TV review: No scares in The Haunting Of Bly Manor, but there is a frightfully bad accent

Horror films these days rely on too many jump scares. Lots of slowly creeping through a quiet house before… BANG! A big smelly face jumps out of a book, or something equally daft.

It may feel like you’ve been given a fright – which is what horror films are for – but when you think about it this is equivalent to someone hiding behind a door before jumping out and shouting: “Boo!” Effective, but ultimately puerile.

Good horror fiction often works by instilling that sense of proper existential discomfort that comes with genuine dread before really frightening you.

Netflix seemed to understand this in 2018 with The Haunting Of Hill House, a slow-burning gothic series centred on one family. The follow-up – of sorts – is called The Haunting Of Bly Manor and sees the same cast playing different characters and it’s not the only change.

The writers seemed to think the first series’ slow-burn was quite slow enough. Now, after a bunch of episodes, there simply aren’t any at all.

A bold manoeuvre, if not quite a welcome one.

Everything else is in place here, from the cast to production values, apart from the scares.

In fact the only terrifying thing here is Londoner Oliver Jackson-Cohen’s attempt at a Scottish accent. It didn’t quite inspire dread – although it is definitely dreadful…

Love Life, BBC iPlayer

© BBC/Lions Gate Television Inc

After railing against Emily In Paris last week I was accused by a friend of not liking romantic comedies – which is mostly true.

In an attempt to broaden my horizons I watched Love Life last week and ended up binging five episodes in a row.

There’s nothing deep or groundbreaking about the series, but it does everything – especially the comedy – more than competently and I’m frankly buzzing to watch the remaining five episodes.

This might have something to do with Pitch Perfect’s Anna Kendrick, who stars. Is there anyone more delightful on any screen, anywhere?