Ever wonder what happened to horror director Eli Roth? His last feature length film was Hostel: Part II which was welcomed with less than great reviews and ever since then Roth has been pretty quiet. The last time he was behind the camera he directed the film within a film “Nation’s Pride” in Quentin Tarantino’s Inglorious Basterds so it’s been quite some time since we have seen any work from Roth. That will soon change though because Roth has been attached to direct Hemlock Grove, a television series for Netflix that members will be able to watch instantly, beginning early 2013.

The television series is based on Brian McGreevy’s upcoming novel, Hemlock Grove, which centers around the body of a young girl that is found mangled and murdered in the woods of Hemlock Grove, Pennsylvania, deep within the shadows of an abandoned Godfrey Steel Mill. Upon discovering the body a manhunt ensues even though the authorities aren’t totally convinced it is a man that they should be looking for.

Because of his films like Cabin Fever and Hostel, Roth’s fan base is pretty limited since there isn’t a whole lot of people who are jumping in line to buy a ticket for a movie with torture, gore, and boobs as the main focus but I think Roth has something to prove with Hemlock Grove. This television series is far from his other work and I think it’s going to surprise a lot of people and hopefully his name will attract people rather than scare them away.

Roth has stated that he has been waiting years to get into television and also says,

“What’s most exciting to me is creating the series for Netflix, which as a feature filmmaker is like telling a story in a new medium.  Netflix as a platform is the perfect hybrid of cinema, television, and social networking, with the creative freedom to go as dark as the story needs.”

That last bit is what drags me in because he is totally right, Netflix has way less restrictions than many other companies which will allow Roth to make this series really his own. His films may not be the most popular but Roth is truly a fan of the horror genre and I have no doubt he will bring something special to this project.

This is Eli Roth’s first foray into television as a director and is set to have a 13 episode first season.

As always, thanks for reading.