Mermaid Down (2019) User Reviews

Started strangely and quickly went downhill!

[forpassord · 3/10 · 10 December 2021]

Not even five minutes into the movie the captain(?) says "Logic and practicality would dictate...". More or less immediately afterwards, all logic and practicality went out the proverbial window...! I counted eighteen characters in the list of characters from this movie here at IMDb. At least three of them (all the three male characters in the beginning of the movie) seemed to be psychopaths judging from their actions. Three out of eighteen is many, many, many times the normal ratio of psychopaths to normal people in the real world! Out of the remaining sixteen, at least one of the guards seemed to have an IQ far below what I would have said qualified as a minimum for a job like that. On top of characters largely consisting of psychopaths, the film consisted of several cringeworthy scenes because of the bad script and directing! The acting was not terribly bad, but still far from good enough to save the bad script and directing!!

As a guy, if found the main actress beautiful, and liked the (semi) nude scenes with her. But I STILL found the same scenes to be speculative and mostly unnecessary for the progression of the story in the movie!

So my advice to you is that if you are not REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEALY bored, do NOT watch this movie!

Not the worst movie out there

[begy · 5/10 · 4 May 2023]

I'm giving it a slightly higher rating than it actually deserves, because clearly a lot of work went into this movie from a bigger than usual cast and crew, and the result is not horrible.

The writing is not the worst thing about the movie, because the premise was actually interesting (enough to make me want to watch the movie), there is some sort of a plot in there, and there is even attempt at some character development. But the story is still weak.

The acting was pretty decent from most of the cast (the old man in the beginning, the asylum inhabitants, and its female employees), with some exceptions (the goofy dude in the beginning, the evil doctor, the male orderlies). The main villain especially seemed extremely wooden and seemed to have a multitude of evil hobbies - as many as the writers could come up with/fit into the runtime. That being said, maybe it's not the actor's fault - maybe he was just following the direction he was given. I certainly felt that the actress playing the main nurse had to literally slow down her delivery or just act dumb in order to make the scenes more believable.

Which brings me to the directing, camerawork, and editing of this movie. All of that felt very amateurish, to the point that I think in the hands of a more experienced / talented director this could have been a much better movie. The scene transitions are non-existent. Plotlines are sometimes so disjointed, there is no explanation of how characters A and B, who were locked up in the previous scene, are now sitting and watching TV with everyone else. The "contemplative" scenery is simple hammered in at random points. Oh, and I didn't need to be told the director was male, when one of the female characters suddenly decided to lower her shorts to expose her ass to the camera. Or when the main character, who had been wearing a hospital gown until then (for no good reason), apropos nothing disrobed completely and was walking around like that. Or when the nurse finally decided to cover the naked girl, only the closest thing at hand was a white bodysuit that was a perfect fit, which she called "kinky". Or when a bunch of women, who are in the middle of escaping from the asylum, decide to go take a dip in the pond/lake/river in the middle of the night, and undress down to their underwear (which is of non-standard design). I was expecting all of the actresses to completely undress at some point in the movie, but after this scene the gratuitous nudity is dialed back, so I stuck it out till the end.

Overall, you're likely to enjoy it only if you go with very low expectations and like some violence in your movies, even if it's not depicted that well.

Not White House Down

[bjornar-182-260351 · 4/10 · 8 October 2019]

There have been several mermaid films through the years, and in order to stand out from the rest the script has to be different. This one is WAY different, though the storyline of the «good» mermaid with the help of some odd friends vs. the «Evil» Doctor is a very familiar theme. Despite being a low budget movie with new unknown actors the acting is not too bad, and the filming isn't horrific either. Unfortunately the use of too many abused clishes, nude bait, and prolonged scenes kills the viewers interest and makes it drop on the ratings. Unless you have partisipated in the movie or you're paid to give good reviews, it is not possible to rate it higher than 5. It gets 4 from me, and only because 3,5 isn't possible.

WHOA!! :)

[Georgia-16859 · 5 October 2019]

Yo, I don't know what yall talking about man this film is HELLA DOPE! I was expecting some princess story and was pleasantly surprised that it's hella sick. Dope acting and The Mermaid is FIRE Shoutout for the diversity!

Once again, fake-ratings galore!

[bwdude · 1/10 · 21 November 2019]

Check the distribution of ratings, practically all 9 and 10. Another one of those movies, where 95% of the ratings are fake. The losers at IMDB still don't have a clue and are still accepting them.

In reality this movie is total garbage, and makes no sense at all. Add subpar acting and plot holes to the stupid story and you get the picture.

Do yourself a favour and stay away from this pile of manure.

