I Shouldn't Be Alive

A gripping show.

Gripping and thrilling.

A memorable horror show.

Ghastly, grisly and yet pruriently gripping.

Sure, the re-enactment technique is cheesy by its very nature, but at the heart of this show is the ancient art of storytelling. The verbal accounts of the survivors are so vibrant, their evocation of extreme experience so precise, that the viewer huddles before the TV like a child listening to ghost stories around a campfire, undistracted even by the indignity of commercial interruptions.

This isn't to say what these folks experienced isn't harrowing, but these hybrids mixing dramatic and documentary techniques only enjoy a sense of authenticity if both halves work, which isn't the case at least in the maiden voyage.

Relies so heavily on... amateurish re-creations that it undermines its otherwise mind-blowing survival stories.