoying compared to many Blu-rays. the show is not meant to really "pop" or "sparkle" by any stretch of the imagination, but there are enough bright splashes of color to keep things interesting, especially in green foliage, or articles of clothing.





Audio:

The 5.1 Dolby TrueHD track that paramount is using is just as stellar as last seasons' mix, using an extremely atmospheric mixing with incredible use of surrounds and low end to accent the somber score. The deep thuds and booms aren't AS common as most horror tracks, but the incredible sense of immersion from the mix is not to be taken lightly though. Every voice, every creaking stair, every whisper in the back of your ear comes out precise and clean, with amazing dexterity and a penchant for shifting around the sound stage quite a bit depending on the scenes. The score is still very haunting and melodic, with a rich textured feel that really brings out the creepier moments to the surface.







Extras:

Disc One:
• Audio Commentary for "the Great Good Place" with Mike Flannigan

Disc Two:
• Audio Commentary for "The Alter of the Dead with Director Liam Gavin

Disc Three:
• Audio Commentary for "The Romance of Certain Old Clothes with Director Liam Axelle Carolyn
• Home for the Haunted: The Ghosts of Bly Manor
• Welcome to Bly Manor

Final Score: ​

The second season (if it can be called that) to the Haunting anthology show is quite the followup to 2018’s Netlfix hit. I fell in love with the show back in 2019 when I reviewed the Blu-ray for The Haunting of Hill House, and was STOKED for the second season. Sadly the pandemic distracted me enough that I actually forgot that the second entry to the series came out last year until I saw the press release for this a few months back. Luckily it’s almost on par with the original and makes me excited that Flanagan can keep things fresh for a 3rd house to haunt soon. The Blu-ray looks and sounds fantastic, and the show is a definite watch whether you test it out on Netflix or see it here in Blu-ray.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Victoria Pedretti, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Amelia Eve, T'Nia Miller, Rahul Kohli, Amelie Bea Smith
Created by: Mike Flanagan
Written by: Mike Flanagan, Henry James
Aspect Ratio: 2.00:1 AVC
Audio: English: Dolby TrueHD 5.1, English DVS
Subtitles: English SDH,
Studio: Paramount
Rated: TV-MA
Runtime: 484 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: Oct 12th, 2021

Recommendation: Great Watch

 

[Asere]

Thanks for the review. The first one was scarier but this one had a great story behind it. A great watch indeed. Have you seen Midnight Mass?

 

[Michael Scott]

Thanks for the review. The first one was scarier but this one had a great story behind it. A great watch indeed. Have you seen Midnight Mass?

No, I haven't gotten a chance yet

 

[typ44q]

I thoroughly enjoyed Bly Manor and the previous Hill House.
A 4K UHD release with dolby vision would of been nice.