Hemlock Grove on Netflix

Gonna start watching it tonight. Anyone seen it yet?
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  • SteelEdgeSteelEdge Posts: 6,903
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    Gonna give it a look after I've finished Season 4 of Breaking Bad. Looks quite good from the trailers.
  • DemonicrodentDemonicrodent Posts: 520
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    I found the first episode dull , depressing and badly directed. Will give it a chance though. None of the characters were likeable. Disappointed :(
  • tamibecketttamibeckett Posts: 5,261
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    None of the characters were likeable.

    It certainly doesn't hurt HBO :D
  • wakeywakey Posts: 3,073
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    First epsiode had some good points but seemed to move way too slowly. And Famke Janssens accent is annoying as it seems to wander all over the shop.

    Also felt they bombarded you with too much information without really establishing anything to move the story forward. It was as if the writers/director were a friend who has just watched something but not really understood anything they watched and then try and recount it to you

    I will give it some more episodes to see if it picks up but after House of Cards its disappointing
  • ftakeithftakeith Posts: 3,476
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    New Netflix tv series Hemlock Grove, is absolutely dreadful. The Eli Roth-directed drama is an almost unwatchable muddle of horror tropes and painfully creaky dialogue. The show is set in an eerie Pennsylvania town that is equal parts Twin Peaks; Twilight’sForks, Washington; and Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s Sunnydale. The brutal murder of a high school student puts the entire town on edge, particularly since it appears that she was ripped apart by a wild animal while en route to a lesbian encounter with her teacher. Two suspects in her killing quickly emerge: Peter Rumancek (Terra Nova’s Landon Liboiron), a Gypsy whom the local kids believe to be a werewolf because of his “quite excessive body hair,” and cherub-faced teenage playboy Roman Godfrey (Bill Skarsgård), who isn’t a werewolf but is ... something else.
    I’ll be honest: Peter is a werewolf, though he doesn’t really appear to have too much excessive body hair, so the fact that the local kids make this deductive leap is surprising. Roman’s family seems to own most of the town, and the dour scion appears to exhibit some preternatural abilities of his own, but it’s not clear what exactly he is (a vampire?), other than that he has a fascination with blood, particularly during sex, and has some sort of hypnotic or suggestive abilities. Together, the unlikely pair set out to catch whatever it is that is viciously disemboweling women in the town.

    Roman’s mother, Olivia, played by Famke Janssen as though she is channeling Madeleine Stowe’s Victoria Grayson through a hazy, upside-down kaleidoscope, is some sort of supernatural creature as well, her darkness symbolized by her haughty indifference, cut-glass English accent, and penchant for wearing black lingerie. Roman’s disfigured sister, Shelley (Nicole Boivin), is about seven feet tall, with half of her face, with its unblinking and enormous black pupil and boil-like complexion, hidden behind a wall of dark hair. Did I mention that Shelley speaks through an electronic device and wears large gauzy mittens? And that her father believed her to be some sort of demon spawn—and killed himself? Elsewhere, Roman’s cousin Letha (Penelope Mitchell) believes she was impregnated by an angel.

    These are but a few of the plotlines covered in the first few episodes, which set up some sort of apocalyptic event that will unfold over the course of the series. Good versus evil, light versus dark, a snake eats its own tail, ad infinitum. The Godfrey clan owns some sort of advanced medical-research company, and every time a scene is set within the research complex—which looks like a cross between a bank and a Manhattan luxury-hotel skyscraper—the momentum goes from merely plodding to deathly tedious. Local teens indulge in sex and drugs, tripping over dialogue that no person outside of a badly scripted horror movie would ever utter. The bodies—and gore—pile up.

    I applaud Netflix for wanting to get into the genre programming business, particularly as the broadcast networks haven’t had much luck in that department lately; devotees of science-fiction television know that cable is where it’s at, and the insane success of AMC’s The Walking Dead and FX’s American Horror Story has proven that there is a healthy appetite for stories and plots that aren’t about doctors, lawyers, or cops. But Hemlock Grove does not feel like a step in the right direction.

