#Adapting The Turn of the Screw – /Film

What is it about Henry James’ 1898 horror novella The Turn of the Screw? The Gothic ghost story has been the subject of not one, but two adaptations in the past year, first with Floria Sigismondi’s horror film The Turning and now with the upcoming Netflix series The Haunting of Bly Manor, the follow-up season to Mike Flanagan‘s acclaimed horror anthology The Haunting of Hill House. But The Haunting of Bly Manor looks to be a more promising take on the classic ghost story, with its eerie atmosphere and returning Haunting cast members led by Victoria Pedretti. Watch the official The Haunting of Bly Manor trailer below.

The Haunting of Bly Manor

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tykS7QfTWMQ
“The people here…they’re born here…they die here,” the official trailer for Netflix’s highly anticipated The Haunting of Bly Manor ominously intones. And judging by the ghostly figures that appear throughout the trailer, they also stay here.

Here is Bly Manor, the named after the country house in The Turn of the Screw, but the setting of a looser adaptation of James’ horror novella. (Which may end up being the saving grace for Bly Manor, after The Turning was met with universally bad reviews.) The incredible novella, which already has an all-time classic adaptation with the 1961 psychological horror film The Innocents, follows a newly hired governess who becomes convinced that the house of her two young wards is haunted. In The Haunting of Bly Manor, Hill House breakout Pedretti plays governess Dani Clayton, who arrives to look after an orphaned brother and sister, and begins to have strange experiences at their house, including apparitions that grab at her and creepy dolls that move.

The trailer also hints at a storyline featuring newcomer T’Nia Miller, who fearfully realizes that she’s having someone else’s dreams. Several Hill House veterans return to star in Bly Manor, including Henry Thomas (Hugh), Oliver Jackson-Cohen (Luke), Kate Siegel (Theo) and Catherine Parker (Poppy), all of whom play entirely new roles. This is a horror anthology series, and creator Mike Flanagan confirms that there won’t be any nods to the critically acclaimed first season. “We tied up all of those [Hill House] threads exactly how they should be. I don’t really see a need to revisit those characters, even in cameos,” Flanagan said.

Also starring in Bly Manor are Rahul Kohli, Benjamin Evan Ainsworth, Amelie Smith and Amelia Eve.

The Haunting of Bly Manor arrives on Netflix on October 9, 2020.

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