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Up the Amazon, on a scary search for a missing man

Give ABC's The River (9 p.m. Tuesday, 6ABC) credit for bringing something new to the flat screen. It's a thriller shot in the jerky, underlit, handheld style that was previously the province of feature films such as The Fourth Kind, Cloverfield, The Blair Witch Project, and Paranormal Activity.

THE RIVER - "The River" follows the story of wildlife expert and TV personality Emmet Cole. Emmet set course around the world with his wife, Tess, and son, Lincoln, while filming what would become one of the most popular shows in television. After he goes missing deep in the Amazon, his family, friends and crew set out on a mysterious and deadly journey to find him. "The River" stars Bruce Greenwood ("Star Trek") as Emmet Cole, Joe Anderson ("The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Parts 1 and 2") as Lincoln Cole, Paul Blackthorne ("Lipstick Jungle") as Clark, Paulina Gaitan as Jahel, Leslie Hope ("24") as Tess Cole, Eloise Mumford ("Lone Star") as Lena, Shaun Parkes ("The Mummy Returns") as Adjay, Thomas Kretschmann ("King Kong") as Captain Kurt Brynildson and Daniel Zacapa ("Resurrection Blvd.") as Emilio. "The River," from Amblin's Steven Spielberg, Daryl Frank and Justin Falvey, showrunner/executive producer Michael Green ("Heroes," "Kings"), is also executive-produced by Oren Peli (creator of "Paranormal Activity"), Zack Estrin, Jason Blum and Steven Schneider. Teleplay by Michael R. Perry and Michael Green, story by Oren Peli & Michael R. Perry and Michael Green. The pilot is directed by Jaume Collet-Serra and produced by ABC Studios. (ABC/FRANCISCO ROMAN) SHAUN PARKES, LESLIE HOPE, PAUL BLACKTHORNE, THOMAS KRETSCHMANN
THE RIVER - "The River" follows the story of wildlife expert and TV personality Emmet Cole. Emmet set course around the world with his wife, Tess, and son, Lincoln, while filming what would become one of the most popular shows in television. After he goes missing deep in the Amazon, his family, friends and crew set out on a mysterious and deadly journey to find him. "The River" stars Bruce Greenwood ("Star Trek") as Emmet Cole, Joe Anderson ("The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Parts 1 and 2") as Lincoln Cole, Paul Blackthorne ("Lipstick Jungle") as Clark, Paulina Gaitan as Jahel, Leslie Hope ("24") as Tess Cole, Eloise Mumford ("Lone Star") as Lena, Shaun Parkes ("The Mummy Returns") as Adjay, Thomas Kretschmann ("King Kong") as Captain Kurt Brynildson and Daniel Zacapa ("Resurrection Blvd.") as Emilio. "The River," from Amblin's Steven Spielberg, Daryl Frank and Justin Falvey, showrunner/executive producer Michael Green ("Heroes," "Kings"), is also executive-produced by Oren Peli (creator of "Paranormal Activity"), Zack Estrin, Jason Blum and Steven Schneider. Teleplay by Michael R. Perry and Michael Green, story by Oren Peli & Michael R. Perry and Michael Green. The pilot is directed by Jaume Collet-Serra and produced by ABC Studios. (ABC/FRANCISCO ROMAN) SHAUN PARKES, LESLIE HOPE, PAUL BLACKTHORNE, THOMAS KRETSCHMANNRead moreABC
    by By David Hiltbrand, INQUIRER TV WRITER | Columnist, Inquirer
    Published 

Give ABC's The River (9 p.m. Tuesday, 6ABC) credit for bringing something new to the flat screen. It's a thriller shot in the jerky, underlit, handheld style that was previously the province of feature films such as The Fourth Kind, Cloverfield, The Blair Witch Project, and Paranormal Activity.

It's used to good effect here on a journey into the wildest reaches of the Amazon. The host of a long-running Saturday nature show has vanished in the jungle.

Some TV genius figures out there's another show to be made out of the search for the missing Dr. Emmet Cole (Bruce Greenwood). So his devoted wife Tess (Leslie Hope of 24) and rather resentful son Lincoln (Twilight's Joe Anderson) head upriver along with a documentary crew pushed by Clark (Paul Blackstone), a heartless producer.

The farther they go, the stranger things get. A local teen warns them in Spanish not to proceed. "This is Bouina," she says, pointing at the map. "We cannot go there. It is [untranslatable]."

First rule of wilderness quests (and this is important): When the subtitles cannot even adequately convey how evil a place is, it's time to turn the boat around. Pronto.

During their journey, they discover some disturbing footage Dr. Cole shot just before his disappearance that would indicate he went native in a big way - real Kurtz-in-Heart of Darkness stuff.

They can worry about that if they even find him. Because their quixotic mission is turning Pyrrhic. There are monsters lurking in the jungle. But because of the dark, dizzying camera work, we never really see it/them framed up. Just flashes - scales and tails disappearing around the corner.

Not to give too much away, but there's some spooky stuff transpiring on the boat. And some of these crew members - including Lena (Louise Mumford) and the heavily armed Capt. Kurt (Thomas Kretschmann) - have agendas that may go beyond search and rescue.

That's the good news. The fright aspects on The River work quite well. I urge you to sample a few episodes beyond tonight's pilot to see how well.

Unfortunately, the series' central and supporting personalities are uniformly uninvolving. So, in those lulls between the adrenalin surges, all the air goes out of the episode.

If The River is to survive, it has to find some way to navigate all that dead water.