    Additionally, for a series that reportedly cost $45 million to produce, Hemlock Grovefeels awfully cheap, particularly once you get past the quick-cut ricochets between candy-colored sunshine and the hostile gloom of the nighttime scenes. Still, a special-effect-laden sequence in the second episode, in which Peter transforms into a werewolf in front of Roman and his mother (Lili Taylor), is nicely done and surprisingly gruesome with its approach to how his inner wolf emerges from his body. (The wolf itself, however, is less Wolfman and more man’s best friend.)

    However, what all of that money has gone to—clearly not dialogue coaches, as the accents exhibited by the cast are all over the place, or script doctors—is unclear from the first few episodes I watched. Despite the aforementioned special effects, there’s a distinct flimsiness to the production (that continual close-up of a wolf’s eye is cringe inducing) and a sense that the world it is depicting is less than grounded in anything resembling reality. (Even without looking, one can tell that this was shot in Toronto.)

    But production values are a minor quibble when looking at a show as nonsensical and inane as this one. The wooden quality of several of the actors (Janssen, most egregiously) and the strident shrillness of much of the writing allows this already plodding production to wander into the territory of the laughably bad. Horror aficionados may lap this up, but for me, Hemlock Grove is about as appealing as curdled milk.
  • BrolacBrolac Posts: 496
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    wakey wrote: »
    First epsiode had some good points but seemed to move way too slowly. And Famke Janssens accent is annoying as it seems to wander all over the shop.

    Also felt they bombarded you with too much information without really establishing anything to move the story forward. It was as if the writers/director were a friend who has just watched something but not really understood anything they watched and then try and recount it to you

    I will give it some more episodes to see if it picks up but after House of Cards its disappointing

    Mostly agree here though It might improve once you get into it.
    ftakeith wrote: »
    New Netflix tv series Hemlock Grove, is absolutely dreadful. The Eli Roth-directed drama is an almost unwatchable muddle of horror tropes and painfully creaky dialogue. The show is set in an eerie Pennsylvania town that is equal parts Twin Peaks; Twilight’sForks,

    That was a well written article wasn't it!

    http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/04/19/hemlock-grove-netflix-s-latest-original-show-is-scary-bad.html
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 7,029
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    This is one of those that I know to be bad, to be full of clumsy dialogue, poor scripts and ridiculously bad acting, and yet I'm still watching. Why? I don't even know. Maybe because the main story is somewhat interesting but probably just because it's so bad it's good.

    I watch Falling Skies for the exact same reason; it's terrible, and I'm fully aware of that, but there's still something that keeps me watching, as indiscernible as it may be.

    Rest be assured, however, that this is no House of Cards.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 7,305
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    I just watched the first episode and thought it was "okay", the acting and dialogue is pretty poor from all involved though, particularly Famke Janssen who's accent is utterly atrocious. The direction leaves a lot to be desired too, the ham fisted way that they superimposed the shots of jellyfish over the lanterns was especially jarring and needless, it felt like Eli Roth was stood behind me shouting "DO YOU SEE WHAT THE EPISODE TITLE MEANS!!?!"...I've never been a fan of Roth's directing (even as a huge horror fan, i still thought Cabin Fever and the two Hostel movies were awful), so hopefully since he only directed the pilot the overall direction will improve as the series progresses. I'll watch the rest because despite my complaints i did still find it strangely watchable, but this is nowhere near the quality of House of Cards, or for a more direct genre comparison it's nowhere near American Horror Story or The Walking Dead.
  • Margo ChanningMargo Channing Posts: 5,240
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    Is famke supposed to be British in this?
  • BrolacBrolac Posts: 496
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    Is famke supposed to be British in this?

    I think the accent thing is deliberate for her character as you'll see as the story unfolds, if you can stick with it.This sure was a chore in the earlier episodes.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 24
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    Oh dear I'm confused with this. 5 more episodes to watch - it hasnt gripped me like House of Cards. I'm not even in a hurry to finish it - I find it a bit boring
  • LyricalisLyricalis Posts: 57,958
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    I found it got better as it went along. I'll be looking out for a second series.
  • ParthenonParthenon Posts: 7,499
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    Netflix have slipped up with this one. House of Cards was excellent, but after 5 episodes of Hemlock Grove I've given up. I don't care about any of the characters, and the acting is weak from all concerned. Why not just cast a British actor to play a British person instead of casting Famke Janssen with her awful British accent? I even began watching with low expectations as I've enjoyed none of Eli Roth's work to date.
  • 007Fusion007Fusion Posts: 3,657
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    I laboured through the first two episodes and i decided i couldn't take anymore. Its just not for me.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 7,305
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    007Fusion wrote: »
    I laboured through the first two episodes and i decided i couldn't take anymore. Its just not for me.

