Mercy Black (2019) User Reviews

Mercy Black... Or, How A Writer Kills Their Story...

[P3n-E-W1s3 · 6/10 · 3 May 2020]

Okay, I'm going to get straight to the worst part of the movie. The story.

Writer and director Owen Egerton does a splendid job of telling the tale of Mercy Black... until he wrecks it all at the end. There are two reasons for this.

One: He overcooks the story. The main storyline needed to be a thriller or a monster movie; not both. After choosing one of these, he could've threaded in elements of the other. Done correctly, it would help to ease the atrocious ending.

Two: The death and murder of Lily. This is the thriller element. From the start of the story, we are told Lily is dead. Our heroine Marina and her friend Rebecca murdered her. There's a scene between Will and Marina where Will brings up the murder. He also states there's been a copycat. Next, we see newspaper headlines and internet postings about the murder. Even Marina's sister, Alice, mentions it in an argument. However, at the end of the film, not only are we told Lily is alive and who she is but that Marina's psychiatrist knew about her all along. This is Bullsh## bad writing.

I was enjoying the film and the story until this point. I came close to turning the film off. You can forgive certain things like the unoriginal story - you can discern similarities with Candyman (which is being rebooted) and the Slenderman urban myth and reality. However, completely ignoring your own story's universe for a cheap "red herring" twist is lazy and unforgivable.

There's an easy fix: Change the murder charge and headlines to attempted murder. Marina would still be schizophrenic. All Egerton would then need to do is instil "the murder belief" into her delusions. Alter some of the characters' lines to align with these beliefs. Then use her delusions to add interest, confusion, and disbelief. Building the mystery and thriller sections of the movie and an adding eerie atmosphere.

Nonetheless, the story up to this letdown is interesting. Egerton is good at character creation. I loved Marina and her nephew Bryce. Their relationship and trust comes easily and feels natural. He also produces one of the best slimeballs of recent times, with Will Nylund. Though he comes across as friendly and helpful, this guy cares nothing for nobody but himself. Then you have Rebecca's mom. It's clear she's on the verge of a full mental breakdown.

Luckily for the audience, the cast is perfect in their portrayals. I have to give respect to Rochelle Robinson, who strikes the ideal balance between sane and insane. You can literally see the changes in emotion in Mrs Cline's face. The hope in her eyes when she believes Marina may help her daughter. This is replaced with love and reminiscence when she tells Marina that they will always be children in her eyes. This is an impressive performance. Robinson could have easily toppled off the fence and come across as hammy and silly. However, she adds a nice depth to Mrs Cline. I empathised with this woman and her predicament.

The audience is also fortunate that Egerton is better behind the camera. He works well with shadow and light. Using it to create a tense and spooky atmosphere. They show this early on. On her first night, Marina's awoken by a noise. She gets out of bed to find the source of the sound. Egerton shoots up the staircase, centring it, and shrouding it in night shadows. Then he goes one better by giving the viewers a shot down the stairs to reveal two puddles of light in the hallway. The extended silence after Marina shouts, "Is anybody there?" adds to the unease you experience. This scene is atmospheric and well-constructed. And there are similar throughout the movie.

If you don't care too much for story continuity and lazy writing this film will be worth your viewing pleasure. However, if you're like me, then the writing F.U.B.A.R. will leave you unhappy. With that in mind, it's your choice. The film is entertaining; the cast is great, and the direction is above par, but I won't be watching this again.

Ratings: Story 0.75 : Direction 1.5 : Pace 1.25 : Acting 1.25 : Enjoyment 1 : Total 5.75 / 10

Swim across to my Absolute Horror and Killer Thriller Chiller lists to see where this lackadaisical story landed.

Decent B Horror Movie

[FckVwls · 6/10 · 29 April 2019]

Not sure why all the negative reviews. When you watch a movie like this, you're in it for the creepiness and jump scares, and this picture delivers. Acting is decent for a horror movie and the Mercy Black character is super creepy! Sure it's reminiscent of Slender Man, but it's creative in its own right and there is plenty of creepy imagery including evil, murderous kids (evil children are the creepiest creeps!), weird witchy masks, and masochistic crazy women who work in school libraries! For me this was scarier than Slender Man, and better orchestrated. It's got plot holes and flaws, of course, but what B horror doesn't? This is the perfect movie to cuddle up with your honey on a Friday night, make some buttered popcorn, turn off all the lights... And just let yourself experience something fun, scary and other worldly. No it's not a masterpiece... But it's a hell of a lot better than most of the horror movies out there. Do yourself a favor, ignore the negative reviews, and enjoy this movie.

Who's Mercy Black?

