DVD Review: Harper’s Island: The DVD Edition

Part of: Reviews in Brief

Imagine if you took the campy fun of an ‘80s slasher film and turned it into a TV drama aimed at the teens — complete with hip, young, pretty, and overly-dramatic individuals. That would leave you with (if you were lucky) one season of dense dialogue and a homicidal maniac lurking around and killin’ folk. Now, fuse mixture that with something like that Lost show (set the program on an island), and, finally, add a dash of an Italian giallo flick from the ‘70s (giving your killer that superfluously artistic talent to dispatch his/her victims in the most original of ways). Now, despite their faintness in flavor, these last two ingredients are perhaps the most crucial of all. Without them, Harper’s Island would be a complete pile of crap.

As a lover of mystery and slasher films alike (especially the aforementioned giallos), Harper’s Island is the kind of series somebody should have made a long time ago. But, if you’re someone who downright loathes “teen” shows and the bad writing/acting that usually inhabit them (and my heart goes out to you if you do), then Harper’s Island can easily switch you off in a heartbeat.

The story is about as simple as you can get: an entire wedding party takes a ferry out to Harper’s Island, off the coast of Washington. From the moment the ship’s rudder starts to spin, it is clear to the audience that an unknown (and very disturbed) killer has it in for someone — or, perhaps, everyone-- in the wedding party.

Who is the crazed assassin?

What is his or her beef with the members of this wedding party?

Will anyone survive the entire week on the island?

Continued on the next page Page 1 — Page 2

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Article Author: Luigi Bastardo

Luigi Bastardo is the disgruntled alter-ego of Adam Becvar, a thirtysomething lad from Northern California who has watched so many weird movies since the tender age of 3 that a conventional life is out of the question. …

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  • Harper's Island: The DVD Edition Harper's Island: The DVD Edition

    A horror-inspired drama, this CBS series is about a group of friends and family who meet to celebrate a wedding on an island just outside Seattle, an island that is famous for a streak of unsolved ...

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