Horrible in every aspects

[horden-69903 · 1/10 · 21 November 2019]

Actors and actresses were with bad acting And also the movie was filmed With a bad technique

Rating credibility for this film has been sabotaged.

[wallfree-798-37256 · 1/10 · 22 December 2019]

I often pick a movie to watch by looking up ratings and mostly I have become to agree on the ratings after watching the movie. Above 7 is a quite good movie to spend time on and below 6 is many times not worth watching. Some of Indian movies were rated too high having 2~3 more stars than they were supposed to get, otherwise mostly rating seemed credible. In recent 2 years I have started seen blind 10 stars with commentaries of similar style by numbers to get a new movie rated unthinkably higher than it is. After watching this movie I feel the rating has been fabricated by the same advertising efforts. Only other possibility should be a bunch of initial victims who wasted their time on this movie hooking another by giving 10 stars, which I am not going to follow giving one star hopefully to balance the misleading rating.

For those with EXTREMELY HIGH suspension of disbelief or for ages 1-12

[CarlMarket · 2/10 · 17 November 2019]

There are so many writing and/or script flaws - starts with 2 fisherman talking about how they'd be millionaires if they could catch a mermaid, so they go fishing for one that same night and catch one using a net and and nails and screws for bait. So if catching a mermaid is that easy how could catching one bring in millions? The captain decides it's best to cut off the mermaid's tail to prevent her from getting away (and I'm sure to make the rest of the story work) - this in itself raises some questions (if you still believe that they are rare to catch): Wouldn't the entire mermaid be worth more? Is it the tail that's worth millions and not the mermaid itself? There were many other on screen flaws and cheats: It's obvious that the ship is secured somehow - it's not freely rocking/swaying in the ocean, it's totally still. The mermaid falls out of the net with dry hair, which remains dry the entire time after she's cut from the net and is on the deck of the ship. When she's fighting back on the ship, she uses her tail to hit things which go flying off into the ocean but we don't see the actual contact made with most of the objects which were masked by horrible edits. The acting was horrible, the only thing done well in this film were the sets, costumes and make-up.

Definitely a horror film, as in horrible to watch

[strizbiz-99429 · 1/10 · 7 October 2019]

Just bad writing and directing. Good idea but poorly executed.

A bizarrely interesting experience.

[Otkon · 6/10 · 4 April 2020]

After they paid for the prosthetic fish tail, there clearly was nothing left in the budget. The main part of the movie (supposedly set in a small psychiatric home for women) was most definitely filmed in someone's Topanga Canyon bungalow - likely unbeknownst to the homeowner who was away in Cabo for a week. The crew also probably borrowed his boat and traded a down-on-his-luck sea captain a bottle of Old Smuggler for the use of his trawler.

That being said. The film is made in earnest with some serious gusto and heart. The acting is pretty good. There is some lore to the story. Tense moments. Silly ones. It's a strange blend of genres. But I couldn't stop watching.

I can only imagine what it could have been with a little bigger financing.

I shouldn't have watched that

[FranklinDun · 1/10 · 11 July 2020]

I lost my time watching this, the movie made no sense and it was downright bad. The two sailors at the start are talking about mermaids and just so happens to find one 2 seconds later -- ah! Then some random doctor shows up because he was sailing close by, what a coincidence... He catches her and locks her up in a house with other girls which is supposed to be a ward, but it looks like some random bungalow and the girls don't look like patients at all. Then it gets worse and worse. There is barely no story. It's just the girls talking for the whole movie and then it just ends.

A surprise treat

[viggyjiggy · 8/10 · 30 May 2020]

While reading the plot or the watching the trailer you would like Meh! But weirdly it's quite entertaining and interesting ... Don't think too much! Just watch it ...

i actually liked it.

[katastrofkatt · 6/10 · 6 October 2019]

I was not expecting much, to be honest. but i was pleasently surprised. it isn't the greatest movie of all times, but well worth your time. beautiful story and well acted parts. there is something about mermaids that draws me in. i'm glad a gave this film a chance.

Too bad, could have been decent

[usadainpink-84708 · 1/10 · 11 July 2020]

At first glance I really thought this would be good but unfortunately not. This is an okay TV movie at best, with a low budget but some ok effects. It's kind of like a cheap Goosebumps episode, made for young girls. There is no blood or anything horror except the mermaid looks a little creepy. The asylum is weird; these girls look like they are just having a party in their house; it doesn't look like a psychiatric institute. And the main villain makes no sense. At first you think he wants to help the mermaid, but then he's just crazy for no reason? And why is The Invisible Woman in this movie?? what's her point.... This was so bad.

