PILOT REVIEW: The River

THE RIVER

Starring: Bruce Greenwood, Joe Anderson, Leslie Hope, Eloise Mumford, Paul Blackthorne, Thomas Kretschmann, Daniel Zacapa, Shaun Parkes, Paulina Gaitan

Created by Oren Peli and Michael R. Perry
Written by Michael Green, Oren Peli, & Michael R. Perry, Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra

The River is a new horror documentary-style drama on ABC that focuses on a missing explorer and TV host, Dr. Emmet Cole (Bruce Greenwood). Cole vanished somewhere in the Amazong but after six months, authorities called off the search and declared Cole dead. Now, a camera crew offers Cole's wife Tess (Leslie Hope) and son Lincoln (Joe Anderson) the chance to go on an expedition to find him as long as they can film the process for a show. Tess is all for it while Lincoln is reluctant. Joining them on the expedition is Lena Landry (Eloise Mumford), whose father is Cole's producer and also missing. Rounding out the cast is the crew of the documentary and the the mechanic for Cole's ship and his daughter (Paulina Gaitan), who seems to know a lot about the horrors they will be encountering.

THE GOOD: There's some good mood-setting moments here and it certainly has a creepy feel to it, on an abandoned ship deep in the Amazon. The entire concept is actually a very good one, it's the execution of it that's the problem (more on that below). The idea of finding missing people in a remote setting while there seems to be supernatural forces at work against the crew is intriguing and mysterious.

THE BAD: Unfortunately, nothing quite comes together on The River. The opening felt like a trailer and then the documentary crew made it all feel a little like My Generation (though it got away from that as the episode went on). I don't understand why it had to mimic some of the successful horror movies and go documentary style. It could have been executed better without it because its never going to give the thrills of something like Paranormal Activity. The acting is weak, particularly from Joe Anderson, who just bores me as Emmet's son. The show seems to rely more on thrills than advancing the plot and worst of all, it's just boring. A show predicated on being a horror show shouldn't feel boring and dry.

BOTTOM LINE: This show isn't going to work for ABC nor should it. This had some potential but it's been poorly developed and executed. It's not terrifying or thrilling. I heard the second hour was scarier but I couldn't bring myself to watch another episode after how boring the first one was. Maybe I'll give it another chance but probably not.