(NSFW - Red Band Hemlock Grove Trailer)
Unfortunately, Hemlock Grove doesn't deliver, and for some really weird and seemingly "no-brainer" reasons. Specifically, the writing, directing, and acting. "Wait a minute," you're thinking, "that's pretty much everything that makes up a movie or TV show!". You're right, which makes it so hard to watch.
Lets start with the acting. You think with folks like Famke Janssen, Dougray Scott, and well those are about the only folks I knew from the show, the acting would at least be decent. This might be a directing or editing fluke, but all of the dialogue seems rushed. The worst offender is Bill Skarsgard. This is Alexander Skarsgard's brother. Alexander is best known as Erik Northman in True Blood. I know they are both from Sweden, and English is not their first language, but Bill is truly painful to watch in the show. Ever seen he had I found myself cringing, wishing for it to be over. The rest of the actors, probably more seasoned seem to be phoning it in. Famke Janssen's main goal in each scene is to look seductive. That's it. For someone who's been around for a while, you'd expect her to do a bit of acting. Nope. The best acting comes from folks that are (spoilers) about to die. And even that doesn't happen horribly often.
The directing choices are equally odd. The cuts to scenic views of the town feel like they are just there to stretch the clock out. Flashing back to previous conversation to help the viewer remember all of the horrid dialogue from before is also an often used tactic. All that does is make me feel stupid. If you need to keep reminding me of what happened earlier in the show, fix your writing.
Speaking of writing, it's very lazy. Characters are written just to exist. One of the sub-plots is Famke Janssen's character Olivia having a drug problem. The drug is one that you use a eyedropper for and administer it in to your eyes. Why is this important? It isn't. And it's never explained throughout the show. You just see her taking it, and then getting a euphoric look on her face. That's it. It's a shame too, because it's almost like there are way too many writers, writing too many parts and plots, and it doesn't come together at all. Some writing shows signs of brilliance, but it's surrounded by disjointed, clumsy plot points. I think the show is a casualty of "writing by committee", which sounds great, because you get a lot of input, but without anyone really overseeing how everything ties together, it makes the show fairly hard to follow.
What is the plot? Well in the town of Hemlock Grove, a pair of gypsies move in. They are immediately despised by everyone, including the Godfrey's, who are the town's rich folks and own a scientific lab (Godfrey Institute) on the outskirts of town. There's a murder most foul, and a rumor spreads that it was done by one of the gypsies, Peter Rumancek, and that he was a werewolf. He befriends one of the Godrey's, Roman, and they make a weird pact based on a dream both of them had to find the werewolf and kill him. Shelley, Roman's sister, is a "Frankenstein's Monster" type character, who can't talk, but has a weird relationship with her uncle, Gordon, who is sleeping with her mother, Olivia. None of this really matters though and serves as plot filler. The town and murders are investigated by some weird church organization who want to stop the killings and destroy werewolves, and the Godfrey Institute is doing weird experiments on people, about something called Ouroboros. Does that play in to the core story? You guessed it! Nope. Are they setting themselves up for season 2? Yup. Is that a good writing choice? Nope.
The season revolves around Peter and Roman teaming up to find and capture the killer werewolf. That's the plot in a nutshell. I wish it was that simple in the show. It would have been a lot more entertaining. Instead it's a convoluted mess. Sad day for me.
If I were to give it a rating I'd say 2/5? It shows flashes of brilliance, but the acting, writing, and directing choices make it a chore to watch. If there's a season 2 I'll give it a chance to see if they've learned anything, but if the producers remain the same, I fear the show is doomed to fail.
Lets start with the acting. You think with folks like Famke Janssen, Dougray Scott, and well those are about the only folks I knew from the show, the acting would at least be decent. This might be a directing or editing fluke, but all of the dialogue seems rushed. The worst offender is Bill Skarsgard. This is Alexander Skarsgard's brother. Alexander is best known as Erik Northman in True Blood. I know they are both from Sweden, and English is not their first language, but Bill is truly painful to watch in the show. Ever seen he had I found myself cringing, wishing for it to be over. The rest of the actors, probably more seasoned seem to be phoning it in. Famke Janssen's main goal in each scene is to look seductive. That's it. For someone who's been around for a while, you'd expect her to do a bit of acting. Nope. The best acting comes from folks that are (spoilers) about to die. And even that doesn't happen horribly often.
The directing choices are equally odd. The cuts to scenic views of the town feel like they are just there to stretch the clock out. Flashing back to previous conversation to help the viewer remember all of the horrid dialogue from before is also an often used tactic. All that does is make me feel stupid. If you need to keep reminding me of what happened earlier in the show, fix your writing.
Speaking of writing, it's very lazy. Characters are written just to exist. One of the sub-plots is Famke Janssen's character Olivia having a drug problem. The drug is one that you use a eyedropper for and administer it in to your eyes. Why is this important? It isn't. And it's never explained throughout the show. You just see her taking it, and then getting a euphoric look on her face. That's it. It's a shame too, because it's almost like there are way too many writers, writing too many parts and plots, and it doesn't come together at all. Some writing shows signs of brilliance, but it's surrounded by disjointed, clumsy plot points. I think the show is a casualty of "writing by committee", which sounds great, because you get a lot of input, but without anyone really overseeing how everything ties together, it makes the show fairly hard to follow.
What is the plot? Well in the town of Hemlock Grove, a pair of gypsies move in. They are immediately despised by everyone, including the Godfrey's, who are the town's rich folks and own a scientific lab (Godfrey Institute) on the outskirts of town. There's a murder most foul, and a rumor spreads that it was done by one of the gypsies, Peter Rumancek, and that he was a werewolf. He befriends one of the Godrey's, Roman, and they make a weird pact based on a dream both of them had to find the werewolf and kill him. Shelley, Roman's sister, is a "Frankenstein's Monster" type character, who can't talk, but has a weird relationship with her uncle, Gordon, who is sleeping with her mother, Olivia. None of this really matters though and serves as plot filler. The town and murders are investigated by some weird church organization who want to stop the killings and destroy werewolves, and the Godfrey Institute is doing weird experiments on people, about something called Ouroboros. Does that play in to the core story? You guessed it! Nope. Are they setting themselves up for season 2? Yup. Is that a good writing choice? Nope.
The season revolves around Peter and Roman teaming up to find and capture the killer werewolf. That's the plot in a nutshell. I wish it was that simple in the show. It would have been a lot more entertaining. Instead it's a convoluted mess. Sad day for me.
If I were to give it a rating I'd say 2/5? It shows flashes of brilliance, but the acting, writing, and directing choices make it a chore to watch. If there's a season 2 I'll give it a chance to see if they've learned anything, but if the producers remain the same, I fear the show is doomed to fail.
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