[Sleepin_Dragon · 6/10 · 29 March 2020]

The plot has all been done before, there isn't really anything original here, but as a film it's pretty good. It's very nicely made, the production values are hard to fault, it's well filmed and edited. The acting is excellent, every single performer does their job, delivering quality acting.

The Mercy Black figure is creepy as Hell, and very well realised, the main encounter was the best scene. Some very good imagery, particularly at the end.

If you want some good scares, but are willing to accept that you'll have seen it all before you might just enjoy it.

6/10.

Overall a NO from me.

[Patient444 · 4/10 · 31 March 2019]

Mercy Black has a rather interesting idea, not the entire plot, but it starts out a little more ambitious than your usual indie flick.

Sadly the execution does not provide as it should, mostly as one would expect from such a production, thus it goes downhill and loses itself there. I do believe more could have been achieved without over inflating the budget, but simply try harder to connect the dots. You won't get much thrill out of it either, just a story that slowly reveals itself in front of your eyes and then the end. Rather typical, another swing and miss like so many other such movies.

I'm not going to go all aggressive because it did try and provided a tad bit more than usual, but I'm not going to recommend it either.

Cheers!

Nothing Happens

[treetrailman · 2/10 · 4 April 2019]

This movie is so slow it is almost unbearable. Every scene turns out to be a let down. Actually, if you want a bad horror to judge other horror films off of, this one is great for that.

Not what i expected from Blumhouse.

[sedmak7 · 2/10 · 1 April 2019]

I didn't expect much from this movie but seeing it was a Blumhouse production I didn't think it'd be this bad. The acting was so horrible that I'm surprised I even watched it untill the end. It would have been better if i hadn't though.

Actually a good movie

[athenawishes · 7/10 · 9 April 2019]

I took a chance watching this, expecting bad acting and plot holes, but I was pleasantly surprised. This movie, while not amazing, has twists and turns that kept me interested throughout the whole movie. It would not be my first recommendation, but I would certainly reccomend it.

NOPE - Don't waste your time

[ferring-99240 · 10 April 2019]

I wish I could get my 1 hr 28 min back. It started out like it would be decent, but quickly went down hill. Mediocre acting, half baked plot, awful special effects. It's like the writers couldn't figure out who they wanted to be the bad guy or how to string the characters along into a cohesive story.

A waste of time

[ivan_dmitriev · 2/10 · 12 April 2019]

A knockoff from the Marble Hornets Slenderman internet fiction, which can't even start the story, not to mention to keep it going. A disjointed set of women screaming, whispering and trying to make some creepy facial expression.

Skip it.

Above Average Take on a Real Crime

[Reviews_of_the_Dead · 7/10 · 1 April 2019]

This was a film that caught my eye while I was on Netflix looking to keep pace with watching at least one 2019 horror film each week. It was really new at the time that I saw it and knew pretty much nothing about it aside from that Blumhouse was behind it. The synopsis is 15 years after stabbing a classmate to conjure an imaginary phantom known as Mercy Black, Marina Hess (Daniella Pineda) is coming home. She will have to deal with the real world and if this entity is real or just a figment of her imagination.

We kick this off getting some flashes of back-story. Two children, Marina and Rebecca stabbed their friend Lily in order to conjure up a supernatural entity known as Mercy Black. The lore behind this we learn is that if give her a body and your sadness, she will take them from you. The two girls though are sent away to mental hospitals for their crime.

The film then jumps fifteen years in the future. Marina learns from Dr. Ward (Janeane Garofalo) that she is going home. She will be staying with her sister, Alice (Elle LaMont) and her son Bryce (Miles Emmons). Marina is nervous about leaving, but her doctor thinks it is for the best.

Once home, we learn that Alice doesn't really have her life together. She tells her son quite a few lies in order to protect him. His father left her, but he thinks that he is a member of NASA and on a secret mission. Alice is dating Will Nylund (Austin Amelio), who seems nice, but rough around the edges.

Marina continues to think she is haunted by this entity and it doesn't help that Will is into true crime and wants to know more from her. People from the area decide to mess with Marina as well. They are pranked with a doll that looks like the entity. This sparks Bryce's interest in it as well and he starts to research into it with the help of his school librarian.

This brings the question, is Marina crazy or is Mercy Black real? There was nothing found in the woods, but she will continue to look for the truth. When Bryce starts to see it and something visits Will, what is really going on here?

Now I'm glad that I could come into this one as blind as possible, because I definitely enjoyed it. This film borrows heavily from the Slenderman lore and the crime that was committed by a couple of girls from it as well. What makes this film interesting for me is that we don't know if what we are seeing is real or not. There are things that happen to Marina, but there is no one else there. Being that she just is released from the hospital, she is an unreliable narrator. The film does get quite interesting during the third act to reconcile this.