    Same here, i watched the first two episodes and didn't feel any compulsion to watch anymore of it. The acting is atrocious and the story moves at a snails pace, i'm not averse to slow moving plots, but they at least have to be interesting.
  • LyricalisLyricalis Posts: 57,958
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    Parthenon wrote: »
    Netflix have slipped up with this one. House of Cards was excellent, but after 5 episodes of Hemlock Grove I've given up. I don't care about any of the characters, and the acting is weak from all concerned. Why not just cast a British actor to play a British person instead of casting Famke Janssen with her awful British accent? I even began watching with low expectations as I've enjoyed none of Eli Roth's work to date.

    Was she supposed to be British?
    I thought, given what we discover about her during the last episode (being a vampire), that she was likely to be from Romania, or whatever the region would have been called back then. Plus, being that old would probably mean you'd either have a right mix of accents, or one so old that you'd be the only one still using it!
  • mr mugglesmr muggles Posts: 4,601
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    Watched the whole series back to back over the past couple of days. Really enjoyed it, though the first two episodes felt hit and miss,but, glad I stuck with it.

    Even from the start, I loved Famke's eurotrash accent! It was a knowingly camp performance, as was the Asian scientist guy, and to a lesser extent, Dougray scott too.

    The weirdest relationship was the super-homoerotic bro-mance between the two young male leads Roman & Peter, talk about unconsummated passion... Peters love interest Letha is plain dull beside these two.

    Favourite character is probably Shelley, and I hope she is brought back if there is another series, theres definitely loads to explore.
    Really enjoyed Peters mother (the great Lili Taylor) & cousin Destiny.
    Gr8 wolf transformation, but don't go into it thinking its just that, theres a lot more going on in this series. Photography/art direction gr8 too.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 75
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    I'm on Ep04 and really enjoying it, not sure why it's getting such a bashing on here. I like that it's different, makes a change from all the cop and doctor shows : (
  • LMLM Posts: 63,320
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    I'll check this out when given another series

    I read somewhere that it gets streamed much more than what House of cards did
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 5,737
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    Eli Roth’s thriller/horror series Hemlock Grove has received a second-season renewal by Netflix.

    http://www.deadline.com/2013/06/hemlock-grove-renewed-second-season-netflix/
  • Gill PGill P Posts: 21,569
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    I watched about four episodes and then gave up. I found the characters so annoying. It was not a patch on Being Human (UK version). Never watched the US version as I don't like the bloke playing the vampire.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 3,942
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    Watched 2 episodes and I have absolutely no idea what is going on, I will try a couple more but close to giving up
  • JenzenJenzen Posts: 7,364
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    I finished Hemlock Grove last night. It was a really odd show, at times it was trying very hard to be like Twin Peaks but failing dismally. Pacing was bizarre, editing poor and accents all over the place!

    Yet I kept watching, and it did get better after episode 7... sort of. I am not sure exactly why I carried on watching it but its a show that has stayed in my mind even when not watching it, very few shows seem to have that affect on me lately. It has "Potential" I am glad I stuck it out as its been given a season 2. The music score was quite etheral and well put with the visuals. Cinematography was good and captured the gloomyness of the town very well. Overall it was disjointed but creepy, gothic and quite entrancing. I am contradicting myself I know but its that kind of show!
  • mr mugglesmr muggles Posts: 4,601
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    Should be announcing the second series in april, it's finished shooting and this time it's just x10 episodes.

    Personally, I can't wait. Watched it again recently, and loved it even more second time around. Just wish they'd release it on dvd/blu ray!
  • LMLM Posts: 63,320
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    Finally got round to checking this out
    It's very slow, but it plants seeds that I am sure will pay off by the end of the season
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