The Moth Diaries Trailer Sets Up Gothic Scares At All-Girls Boarding School

Mary Harron’s The Moth Diaries has been on our radar for some time now, probably since we first reported Scott Speedman and Lily Cole’s involvement in September 2010. Well, the horror-thriller – an adaptation of Rachel Klein’s novel – has a release date (April 20) and a trailer, which we’re sharing below courtesy of Yahoo Movies:

Gothic horrors in an all-girl boarding school? Speedman as a brainy instructor? Cole and The Tudors beauty Sarah Bolger as sexually provocative schoolgirls trading supernatural secrets? Yeah, this can’t get here soon enough, particularly once it starts selling Cole’s character, Ernessa, as a lusty, Single White vampire plucking off coeds one by one.

“Do you believe in the supernatural?” the clip asks. And I might, so long as Harron’s able to get under our skins here the way she turned the screws in American Psycho. The gifted director has been honing her skills in television, directing episodes of Big Love, The Nine and The L Word. Which is fine, but she’s long overdue for a feature film project that taps into her talent. Hopefully it’s Moth Diaries. And if it isn’t, hopefully Moth Diaries at least reminds studios that there’s a capable storyteller out here waiting for the right project, so keep giving her chances.

The Moth Diaries co-stars Anne Day-Jones, Sarah Gadon, and Valerie Tian. IFC Films will have it in theaters on April 20. Does this trailer help sell it? Let us know below.

Sean O'Connell
Managing Editor

Sean O’Connell is a journalist and CinemaBlend’s Managing Editor. Having been with the site since 2011, Sean interviewed myriad directors, actors and producers, and created ReelBlend, which he proudly cohosts with Jake Hamilton and Kevin McCarthy. And he's the author of RELEASE THE SNYDER CUT, the Spider-Man history book WITH GREAT POWER, and an upcoming book about Bruce Willis.