Mercy Black

Mercy Black

Starring Daniella Pineda, Elle LaMont, Miles Emmons, Austin Amelio

Directed by Owen Egerton

The Story:
Fifteen years after she and another friend tried to sacrifice a third friend to the mythical Mercy Black, Marina (Daniella Pineda) finally leaves the psychiatric home and moves in with her sister Alice (Elle LaMont) and her young son Bryce (Miles Emmons).  Convinced that Mercy Black doesn't exist, Marina tries to live a new life, although she's constantly hounded by memories and especially Alice's boyfriend Will (Austin Amelio), who constantly wants to know what happened that day in the woods.

Soon strange events begin occurring in the house, and Bryce seems particularly traumatized by it.  He begins to believe Mercy Black is real, and despite Marina's constant belief that she's not, she begins to doubt her own sanity as well.  Is Mercy Black back for revenge, or is it all in Marina's head?

The Synopsis:
Do you know Mercy?  Do you know her name?  She'll take away your hurt, if you promise her your pain.

"Mercy Black" begins with this ominous introduction, and after watching it, I would be willing to promise her all my pain if she can take away the hurt I suffered in my brain from watching this.  In fact, the statement itself doesn't make a lick of sense - she'll take my hurt away if I give her my pain?  Wouldn't that be her taking my hurt away, if I give her my pain?  Now my brain is overthinking things, and obviously writer and director Owen Egerton didn't put any thought into this contrived story.

You can clearly tell this is a film ripped off real headlines (basically like a film version of "Law & Order," we just needed the musical intro), as "Mercy Black" focuses on three young girls who go into the woods and decide to sacrifice their one friend to Mercy Black - a being they created that would take their hurt in exchange for their pain.  If you've heard this story before, it's no coincidence - clearly this is a fictionalized version of the real "Slenderman" offering that two young girls attempted a few years ago when they tried to sacrifice their third friend to the mythical creepypasta villain.  You thought last year's "Slenderman" was a rip-off of this story, well "Mercy Black" makes it look like an award-winning production.

Anyway, back to the story: Fifteen years later, one of the girls is released from a mental hospital and of course crazy things begin happening.  If you've heard this story before, then you're no stranger to horror movies, as that's pretty much the premise of most movies of this ilk.  You're supposed to spend the film wondering if a) Mercy Black is actually real and out for revenge; b) someone is performing a "Scooby-Doo"esque masquerade to drive the girl insane; c) this is all inside the girl's head and she's manifesting what she thinks is reality, or d) all of the above.  The correct answer is:  e) who cares?

Following the traditional spiritual horror tropes, we get a girl with a troubled past, a home that's old and doesn't provide a lot of light, and jump scares that are made obvious with the ominous music that plays them in.  All of which doesn't add any originality to the film, and not even the final act can save it from the muddied mess that this was - in fact, it only creates more mud to tread your way through.

The performances are as lackluster as the film itself.  Daniella Pineda (best known for her small role as the no-nonsense vet in "Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom") floats through her performance, and the haunting look in her eyes shows the audience that she has no idea how she got this low either.  Elle LaMont plays Marina's sister Alice, who offers her home and her son to her estranged sister, and puts on her no-nonsense face throughout.  Austin Amelio takes some time off his "The Walking Dead" and now "Fear the Walking Dead" to play the typical sleazeball boyfriend who wants fame and fortune.  Then young Miles Emmons plays your typical horror-kid-who's-annoying-as-crap kid.

Even the creature isn't that frightening, since it was created by three young girls, there's absolutely no sense of dread or fear when Marina sees her in her visions.  Much like other non-terrifying entities like "The Bye Bye Man," Mercy Black delivers no thrills or fear, but just groans and moans - mostly from me seeing it.

The Summary:
Obviously ripping off headlines, "Mercy Black" tries to instill a sense of terror in the viewer, but the only terrifying thing the film has to offer is the fact that it was somehow made in the first place.

The Score: D-