Netflix woos HBO viewers with new series Hemlock Grove

The delightfully campy slasher show features lots of sex, blood, and monsters

(You can observe based on the promotional photo that this series makes no sense.)

Netflix released its newest original series Hemlock Grove on Friday, and I think I’ve deduced the company’s math down to this:

1) People like True Blood.

2) People actually like Alexander Skarsgard. And gratuitous nudity and fake blood.

3) Nudie scenes and fake blood: check

4) Alexander Skarsgard…

5) Solution: Get Alexander Skarsgard’s brother, Bill.

6) Go for a long swim in Scrooge McDuck style money vault.

I, for one, am perfectly content to gorge on scenes of the tall and delightfully pouty Bill Skarsgard, but that can only carry things so far…

Hemlock Grove is Netflix’s third original series, after Lilyhammer and the highly successful House of Cards (which has since become the most-watched show on Netflix). The story is a familiar one: a small, sleepy Pennsylvania steel town is rocked when the mangled body of a young woman is found. The murder just happens to coincide with the arrival of a pair of mysterious drifters… And there’s a creepy family headed by the beautiful but up-to-no-good Famke Janssen. Naturally.

And like other successful premium-channel series like True Blood, Game of Thrones, and Dexter, Hemlock Grove is populated with a cast of very attractive people. Score! (It’s one of the reasons why I can’t figure out how Downton Abbey got to be as popular as it has…)

The trajectory of Hemlock Grove is pretty predictable when you consider the fact that it’s directed by torture porn director Eli Roth of House of Wax and Hostel fame. So, spoiler alert: a lot more attractive young people are going to die really awful, disgusting deaths. The trailer alone features like, five sex and/or fellatio scenes, lots of F-bombs, and blood and vomit up the wazoo.

All 13 episodes are available to watch now.

Netflix stock has jolted up 55% in the last year since embarking on its quest to revolutionize the TV watching experience and effective define Internet TV by creating original series and releasing entire seasons all at once. It’s a gamble that has paid off in a big way, as streaming subscribers climb. Last quarter, Netflix surprised many with higher than expected revenue and a surprise profit of $0.13 per share, when analysts were expecting a loss of $0.12 per share.

It will be interesting to see what the next quarter brings for Netflix, as that’s when it will be releasing the much anticipated Arrested Development—essentially the show that will put Netflix back on the map.

Netflix is scheduled to announce its Q1 2013 earnings this Monday.