Netflix series Hemlock Grove: 'People want their horror horrific,' says Eli Roth
Cabin Fever and Hostel director hopes his new 13-part online-only show will 'fuck up an entire generation' Eli Roth's appearance at the MipTV conference to promote his new 13-part TV series Hemlock Grove ended with a big-screen showing of its gory werewolf transformation scene.
Roth beamed throughout the scene, as eyeballs popped out and entrails were wolfed down. But he spent plenty of time smiling beforehand while talking about the show, whose 13 episodes will debut simultaneously on Netflix on 19 April.
As the auteur of the Cabin Fever and Hostel films, Roth is no stranger to horror. Hemlock Grove's roots go further back and furrier, though.
"For me, when I saw American Werewolf in London, there was nothing that freaked me out more than that," Roth told the MIPTV audience.
"That howling visceral transformation... For this, we wanted something that would be beautiful and horrific, but which would fuck up an entire generation."
Hemlock Grove is based on a book by Brian McGreevy, with Roth saying the manuscript that convinced him to take on the project reminded him of a "very dark, monstrous Twin Peaks", although he later joked that where that show focused on who killed Laura Palmer, "this is more what killed Laura Palmer!"
Judging by the two trailers released so far, Hemlock Grove is certainly gorier than anything you'd expect to see on traditional US television, but Roth said its content is in tune 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!"
The knowledge that fans will be able to binge-view Hemlock Grove when it debuts on Netflix influenced the production process, freeing Roth from requiring "the scare of the week or the monster of the week" in each episode.
Actress Famke Janssen, who stars in the show and appeared alongside Roth at MipTV, also praised the decision to make every episode available on the premiere date.
"The wonderful thing about how this has put on by Netflix is it's up to the viewer's discretion how and when they want to watch it," said Janssen, a fan of Netflix's previous original series House of Cards.
"It's really nice, and it gives you a flow that you miss in the traditional way of watching television on a weekly basis."
Roth sees a big market for the show globally, claiming that his fans "have been waiting for me to dive into something that would be week-to-week", and suggesting that there's a huge audience for horror that goes beyond national boundaries.
"The horror fans are there globally and the appetite is so strong for this type of material," he said.
"I don't just want this to be a hit on Netflix in America. I want the show to become a global phenomenon, because horror is one of the few areas where you can really appeal to a worldwide audience."
At this point, Netflix has only commissioned those first 13 episodes, but Roth is already thinking about a second season that will unlock more of the mysteries of Hemlock Grove, including its White Tower – a creepy focal point for the first season.
"I can think of endless horrible things to do to people! It's like the White Tower becomes my brain," he said, before promising that one mystery in particular from the werewolf transformation trailer may also be solved.
"In season two you're gonna figure out how the eyes grow back. I've already planned that."
• This story was amended on 10 April 2013 to replace Game of Thrones with House of Cards as Netflix's previous original series
