FX The Strain Season 1 (1 Viewer)

FX Premieres "The Strain" tonight, a .. hmm.. zombie? apocolypse? Viral outbreak? Type of series to air on Sundays.

It's based on a trilogy of novels by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan.

Haven't read the books, but will be checking this out. Hopefully, it'll keep me interested. Certainly a unique spin on the old genre.

I know a lot of people that are really excited for this one, but I think I'm going to sit it out. The promotional artwork just grosses me out too much. If John Hurt will still on board, his presence might overcome my visceral reaction to worms going through eyes and what not. But David Bradley, as good as he is, isn't enough to get me over the hump.

mattCR said:

FX Premieres "The Strain" tonight, a .. hmm.. zombie? apocolypse? Viral outbreak? Type of series to air on Sundays.

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Thanks for the reminder Matt, forgot to set the DVR. Teasers look pretty good.

Malcolm R said:

It's based on a trilogy of novels by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan.

Spoiler

It's supposed to be vampires, but not the traditional human-like kind.

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Well if that's the basis I won't continue with it. Halfway into the ep and dialog is corny as heck. Acting is bad. Bad wig on CDC guy. You can see the glue. Feels like a SyFy channel show that was passed on.

Re the hair:http://www.hitfix.com/the-fien-print/the-strain-star-corey-stoll-talks-hair-leading-man-roles-and-vampires-on-the-setVoting Walder Frey pays for the Red wedding in this show =)

The novels seemed made for turning into a TV show or movie, which was good and bad. If you've seen del Toro's Blade 2 you'll see how he expanded on certain ideas.

I liked the story, but the dialogue and acting was strictly 2nd rate. This was my first experience with del Toro, and I'm underwhelmed if this is typical of his writing and directing. Certainly nowhere near the quality of Fargo or American Horror Story, as FX series go. I agree with TonyD that it seems more SyFy channel level. I'll watch next week and see if I want to keep sticking with it.

Also, in general, at this point in my life I want less gross-out in my horror. Hopefully, tonight will be as gross as it gets.

JohnMor said:

This was my first experience with del Toro, and I'm underwhelmed if this is typical of his writing and directing.

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I'm kind of surprised by this, but I don't know what you usually watch. Granted del Toro is not the most prolific director, but anyone with an interest in occult / fantasy work will have seen something of his at some point.

I've always meant to get around to Pan's Labrynth, but it just hasn't happened yet. Hellboy and Blade have never called to me.

RE: The Strain, I loved the premise and the plot. And it is a HUGE feat, imo, that someone was able to return fear and dread to the vampire myth. I am so over the forlorn/lovelorn/romantic vampire trope. Not so long ago I was bemoaning the fact that vampires would probably never again be scary. So that aspect is brilliant. But good lord the dialogue was awful and the acting mediocre. Although I thought David Bradley acquitted himself well.

I have been waiting for this show. I really enjoyed the first episode. I have read all three books, and they are fantastic. If they stick to the story, this will be a great show, (unlike Under The Dome, which deviated entirely from what was also a well written book).
I think the choice of actors for the roles is very good, as well.
Hang with it, and you should not be disappointed. It is going to be very graphic, though, for sure.

JohnMor said:

Also, in general, at this point in my life I want less gross-out in my horror. Hopefully, tonight will be as gross as it gets.

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Doubtful, based on what I've read in interviews and other stories about the series.

I know what you mean, as I've veered away from a steady diet of Saw and Texas Chainsaw in recent years in favor of more films like Insidious, Mama, and The Conjuring, but I didn't really think The Strain was that bad. I thought the only really graphic scene was the Master repeatedly smashing the guy's head after he drained him (which I didn't really understand, unless it was to prevent the guy from reanimating...but why?).

Malcolm R said:

Doubtful, based on what I've read in interviews and other stories about the series.

I know what you mean, as I've veered away from a steady diet of Saw and Texas Chainsaw in recent years in favor of more films like Insidious, Mama, and The Conjuring, but I didn't really think The Strain was that bad. I thought the only really graphic scene was the Master repeatedly smashing the guy's head after he drained him (which I didn't really understand, unless it was to prevent the guy from reanimating...but why?).

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I agree that it wasn't that bad and yes, that was the only scene. But I just would hate for it to devolve into more gross-out than horror (or even equal parts).

I also didn't understand the head-bashing. I even thought it may have been strictly a technical choice: to show the audience how strong and evil the Master was.

Most of the gross-outs in the original Saw and Texas Chainsaw were implied, not graphic. IIRC. That of course changed. . .

Finally got around to watching this last night.

I like the idea - the return of vampirism as a pandemic. The main cast seems ok, but there was some pretty bad dialogue and poor supporting performances. A lot of hackneyed cliche here too. Hopefully this is not a sign of things to come. I typically expect more from Del Toro - but, with his crazy busy schedule he may get lazy on this one.

I had no problem with the graphic head bashing - it IS a monster/master vampire after all. And, I'm assuming it did the job for the same reason the old man wanted to remove the heads from the bodies - so there would be no sub-vampire waking up.

Del Toro certainly likes the idea of vampirism meets disease/evolutionary genetics. Just take a gander at Blade 2. I am guessing that is the level of violence and gore we can expect here. Nothing too serious.

Still, Corey Stoll, Sean Astin, and David Bradley? Nice foundation. I'll continue to watch if they can improve on the pilot. Pilot's tend to be clunky anyhow.

Well. the dialogue and writing were head and shoulders above last week's episode, but I was starting to lose it with the commercial breaks about every 6 minutes. Jeez.

But in general, it's looking up for me now.

JohnMor said:

Well. the dialogue and writing were head and shoulders above last week's episode, but I was starting to lose it with the commercial breaks about every 6 minutes. Jeez.

But in general, it's looking up for me now.

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That's why they invented DVR's.

I started reading the books and gave up.. Weak dialogue, uninteresting characters, very Van Helsing-lite.. The TV show does not look like it's going to be an improvement.

This week's episode seemed to be mostly just treading water. It's not a good sign when your second episode functions mostly as filler, while not really advancing the plot.