Hemlock Grove - Season One

A mysterious town and the even odder inhabitants of it make up the basis for the 13-episode "Hemlock Grove: Season One." The Netflix exclusive series finally bows on Blu-ray for its freshman season, along with seven bonus features on disc 3. It will satisfy both fans of the show and those newbies without Netflix streaming.

Like the recent show "Penny Dreadful," the creators of "Hemlock Grove" have taken the classic monsters of yore (vampires, werewolves, Frankenstein) and revamped them for a modern audience. In the Blu-ray exclusive feature "The Rust Beneath the Surface," it's discussed that the show is "Twin Peaks" meets "Dark Shadows." Because of its teenage angst, I'd throw in "Twilight" to the mix too. It takes a little while to get going until around episode 3 where "Hemlock Grove" starts to take off.

Horror master Eli Roth serves as Executive Producer and directs the pilot episode. He does a funny yet insightful commentary on "Jellyfish in the Sky," which sets up the premise of a murdered high school student and the hunt for her killer. Roth also appears in all other special features on the Blu-ray.

"Dysfunctional in Every Way" looks at how the families of "Hemlock Grove" get along with each other. Eli Roth talks about his love of fairytales and how violent they actually are in "Fairytales for Adults" and "The Monster Within." The no-holds barred murder sequences get examined in "Anatomy of a Kill" and my favorite feature, "It Hurts So Good," shows how the werewolf transformation takes place in episode 2.

"Hemlock Grove: Season One"
Blu-ray
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