Harper's Island
CBS | Release Date: April 9, 2009
CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
63
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 22 Critic Reviews
Positive:
12
Mixed:
8
Negative:
2

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
Miami HeraldGlenn Garvin
Season 1 Review: That single season will be hellacious fun. Stuffed with visual puns and sly homages to horror movies from Jaws to Poltergeist, Harper's Island relentlessly mocks film grammar with set pieces that take off in unexpected directions. Read full review
80
Orlando SentinelHal Boedeker
Season 1 Review: Harper's Island is different, and Agatha Christie probably would approve because it's a bloody good time. Read full review
80
New York Daily NewsDavid Hinckley
Season 1 Review: Harper's Island is an elaborate horror movie, a twentysomething slasher flick with a really good wardrobe, a first-rate cast and 13 weeks worth of twists and subplots. Read full review
80
Washington PostTom Shales
Season 1 Review: The fact is, Harper's Island is a cunningly constructed, habit-forming mystery that makes for an intriguing departure from normal episodic television. Read full review
75
NewsdayVerne Gay
Season 1 Review: What a hoot. What a ridiculous, soap-operatic cutup of a series. But if you can stop giggling long enough, as I managed to--quite a feat, let me tell you--Harper's Island is also hugely enjoyable. Read full review
75
USA TodayRobert Bianco
Season 1 Review: As much fun as Harper's can be if you're inclined to recline into it, the show was clearly produced with too little talent and, odds are, too little money. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleTim Goodman
Season 1 Review: The writing is just clever enough to probably make the killing-a-week conceit work. And if you're into watching a phalanx of almost-recognizable actors you've seen in work you can almost remember, this is the series for you. Beyond that, it's just plain fun. Read full review
70
Philadelphia Daily NewsEllen Gray
Season 1 Review: I managed to gallop through the nine increasingly addictive episodes CBS provided for review. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesMary McNamara
Season 1 Review: Harper's Island does not attempt to rise above the confines of its genre because it's too busy rolling around in them. It's tense enough, mysterious enough for those of us who enjoy occasionally watching the screen from behind our hands. Read full review
70
Pittsburgh Post-GazetteRob Owen
Season 1 Review: It's an entertaining enough diversion that may grow more intriguing as other series end their season-long runs next month and viewers become more desperate for fresh entertainment. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneMaureen Ryan
Season 1 Review: As guilty pleasures go, Harper's Island may hit the spot. Though perhaps it would have worked best as a summer series? Read full review
63
New York PostLinda Stasi
Season 1 Review: It's written like a dopey daytime soap, it basically makes no sense, but it sure is silly good fun. Read full review
60
Kansas City StarAaron Barnhart
Season 1 Review: It is a stew made from a teen-slasher base with chunks of prime-time CBS crime shows and some daytime spice stirred in. If the first six minutes work for you, you’ll probably want more. Read full review
60
Philadelphia InquirerJonathan Storm
Season 1 Review: Part soap opera, part horror movie, all whodunit, Harper's is diverting, and only infrequently frightening, fantasy soap opera. Read full review
60
The New York TimesGinia Bellafante
Season 1 Review: After the first few episodes it remains unclear who, or what, is behind the mayhem, so points, as cringe making as it is to acknowledge, for suspense. The show has missing cash, stolen cash, a freaky black sheep and a menacing brother-in-law. Read full review
58
Entertainment WeeklyKen Tucker
Season 1 Review: R-rated horror flicks have rendered the scariness of Harper's abrupt murders mild stuff; the series could have used more of Christie's tight plotting. Read full review
50
VarietyBrian Lowry
Season 1 Review: Harper's Island too often indulges in slasher-movie absurdities, with a murderer who seems to be everywhere at once and genuine clues in too-short supply. Read full review
50
Chicago Sun-TimesMisha Davenport
Season 1 Review: Harper's Island is at times suspenseful and intriguing, but it's also a tad confusing. Read full review
50
Slant MagazineBrian Holcomb
Season 1 Review: When a TV show is going to run the length of Fassbinder's Berlin Alexanderplatz, these people have to be more than expendable, and this "All-Non-Star Cast" doesn't have the instant audience identification required to fill in the blanks. Read full review
40
PopMattersMarisa LaScala
Season 1 Review: Unfortunately, clumsy writing gets in the way of potential insight. Read full review
30
Boston GlobeMatthew Gilbert
Season 1 Review: After July 2, you won't need to worry about stumbling across this enervating, vapid, and obscenely over-promoted thriller when you're channel surfing. Read full review
30
The Hollywood ReporterDaniel Carlson
Season 1 Review: Ultimately, the series commits the greatest sin of the thriller genre: It's boring. Read full review
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