Today, Netflix released all 13 episodes of its new original horror series Hemlock Grove, based on the novel of the same name by Brian McGreevy and produced by Eli Roth.  After the critical success of the subscription platform’s House of Cards series, it’s easy to see why viewers would be excited for the next offering.  Hemlock Grove though is worlds away from House of Cards, and while many outlets have slammed the series as being practically unwatchable, I actually have to give it credit for a few things despite its larger flaws.  Put it in the category of “guilty pleasure.”  And, actually, it manages to have a little something for everyone, even those who aren’t horror genre fans.  Hit the jump for more.

Author/screenwriter Brian McGreevy grew up in Pittsburgh and attended school at the University of Texas. His book, Hemlock Grove, was first published in 2012 and was immediately snapped up for possible film development. By then, he already had a pair of screenplays in development. Hemlock Grove was eventually slated for television status: with a 13-episode season slated for release as part of Netflix’s development of original content. He currently acts as the show’s executive producer, as well as its principal screenwriter. He spoke to the press in a roundtable interview during the last few days of shooting on the set.  Hit the jump to see what he had to say.

Not many Americans are familiar Parkwood Estate, a Canadian National Historic Site about an hour’s drive east of Toronto. The sprawling mansion was home to Samuel McLaughlin, a business magnate who founded General Motors of Canada and built the home and gardens in the town of Oshawa. Today, it’s open to the public, though its interiors and garden remain much the same as they were when McLaughlin lived in it in the 1930s. It’s also the site of a number of famous film and television shoots, including the original X-Men, Billy Madison, Warehouse 13 and The Ref. On the day Collider visited, a much different series is wrapping up principal photography:  Netflix’s new original series Hemlock Grove. Hit the jump to read our full set visit report.

Hemlock Grove, based on Brian McGreevy’s novel of the same name, puts a spin on the current trend of werewolves and vampires, replacing love triangles with body parts and unconsummated longing with raunchy, bloody sex.  The story picks up in the small town of Hemlock Grove following a string of grisly murders when new boy in town, Peter Rumancek, gypsy trailer trash and rumored werewolf, comes under suspicion for the crime.  Peter finds an unlikely ally in Roman Godfrey, golden boy of the wealthy and influential Godfrey estate, Hemlock Grove’s resident wealthy philanthropists in the model of the Carnegies.  Together the pair attempts to solve the mystery of the murder before the killer can strike again.  From Producers Eli Roth, Lee Shipman, and Mark Verheiden, the show stars Famke Janssen, Dougray Scott, Lili Taylor, Bill Skarsgard, Landon Liboiron, Penelope Mitchell, Freya Tingley, Kandyse McClure, and Aaron Douglas, and premieres April 19^th on Netflix.

Shortly before the WonderCon panel producers Mark Verheiden, Brian McGreevy, and Lee Shipman sat down for a roundtable interview.  We talked about the creative freedom of working on Netflix, how close the show sticks to the book, translating the story from page to screen, the mythology of the story, Peter and Roman’s relationship, Hemlock Grove’s roots in Pittsburgh and more.  Check out the full interview after the jump.  Please be aware that this interview has light spoilers for the first three episodes.

With Netflix taking on original programming through their streaming service for the anticipated return of Arrested Development and a new series from David Fincher and Kevin Spacey called House of Cards, the DVD mailing and online streaming outlet is really making a stride to compete with cable television providers. Their most recent effort comes in the form of a horror series as Deadline reports Netflix is currently negotiating with Gaumont International Television for a 13-episode horror series called Hemlock Grove backed by Hostel mastermind Eli Roth. The series is based on an upcoming horror novel of the same name by Brian McGreevy the series is said to be set against the backdrop of our darkest myths, adolescent deceptions, ravenous relationships and rumors of a werewolf lurking about and aims to reimagine everything it means to be a monster as reflected in the struggle to be human. More after the jump.

Director Alex Proyas (The Crow) has signed on to produce an independent assassin project entitled Future Perfect. Proyas will oversee the project for director Shane Abbess (Gabriel) according to 24 Frames which cites the film as being in a similar vein as Joe Wright’s Hanna. Future Perfect was written by Brian McGreevy and Lee Shipman, the same scribes behind the Zorro reboot, Zorro Reborn. While additional plot details on the project are sparse, the report claims that the script involves two eugenically created assassins, one an older man and the other a young girl, who are on the run from an unspecified pursuer (the same top-secret government agency that funded their creation, perhaps?).

In addition to Future Perfect, Proyas also has an adaptation of Milton’s Paradise Lost and Dracula: Year Zero currently hanging out in development. There is no word on how Perfect‘s Australian-based production will affect Proyas’ work on each of those projects, a notion that may be worthy of concern given his “godfather” role on this latest project. As for Abbess, although 2007′s Gabriel is his only directorial effort to date, at one point the filmmaker was attached to helm Duncan Jones’ Source Code (for which he received a “Thanks” credit in the film).

A large part of Zorro’s charm is his old-fashioned adventuring ways.  He’s a pulp hero who’s instantly recognizable for his mask, cape, and swordsmanship.  20th Century Fox would like to strip all that crap away and send him to the a post-apocalyptic wasteland.  24 Frames reports that the studio is in early development on Zorro Reborn.  This time around, Zorro “will be less a caped crusader for justice than a one-man vigilante force bent on revenge, in a western story that has echoes of both Sergio Leone and No Country for Old Men.” Good, because I haven’t seen a movie before where a one-man vigilante force roams the post-apocalyptic wasteland before.  Wait—sorry, I have actually seen that—many times.  But in all fairness, the vigilante wasn’t named Zorro.

Lee Shipman and Brian McGreevy, the screenwriters behind the Dracula re-imagining Harker wrote the script and pre-visualization specialist Rpin Suwannath (The Matrix) will make his directing debut on the flick. (For those who don’t know, pre-viz  is way of creating motion storyboards that can better illustrated the flow of a scene) Hit the jump for more of my thoughts on Zorro Reborn.

It appears Badass Digest‘s heads-up that director Jaume Collet-Serra (Orphan) is attached to a reinterpretation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula was right on the money.  That reinterpretation, as it were, is titled Harker and has been picked up by Warner Bros. who will develop the project alongside both Leonardo DiCaprio’s Appian Way label and Mad Hatter Entertainment.  Harker is penned by the writing team of Lee Shipman and Brian McGreevy (New Regency’s upcoming King Arthur film Pendragon) and will purportedly follow Scotland Yard detective Jonathan Harker in his pursuit of Dracula.

In addition to Harker, Collet-Serra also directed the upcoming Liam Neeson-thriller Unknown which Warner Bros. is distributing.  Although Shipman and McGreevy’s idea of approaching Stoker’s classic primarily from Harker’s perspective sounds promising, I can’t say I’m a huge fan of either Orphan or Collet-Serra’s House of Wax remake.  As such, while intrigued by the premise, I’m tempering my expectations for Harker with the hopes of being pleasantly surprised.

The Losers hasn’t even released yet (April 23, 2010), but director Sylvain White has already lined up his next project and it appears he is preparing to go medieval, according to the LA Times. The film, misleadingly titled Pendragon (nothing to do with dragons), is written by newcomers Lee Shipman and Brian McGreevy, and focuses on the origin story of the famous Knights of the Round Table. White is currently negotiating to board the project, setup at New Regency, and it would mark yet another movie in the fabled King Arthur lore.

For more on the film, including what that title means and some impressions, hit the jump.