I think for once TV writers got it right when they came up with the concept of the 13 week miniseries Harper’s Island; it’s just too bad that the TV execs killed the show though. At the early stages of the show CBS promoted the heck out of this show and only after three weeks did they decide to stop promoting it and ultimately they moved it to the graveyard called Saturday night television. I know viewers had mixed reviews on the show stating that the storyline was unbelievable, and the acting was sub par but regardless what you felt I think the concept was spectacular. I would describe the show to people as a Friday the 13th meets Halloween except it was on a network so it couldn’t be as bloody, sexual, or vulgar… but oh boy did the producers push it as far as they could. For me, this was probably one of THE best miniseries on cable ever (yes there were huge gaping holes in the storyline and yes the acting was sub par) but I couldn’t wait until the next episode to see where the story went. Needless to say I figured out the killer around episode 10 and that took some of the steam out but I endured.
Trish Wellington and Henry Dunn are engaged to be married and they decided they wanted to have a wedding on the beautiful Harper’s Island. They invited all of their guests to come and attend this glorious day, some are natives to the Island and others are just visiting for the first time. Abby Mills is Henry Dunn’s best friend but her memories of the Island are not so great. Seven years ago her mother (along with five others) were murdered by a psychopath killer named John Wakefield. After this tragedy Abby went to Seattle to start a new life leaving everything, including her father and boyfriend. Reluctant to come back to the island Abby decides to bite the bullet and celebrate her best friend’s wedding and come to the island. Needless to say as the wedding day approaches guests start disappearing and showing up dead…murdered in gruesome, hideous and sick ways ironically very similar to the ways John Wakefield murdered his victims six years earlier. Each episode has at least one person murdered and the closer you get to the finale you can only wonder who is going to make it off the island and live to tell about it.
As I have stated Harper’s Island was the best miniseries I have watched on prime time television. If you were one of the many people who did not see this series now have the opportunity to watch the series on the 4-disc DVD set. What is even better you can watch the show uninterrupted by commercials and not have to wait a week for the next episode. Also included in the set are special features including commentaries, “Casting Harper’s Island”, “The Grim Reaper”, “The Making of Harper’s Island”, webisodes, deleted scenes and much more. If you are a horror movie or suspense movie buff then I think you may enjoy Harper’s Island. Granted it is not as graphic as horror movie buffs probably prefer but it is intense at spots and appeal to your suspense palette. I would highly recommend this DVD to anyone who is looking for a great suspense, horror series to watch in the summer prime time off season.
Reviewed by Jeff Holton