Something else I really liked about it is that we have two generations who are dealing with this entity. It is established that this lore was started by Rebecca along with her two other friends. They are all dealing with different things as children that they don't fully comprehend so their way to cope is to think up this supernatural being that will take their sadness. Marina as an adult is plagued by it and she passes the idea off to her nephew, who is growing up in a broken home. His mother is also lying to him to shelter him, but it is doing more harm that good.

This brings me to the pacing of the film. It has a short running time coming in at 88 minutes, so it really does move through things at a good pace. I did like the mystery that the film builds and trying to piece together what is really happening here. There was a solid reveal that also happens in the film that I didn't see coming. Some aspects of it don't make sense, but it doesn't ruin the film. I also liked how the film ended, as it does give us an explanation what is happening.

I thought the acting of the film was pretty solid as well. It was crazy to see Garofalo, who I know a dry comedian from when I was growing up. I thought she did a fine job as the doctor. Pineda does a solid job as someone who has been away from technology for 15 years and is behind on it. It came off as very believable as does her fear of this entity. I found myself feeling bad, because she doesn't know what is real and can't seem to prove what she is seeing. LaMont was solid as struggling single mother as well. Emmons I also thought did a solid job and he had an interesting role to play as the film progressed. I feel that children actors are normally hit or miss, so I'd have to say that his role as Bryce fell on the former. The girls in the past were also solid as were the rest of the cast as they rounded out the film for what was needed.

To the effects, I have to say that there weren't a ton. We do get a little bit of blood that looked good. I thought the creature design was interesting and when we learn more about it, it makes sense. There was some CGI that came with the creature in the third act that wasn't great, but we don't get a lot there. It definitely doesn't ruin the film. I also thought practical effects with it were solid.

Now with that said, this was a fun little film that I knew little about. It has an interesting story that is drawing parallels to a real event that happened as well an entity that has basis on the internet. I thought the idea of is this real and what is really happening was good. It helped to build the mystery and tension for me. The pacing was good and I never found myself bored. Acting for the film was solid for what was needed and the effects were the same way. The score of the film really didn't stand out, but it also doesn't hurt it. I did find this to be above average and I'd recommend giving it a viewing.

Trash

[arthur851 · 1/10 · 5 April 2019]

I love all types of horror. Corny, campy, good ones.. this was none.

Please don't waste your time, it's crap.

Why So Negative?

[brown-peyton · 8/10 · 2 June 2019]

A lot of negative reviews but strangely enough, I enjoyed this little gem. Right off the bat reminded me of the crime with those two girls who tried to kill their friend for Slenderman. But in this movie, you really don't know if Mercy Black is real or not. I kept going from real, to fake, to the main character being Mercy until it was finally revealed in the end. The ending with the CGI Mercy was a let down, but throughout the movie that face 10/10 creeped me out. I recommend for a fun watch.

Give it a go

[liv303 · 6/10 · 25 April 2020]

Honestly cannot understand the low scores (1's and 2's), because while this isn't groundbreaking in the slightest, I'm happy to come across an unexpected little horror gem like this. These days every movie is hyped or has 5 trailers etc and there is no intrigue in sitting down to watch something completely unexpected. It was predictable and had the same horror tropes we have all come to expect, but it was no less entertaining than any other mainstream horror film out these days. It may not be for everyone, but it was certainly a decent enough watch.

right in the middle

[ryan_sy · 5/10 · 4 April 2019]

This film had some decent moments, but ultimately was derivative and unoriginal. There are certainly worse movies to watch. I classify this one as a time-filler that is mediocre, but does offer a small amount of entertainment.

Slow moving...

[karenm-689-241908 · 3/10 · 31 March 2019]

Never held my attention. Slow, boring plot. Couldn't wait for the end.

Good for a Lifetime Movie....

[Carriexoc · 4/10 · 1 April 2019]

I'm assuming this was written and directed by Lifetime Network?

Not a good title.

[famedk · 3/10 · 3 April 2019]

The lead actor was such a kim kardashian lookalike it made the film relay bad. She wanted us to believe that she was a mental patient, but woke up in full mascara lipstick and all. Hilarious. I like blumhouse movies but this was not a good one.

Psychological influences

[rachelflowers-03467 · 7/10 · 13 April 2020]

I really started getting a good feeling about this movie but it turned totally confusing about the last thirty min. They never explain how these girls found a book telling them how to create mercy. They never explain why they wanted to create her in the first place. I understand why the marina character wanted to promise but they never explain why the other two girls agreed to do the ritual. They leave you wondering why bryce makes a promise either. They say they created this thing but if so then where did this book come from and why do you never see the book?? Its a good scare you feel with the anticipation and the goosebumps but the ending doesn't make sense. Maybe you can figure it out.

