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100The scares are not as over-the-top as American Horror Story but more chilling because they're applied glancingly. [13 Feb 2012, p.44]
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90The River is a terrifying heart-stopper, a cleverly cinematic supernatural adventure that takes us on a wild ride into an exotic heart of darkness.
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88An exciting and scary trip.
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83The performances are good but constrained by the parameters of scary-story acting.
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83The series' embrace of its narrative style, its creation of such an ominous world and its skill for generating suspense practically out of thin air are all very impressive.
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75Lots of good stuff, although much is forced.
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75A strong cast and that things-that-go-bump-in-the-night shooting style so far keep the show on course.
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70The mix of the familiar and the frantic creates an intriguingly creepy effect.
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70For now, we find it a solid, entertaining spook-fest.
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70Made with ingenuity and verve, it substitutes the half-glimpsed and suggestive for the in-your-face and explicit, and concentrates more on the buildup than the payoff, the fear more than the fright.
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70The River makes effective use of the idea that sometimes it's the things you can't see so clearly--or at all--that are the scariest.
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70The River lacks the sophistication of "Lost" but its formula is more flexible than recent Fox addition "Alcatraz."
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70A suspenseful, hurtling water ride of a TV show.
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70The River plainly evokes Lost.
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70You have a series that cobbles together a pretty strong rooting interest.
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70The River is one of those pilots it's hard not to admire, even if the longterm prospects for its journey remain shrouded in mystery.
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63There are real scares, and you'll certainly jump in your seat. On the other hand, who knows if such a dense plot will ever be sorted out?
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63The series manages to serve up a legitimate fright or two, but it needs to slow down.
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60The River isn't terrible, and it actually has some effective elements, but it's fairly indicative of ABC's post-"Lost" flailing.
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58The River still has a quirkily eccentric charm. It's just so deliciously odd.
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58The River in comparison seems like stale tap water, unworthy of any prolonged big drink of time or effort.
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50It's reasonably clever and well acted and has strong atmosphere and a few good scares, and the concept--a found-footage voyage into the Amazon to locate a mysteriously MIA scientist--is catchy. But the format of the show may prove a dealbreaker for me.
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50Depending on your tolerance, it's either a ridiculous presentation best suited to a drinking game (take a gulp every time the screen goes black), or a paranormal adventure that owes everything to "Lost."
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50The makers of the "River" deserve credit for spilling so much of their "X-Files" myth-ology from the start, but there's not enough reason to book passage on this voyage of the bland.
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50After swimming in its silliness for two hours, I can only say The River goes downhill fast.
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50The performances are adequate, but in many cases, the cast deserves credit for having to enliven trite, stock situations.
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40Although it has some nice moves and the occasional tense moment, the show's visual allure quickly leads to aggravation.
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40All these characters seem modestly interesting, but none, at least on first acquaintance, feel compelling. Nor are we drawn into their quest.
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40The mixture of "Lost" storytelling and "Paranormal" style is neither intriguing nor particularly scary, and it doesn't help that there's hardly a glimmer of humor.
User score distribution:
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Positive: 20 out of 39
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Mixed: 4 out of 39
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Negative: 15 out of 39
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