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Critic Reviews
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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.
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Harper's Island is different, and Agatha Christie probably would approve because it's a bloody good time.
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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.
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The fact is, Harper's Island is a cunningly constructed, habit-forming mystery that makes for an intriguing departure from normal episodic television.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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I managed to gallop through the nine increasingly addictive episodes CBS provided for review.
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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.
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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.
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As guilty pleasures go, Harper's Island may hit the spot. Though perhaps it would have worked best as a summer series?
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It's written like a dopey daytime soap, it basically makes no sense, but it sure is silly good fun.
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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.
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Part soap opera, part horror movie, all whodunit, Harper's is diverting, and only infrequently frightening, fantasy soap opera.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Harper's Island is at times suspenseful and intriguing, but it's also a tad confusing.
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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.
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Unfortunately, clumsy writing gets in the way of potential insight.
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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.
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Ultimately, the series commits the greatest sin of the thriller genre: It's boring.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 39 out of 55
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Mixed: 10 out of 55
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Negative: 6 out of 55
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Jan 7, 2018
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Nov 30, 2017
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Feb 22, 2013