Unoriginal and uninspiring.

[jamesstewart1977 · 4/10 · 11 July 2020]

Overall, quite a slow film and not really many scary moments. Starts off well enough, but characters have no real depth and there is no real development of the original plot. Found myself waiting for the film to end. Not the worst film in the world, but for fans of horror, I would give this one a miss.

I made a promise

[nogodnomasters · 7/10 · 17 January 2021]

Marina Hess (Daniella Pineda ) is let out of the mental institute after 15 years. She was involved in some mischief as a child and blamed it all on Mercy Black, and imaginary figure. Mercy Black has gone viral with copycat killings designed to make Mercy a person again. Marina lives with her sister Alice (Elle LaMont ) and her young nephew Bryce (Miles Emmons). Bryce starts seeing Mercy Black and Marina must figure out, as does the audience if Mercy is real or not.

This is similar to the Slender Man story. I wished Mercy Black had some sort of background story, but didn't. I liked the slow build-up and the ending. The production could have used a few more scenes and slowed things up a bit at the end.

Guide: No swearing, sex, or nudity.

One of the worst movies I've ever seen

[ravenclaw_girlrules · 1/10 · 4 March 2021]

I absolutely cannot believe this movie was produced by Blumhouse Productions. The majority of the movie was plain boring - a complete snoozefest. None of the scares were remotely scary. There was no real feeling of terror. The characters were all extremely flat. The acting was horrendous. I can't believe I wasted my time on this.

As an aside, I love B movies. But not this.

Lots of tension and some good scares

[permanentwearerevolution · 9/10 · 1 April 2019]

Not sure why the super negativity, this doesn't deserve less than a 6 even if you didn't enjoy the plot and scares I found the camerawork and creepy kids were all extremely good. Take or leave the urban legend part, which I really enjoyed, and there is a good story that isn't 100% predictable and yet doesn't seem to only be loosely tied together at the very end with some explain-o-thon from the characters.

I was really impressed, and my partner and I were on the edge of our seats the whole time. Kudos to the entire cast and crew!

mercy me,,,,

[ops-52535 · 6/10 · 2 April 2019]

Its not that terribly horrific this horror film, that is based on a local legend that 3 girls have made up. its a childhood ragedy en masse that makes things develop as they do in these kids.. its the kinda horror movie that has a childrens riddle humming in the background, so it gives you the hypnotic effect as you watch, and jolts in screams and scares here and there. its hard to not believe what you see so the director has done a good job keeping the secret hidden till the end sequence of the film.

the acting are good by the mains, but the child actors are inexperienced and seeks the camera with their eyes now and then(oh,what was the line.....). their vocal talents are good, and mixed with the scary scores build up there are some nice screams here and there. what is excellent is the well made filmography, that could easily have carried this movie as a silent movie, or if a faulty sound system in the theater should occure.. the technical product are elsewise(is that a word???) on average.

athough all the bragging ill just give a 6 because it stands along with hundreds of the same kind, so the grumpy old man thinks he has seen much better and far worse too.

Had Potential.....

[BethCooper · 4/10 · 3 April 2019]

The film had potential using a Slender Man type legend.....I thought anything could be better than the actual Slender Man movie released last year but I was wrong. While this movie had it's moments it was quite slow & dragging in places that my attention wandered quite a bit. If you want to watch a better version of this watch the 2016 TV movie "The Crooked Man".

What could've been

[jenniferlynn-49555 · 2/10 · 24 April 2019]

It started off great! It remained creepy.... Then it showed Mary Black, all downhill from there. Yes it was very similar to Slenderman storyline but that wasn't the problem. I thought the acting was decent and I had never seen the lead actress before but I liked her, I believed her character. The costume as soon as it was shown, ruined it for me. Then sadly like most horror films, the end killed it. It made no sense to me. So... she was the girl who survived but she wants to help Mary Black? I would've thought she was doing the same steps as revenge, that would have made sense. Revenge torture. Then she had to give a play by play, of where she was behind certain scenes and it still didn't make sense. So.. what? The kid completed the promise and now she has a real full body or just an eye? Is it like jeepers creepers and she gains whatever body part was eaten or in this case injured causing death? That might actually be the answer... One question figured out, maybe, but the end was still very lame. The bathtub scene was frightening. What happened to Janeane Garofalo?? Her lips were distracting, not only swollen but glossy around the lips too. I still love her though, teenager in the 90s it's hard not to.