I was excited when I first heard about this new horror series. It would feature the "Classic Monsters", so I was imagining an update of those Universal Monster mashups like HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN and HOUSE OF DRACULA. Instead, we get a plodding, amazingly boring period piece that spends 90% of the storyline on the least interesting character, a Medium named Vanessa Ives (Eva Green).
The main story revolves around Big Game Hunter/Explorer Sir Malcolm Murray (Timothy Dalton), whose daughter, Mina, was kidnapped by an evil vampire. Vanessa had been her friend. But this vampire has other vampires working for him, so Murray and Ives get the help of a cowboy, Ethan Chandler (Josh Hartnett of 30 DAYS OF NIGHT), who is on tour with a Wild West show, and the medical expertise of Dr. Victor Frankenstein. The cowboy has problems, such as drinking, and there's a hint of a dark secret he keeps, which may have something to do with some local, Jack the Ripper type murders. He starts a relationship with a prostitute who has tuberculosis. Dr. Frankenstein brings a corpse to life, which is brutally ripped apart when his original creation, "The Monster" returns to town. The creature wants a mate. And bisexual Dorian Gray makes a few appearances and has an interest in both Vanessa and the cowboy. In the very last episode of season we find out what the cowboy's secret is--which only made me wish they would have introduced this "revelation" halfway through the season. It would have made it slightly better.
I will probably check out the second season when it airs but I don't have my hopes up...