Ratty Teaser For Del Toro’s ‘The Strain’

I have never understood why so many people are utterly terrified of rats. They’re just little furry dudes going about their business. They’re a thousand nautical miles or more from something actually dangerous like a scorpion or a cobra, far closer in fact to a fluffy hamster or a chubby old guinea pig. Think about how the rats feel, being greeted with undeserved screaming and hostility whenever they leave their homes. The poor things.

Anyway, there’s a load of rats in the new teaser for upcoming vampire horror television series The Strain, based on the novel of the same name penned by Chuck Hogan and the legendary Guillermo del Toro (director of PAN’S LABYRINTH, HELLBOY and PACIFIC RIM). The 30-second clip, aired during The Walking Dead‘s mid-season finale, shows a number of the fuzzy critters scurrying around. Between the two shots, something very small quickly flashes up on the screen. In fact, I missed it completely the first time I watched it. On closer inspection, it turns out they are words, reading ‘he is here’. The creators are certainly succeeding in being as mysterious as possible.

So, what do we know? The novel tells the story of a vampiric virus that infects New York City and the struggle of CDC employee Dr Ephiram Goodweather, who is called in to sort it out. We also know that del Toro himself is directing the first episode, which is certain to excite fans of the director’s work even more. Both vampires and viruses have been done to death and further (undeath?) in film and television (the new series HELIX also has a plot involving doctors combating a deadly virus) so it will be interesting to see how the director brings his unique style to the series.

Here’s the teaser:

The Strain stars Mia Maestro (TWILIGHT), Sean Astin (THE LORD OF THE RINGS), Kevin Durand (LOST), Corey Stoll (HOUSE OF CARDS), Jonathan Hyde (JUMANJI) and David Bradley (everything). It premieres in July 2014.

Source: Shock Till You Drop