Fun Fantasy Movie

[annakruggod · 5 October 2019]

It's very strange and catches you off guard with the tail cutting which is graphic and hard to watch. And that's the beginning of the movie but then it gets better. I liked the actress and all the actors for this, I hope I can see this in theater soon. Definitely not what I expected but I would watch again.

Bad acting and bad writing. Makes no sence, I assume a lot of people was paid to give this 10 stars ... or it is the first movie and tv screen they have ever seen .

[snikers-04375 · 1/10 · 7 November 2021]

Starts with two old, drunk fishers trying to catch a mermaid, because they need money. For some stupid reason they actually manage to catch one within a week in their first attemt? She gets loose, escapes to the water and gets caugt in the same net less then 2 minutes after, instead of ... I don't know, swiming to whatever hiding place she usually stays in?

Then one of the old guys chop off her tail less the a foot or about 30cm under her stomach, because ... I really don't know why?

After that some wierd doctor who happens to be nearby, swim to the boat while it happens and kills the old guy who cut her tail off, and brings her to a mental home he owns, for women.

For some reason the mermaid does not bleed out and die, but instead she grows first a coocoon(looking like a birds nest of twigs) in it's place, that become human legs in 87 days.

One night some of the other women of the mentel house, hears her screetching and think is a ghost. So they grap some firepokers, that they have access to in the room they are playing cards in ... wait, potential weapons in a mental home, how ignorant is that writer? That would be a great danger, to both the patients and the staff.

The girls concludes that it is just a new girl and get back to their cards.

That the first half hour, and then I would waste another second more watching that terrible movie.

I might have given this movie 2 stars, if not for all the fake 10 star rating and phony reviews it has been given.

And by the way she is definitely not hot (not even in real life), she is a low 6 out of 10 at best, most people is between 4 to 7.

Run, friends. Run!

[rickferreira · 2/10 · 14 November 2019]

Terrible! One of the worst movies I've watched this year. Horrible plot. Horrible acting. I started to watch fooled by the score, but the movie is really bad. Run away!

terrible.

[jamiedee-45573 · 1/10 · 11 December 2019]

People saying it's an indie classic etc.. primer is an India classic and timecrimes.. this was utter crap. Don't waste your time.

Watch out for that tail!

[cats333 · 2/10 · 26 November 2019]

This wasn't brilliant cinema. It was more like watching someone try to explain a dream they had - it made perfect sense while they were dreaming it, but doesn't translate when they are telling you about it.

I do give high scores to all those diligent enough to get its rating up to 7/10! Way to go paid raters!

pretty bad

[the_doofy · 1/10 · 25 June 2022]

The real problem with this movie is the script. It extremely over simplified. The acting is OK, I feel sorry for them.

--An Indie movie needs the good script, this script could have been written by an unimaginative 6th grader.

--

Not what I expected

[joshual-83834 · 7/10 · 6 April 2020]

To my surprise it's actually pretty good, some of the cast was great. Silly plot but interesting enough to keep watching.

utter rubbish. Recommend not to bother watching

[ainoxtina · 1/10 · 6 December 2019]

The story has more plot-holes than Swiss cheese. Clumsy directing : no sense of space + time story-telling. Script writing is super bad, story goes nowhere, no consistency in the character-arc (some times they are good, sometimes bad, no reason for anything change in motivation), nor character development. No budget at all on production design, the set looks worse than set of a dogma film. Worst thing of all, there's no editor, director (who never cut any other film) just cut the film himself, results in terrible action-continuity, movement-connection, no space-establishment, no tempo or anything. The "climax" lasts for like half an hour (for no reason) and very cheesy. In general, this is the worst film I have ever watched in several years. Went to see it because of its imdb score but turned out to be a huge disappointment.

I love mermaid movies

[sugar-93714 · 8/10 · 5 August 2020]

This is very different than what I expected. Didn't find it scary at all but actually suspenseful and at times funny. The mermaid is the way I would imagine them in real life, she looked so real and more like an animal than cutesy girl with a fish tail. There is a lot happening, it's like some crazy world but feels very real. I liked it a lot.

Surprisingly good!

[wahlum · 7/10 · 18 April 2020]

Very interesting, different take on mermaid movie genre. Wish the lighting was better, dark looking movie, but over all good movie

Wow!! Who is rating this? The cast?

[pete-00812 · 1/10 · 5 April 2020]

Quite possibly the most poorly made movie I've ever seen. Not sure if it's intentionally bad and campy, or if the filmmaker is actually serious. Reminiscent of a junior student film with bad editing