The Haunting Of Bly Manor is finally here and is receiving praise as expected. While the series is genuinely good, people still think that The Haunting Of Hill House triumphs over it’s Spiritual successor. The Haunting Of Hill House came in 2018 and it took the world by surprise, with the series focusing more on the storyline rather than cheap jump scares, building the momentum throughout it’s runtime and giving us the perfect climax, Hill House set a benchmark for the horror shows to follow.
Bly Manor, is adapted from 1898 novel – The Turn of The Screw by Henry James. The show too had an engaging storyline but at the end it became more of an emotional quotient rather than being a horror one. People have been debating regarding which one is better, so let’s get on with it!
1. House:
Well, it wouldn’t be a comparison if we don’t let the great mansion face off with each other.
Hill House:
As we all know that Hill house played a major role in in the first part which is The Haunting of the hill house. Due to the eerieness of the house, and with ghosts lurking out in the open, one could easily get frightened by it. In the end we know that, every house has eyes, ears, heart, stomach and Red Room was the stomach for Hill House which slowly digested all it’s inhabitants.
Bly Manor:
Although spooky, but Bly Manor didn’t had a demonic instinct to it. Bly Manor was a perfect house to live in, as it didn’t had ( or at least it wasn’t shown) a mind of it’s own, like Hill House.
2. Storyline:
Hill House:
The Haunting of Hill House begins with a couple with their 5 kids arrive at Hill House with the desire to renovate it and sell it at a higher price. But they eventually gets succumbed into the horrors by the house. It had several moments which gave us real shock and moments scary enough to send chills down our spine. I personally think the storyline of Nell was the highlight of the show, as it comes to a full circle. Ample amount of screen time is given to each character and their back stories have also been shown beautifully.
Bly Manor:
Mike Flanagan, adapts the same method of story telling in Bly Manor as it starts off slowly and gives each character it’s own space. Here it is the story of Hannah Grose which gives a competition to Nell. With her finding out about what actually has happened with her and the realization that she’s been dead the whole time hits differently. Bly Manor peaks in different episodes as it doesn’t have a consistent pace. With 5th episode, it showed the story of Hannah and then we learn about what actually happened in the house which gave rise to other ghosts in episode 8. Something which wasn’t shown in Hill House about it’s previous residents. It’s all connected!
3. Cinematography
Hill House:
Well, Hill House has major edge in this one. With several moments of camera brilliance especially in 6th episode titled Two Storms with the whole one take shot! The face off with ghosts and continuous time jumping by Nell, Hill House truly deserves all the appreciation.
Bly Manor:
Bly Manor too has a pleasant cinematography with Hannah storyline being the major highlight of it once again. But again Bly Manor peaks in little moments and is not consistent as Hill House.
4. Horror Quotient
Hill House:
The Haunting of Hill House was a breath of fresh air in the horror genre, it relied more on building the story upto the jump scares which I think is few in the series. What scares the audience more is the slow building and the unwinding of the storyline. Plus all those ghosts lurking around in the background going unnoticed by the residents of the house but coming into the eye of the viewer makes things spooky for everyone without a doubt. With the house itself playing the major part in creating the scary moments with the Red Room and seeing how Nell’s life comes to a full close sends chills. Seeing how sinister a house can be and what it makes of it’s residents is equally horrific.
Bly Manor:
Bly Manor is a horror story, not with the ghosts but with human emotions. The series since it’s first episode relies heavily in showing the back stories of all the characters and how the decisions in their lives are coming back to haunt them. With Peter and Rebecca, due to her love for Peter, Rebecca sacrificed herself. With Viola it was her longing to be with her daughter that kept her alive as a revengeful spirit. With her sister Pederita it was the greed that took her life. With Dani it was her selflessness which turned into the Lady of the lake.
Conclusion:- Both the shows are outright perfect in their own way. Hill House manages to scare people with it’s ghosts while Bly Manor with it’s emotional storyline!
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