Harper's Island Wrap-up.

Hi again to the few I'm reliably informed are visiting the site. Well it wasn't unexpected and yes I have finally decided to admit defeat and will not be watching the remaining episodes of Harper's Island. A lot of stuff happens in a life that makes you take stock but in this case basically the thought of slogging on, having given 4 episodes a try, simply depressed me, especially when I thought of the other and better things I haven't done or could be doing. I did actually cave in and read spoilers courtesy of the wikipedia page link I submitted in my preview piece. They merely confirmed what I had already discovered, the show is a soap opera with minor horror trappings. It seems like it might be attempting to be a tv version of Scream with it's slasher and whodunnit elements but clearly this format could not sustain a tv show's length. As such the thing became less horror the more it went along, despite introducing cliches like the psychic little girl and the resurrected villain. In short if you are still enjoying it fair play, I really wanted to as it seemed so brave, but ultimately wasn't what I'd hoped. An intriguing experiment but a failure. Like so much horror tv.

MM

Harper's Island Eps 1 and 2 - Review

Part 1: Oh boy was this a slog. It starts off well with an early, very gruesome murder which seems to set the tone nicely then sadly devolves into a slasher equivalent of the bad teen dramas you try and avoid that are constantly on E4, kind of like a Halloween 90210. This, sadly, seems necessary to setting up characters, motivations etc for the murder mystery part of the narrative. We do successfully meet the main players and their relation to each other (I won't repeat them all here, watch the episode if you care). The cast are a mixed bag but Elaine Cassidy as Abby (already set up as our "final girl" with a plot identical to that of Neve Campbell's protagonist in Scream) doing an admirable job of carrying the show in these early stages. Also it has to be said that the show did pull off a genuine shock in the episode's second death, killing off a guy who had been firmly set up as a suspect for the murders. Not great, I almost did turn off during the Dawson's Creek moments at the party but thankfully worth getting through, and does get much more engaging than here too but not until...

Part 2: Much improved, THREE really grisly deaths again, much more intriguing development as this viewer, for one, tries to now get a handle on potential killers (my early money: nice guy ex Jimmy who is just far too likeable or the charming English fop with a glimpsed dark side who's dating the flirt, who just happens to have a thing for serial killers). The soap elements are much better handled as we ease into knowing and liking at least one group of characters in my case (those surrounding the groom being much more interesting than the bride's side). Another truly surprising set up of potential murderer, whom you then grow to care for, only to have her bizarrely killed off (off screen though, tut tut, its a god job you're a whodunnit). It is becoming slightly ludicrous that nobody has yet noticed people begin to be murdered on an island with history but that's a minor criticism as no doubt this will have to be addressed next week, suffice to say I'm already hooked, contemplating theories, avoiding spoilers so be warned and eagerly anticipating the third part. I'm loving playing along and really getting into even the soap like parts so if anyone cares to discuss it and is also avoiding looking up the answers online feel free to comment, check me out on Facebook or Twitter or e-mail wils1_uk@hotmail.com. Failing that I may do an investigative piece on the suspects after a couple more eps...

Ep 1: ** (2/5)
Ep 2: **** (4/5)

MM

Harper's Island - Starts Tonight

... on BBC 3. If you missed me previously trailing this then just click on the key word below. The first 2 episodes will be shown together as a double bill twice tonight at both 9pm and 11.05pm. I will be watching and giving the show a go and will hopefully be posting something on here with my thoughts at some point in the not too distant future, if the cold I'm suffering from ever improves any. Likewise apologies for the lack of material on my part but stress, illness and the tendency for life to alter any potential plans has conspired to lead me to watch a bit less horror and not feel up to writing much. I do, however, have The Grudge 3 sat in my front room waiting to be watched and the japanese Grudge 2 due in the post any day now so with a bit of luck you should look out for something on those too. In the meantime drop me a line if there's anything you want to see whilst the site is up and idle, I'm in this for you guys. Bye for now...
MM

Harper's Island - Coming Soon

Last post for today folks I promise.
Been seeing trailers for this new 13 episode show Harper's Island that's going to be coming to BBC Three (imported from the States of course). It looks a bit like a slasher film done as a tv series in that it is a murder mystery where the cast are picked off one by one. The viewer seemingly has to figure out the murderer along with the characters. Sounds very intriguing, keep an eye on your digital listings around Sept 6th and watch the trailer here...



or check out the spoiler heavy wikipedia page here

MM