Reviewed by Judy Johnson
Stars Christopher Gorham, Katie Cassidy, Elaine Cassidy, Matt Barr,
Gina Holden, Cassandra Sawtell, Brandon Jay McLaren, Jim Beaver | Written by Ari Schlossberg
UK certification 15 | UK RRP £34.99 | DVD Region 2 | Runtime 519 minutes | Directed by Sanford Bookstaver
No television series has been looked at in the same way since the frightfest that is Harper’s Island hit our screens last year. A bloody thriller that packs more punch than even the goriest teen horror movie, the series is set on the creepiest island since Lost, where friends and family are visiting as guests to the wedding of Henry Dunn (Gorham) and Trish Wellington (Katie Cassidy).
Henry’s best friend Abby (Elaine Cassidy) takes the lead role, reluctantly returning to the island after fleeing seven years ago when a serial killer, John Wakefield, murdered her mother and a string of others. Unfortunately for Abby and the other wedding guests, history is about to repeat itself as one by one they are killed off in acts of twisted brutality.
Shot with the heart-racing pace of a film and played out brilliantly in a gripping series, Harper’s Island is like a deliciously evil book you just can’t put down. The writers went to another level to produce horribly imaginative and inventive deaths which were so dramatic and shocking in parts that they verged on comedic (they do say that if you don’t laugh, you’ll cry), while the eye candy of the cast kept us guessing – just as they were, for no one was told of their character’s untimely death until the day of doom came.
Secrets are unravelled while endearing and suspicious characters are slain in jaw-droppingly painful fashion, with a suitably ingenious twist to make sure you’re kept in the dark over who has all that blood on their hands until the very last nail-biting minute. A word of advice – don’t watch it alone …
EXTRAS **** There's a selection of bonus material here that would put most TV series DVD box set releases to shame (are you paying attention, Universal Playback?) There are four featurettes: Casting Harper's Island, One By One: The Making of Harper's Island, Guess Who? and The Grim Reaper; audio commentaries on four of the episodes: Whap, Sploosh, Splash and Sigh; deleted scenes for most episodes; all 16 "webisodes" of Harper's Globe, an online story that also took place on Harper's Island with the same timeline as the series; and some CBS network promos for the series.