Guillermo del Toro's The Strain Trailer Proves Vampires Can Still be Scary

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Guillermo del Toro's The Strain Trailer Proves Vampires Can Still be Scary


Don't expect vampires to sparkle in this upcoming apocalyptic drama series from Guillermo del Toro.

If you're looking for vampire stories that have more in common with Bram Stoker's original Dracula than Twilight, you'll definitely want to check out The Strain [http://www.fxnetworks.com/thestrain], which premieres July 13th on FX. This Guillermo del Toro project was initially conceived as a television series, but when Del Toro couldn't find anyone to back it, it was reimagined as a series of novels - but now The Strain has landed back on television.

Like The Walking Dead's treatment of zombies, The Strain envisions vampirism as a disease, making the drama - which starts off with the CDC investigating a grounded plane - feel more like a crime procedural than a supernatural or fantasy series. However, there's plenty of horror to be found in Del Toro's gruesome vampires, which simply can't be romanticized. As showrunner Carlton Cuse told The Hollywood Reporter [http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/strains-carlton-cuse-previews-fxs-671113], "These are not sparkly, brooding dudes with fangs and romantic problems. These vampires, or to use the Romanian word, tragoi, are really scary creatures."

With the tone we're seeing in this first trailer, we expect plenty of Walking Dead comparisons after the season starts. If that sounds like your kind of vampire story, then look for The Strain on FX this summer - or get a head start right now by reading the books or comics.

Source: YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bd76sp-oEg]

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[anonymity88]

Ooooh colour me intrigued, as long as it doesn't descend into tedious melodrama like The Walking Dead did for a time. On another vampire related note, I'm still waiting patiently for the final book/first movie of Justin Cronin's The Passage trilogy. Any other fans?

 

[Drops a Sweet Katana]

Intriguing, although I'm not keen on everyone's recent obsession with making EVERY supernatural creature the product of a disease.

 

[ciancon]

Hmm...i thought the book was crap but I'll give it a go, might work better with a visual medium.

 

[mechalynx]

The only thing I've seen of this so far is a trailer on IMDb and I had no idea the mosters were vampires. As I was watching it I was thinking: "Is he remaking Mimic?"

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

If you've seen The Devil's Backbone you know this guy can handle horror. I'm putting chips on this movie.

 

[WWmelb]

If you've seen The Devil's Backbone you know this guy can handle horror. I'm putting chips on this movie.

That was a FANTASTIC film, very slow burn horror, but just kept amping up the creepy the whole way through.

Am looking forward to this and hope it turns out as tasty as it looks.

 

[Kerethos]

This looked... well I was about to write "nice", but that doesn't really fit the theme now does it? I'm just happy to see some actually scary vampires for once. I mean they started out as basically blood drinking zombies, so they've drifted quite a bit from their origin.

It's good to see your favorite monster start making it's way back towards being scary, rather than the whole "Yeah, sure, being a vampire sounds fine - I don't get along with the sun as it is anyway."

Because vampires kind of lost any scare-factor when being one started to seem like a good deal.

 

[Greymanelor]

Looking forward to this. I read the series and I remember so clearly thinking that it felt like a script for a TV show or movie that got rejected, so del Toro had it turned into a book to build the following necessary to get it made.

Story had a lot of similarities to his film Chronos too, which was great. At least two characters from both series were virtually identical up to a point, branching apart only due to the scope and style of their stories.

 

[vallorn]

Intriguing, although I'm not keen on everyone's recent obsession with making EVERY supernatural creature the product of a disease.

To be fair with vampires it's not exactly recent. And the vector of the disease for these vampires looks different to the usual "A virus did it hurr" stuff we see. In any case if anyone can pull this off it's Del Toro. Now I'm going to go watch Hellboy again.

 

[NortherWolf]

Read the first book, was utter crap, so not very hyped for the TV show :/. Love Del Toro to bits but his vampires just feel like he wants to eat the cake and still have it in regards to the science vs supernatural aspect.

 

[TKretts3]

Intriguing, although I'm not keen on everyone's recent obsession with making EVERY supernatural creature the product of a disease.

Modern vampirism has always been a disease of sorts. It spreads through the blood - you get bit by a vampire and you contract it. As to why it's been so much more emphasized recently, and with every other supernatural creature, it's most likely just feeding off of what audiences fear. SARS, mad cow, MERS, various strains of the flue; a viral epidemic scares people because it's a real and severe threat, one that doesn't discriminate. It makes sense to exploit that fear in horror movies.

 

[The Feast]

I heard that Guillermo del Toro already have experience with vampire movies such as the first two Blade trilogy. Considering that he handle the stories pretty well, I think he's going to make it at least entertaining.

 

[Cowabungaa]

If you've seen The Devil's Backbone you know this guy can handle horror. I'm putting chips on this movie.

It ain't no movie, it's a TV show. Which actually makes me quite excited for it.

 

[Elijah Newton]

Hmm...i thought the book was crap but I'll give it a go, might work better with a visual medium.

Yeah, that book was ten pounds of banal in a nine pound sack.