By Patrick Smith
10 Apr 2013
Eli Roth, who directed Hostel, says his new 13-part online-only series Hemlock Grove allows him to do endless horrible things to people.
Eli Roth, the director of Cabin Fever and Hostel, hopes his new internet-only horror mystery, Hemlock Grove, will "f--- up an entire generation".
The 13-part series, based on Brian McGreevy's titular novel, will debut on Netflix in its entirety on 19 April and, judging by the two trailers released so far, is likely to be one of the most bloodthirsty shows seen this year.
One sequence, clearly a homage to the Rob Bottin-designed werewolf transformation scene in the 1981 horror film The Howling, shows a man mutating in eyeball-popping, sanguinary detail.
"That howling visceral transformation... For this, we wanted something that would be beautiful and horrific, but which would f--- up an entire generation," said Roth, speaking at the MipTV conference to promote the show as reported in the Guardian.
However, Roth – who directs the first episode and is an executive producer on the series – said that Hemlock Grove's content is in sync with wider trends on cable TV networks and in cinemas.
"You can see that people want their horror horrific. With The Walking Dead getting 12.5 million viewers, Evil Dead just opened at number one in the box office … People want stories like this," he said.
"They want their violence in Game of Thrones. What you're seeing is a real shift ... You wanna see the sex and you wanna see the killing and the violence. You want the murder to be scary and horrible!"
Written by Brian McGreevey and Lee Shipman, Hemlock Grove is the second Netflix-original series, following House of Cards, and its star Famke Janssen has praised the decision to make every episode available on the premiere date.
"The wonderful thing about how this is being put on by Netflix is that it's up to the viewer's discretion how and when they want to watch it," said Janssen. "It gives you a flow that you miss in the traditional way of watching television on a weekly basis."
Janssen plays Olivia Godfrey, the 150-year-old non-ageing matriarch of a small Pennsylvannia steel town where a 17-year-old girl is murdered in particularly grisly fashion. The story follows the ensuing investigation into her death and is seething with supernatural evil and sexual intrigue. Bill Skarsgård, Lili Taylor, Dougray Scott and Penelope Mitchell also star.
Netlfix hasn't yet commissioned a second series, but Roth is already thinking about how to unlock more of the show's mysteries.
"I can think of endless horrible things to do to people!" he said, before adding that he was conscious of building the “mythology” of the show for more seasons.
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvan ... ation.html