Awesome Movie

Absolutely the worst movie.

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

From the opening narration to the twee overacting, it was hard to take any message on board from this film. It felt like the film betrayed itself and went out of its way to provide gratuitous violence. I'm not personally against violence in films but it seemed badly used.The characters became annoying caricatures as the film progressed and the protagonist was impossible to sympathise with far too early on. It seemed almost cartoon-ish in the worst possible way at the end.I understood the idea and thought it had genuine promise. It was let down by the fact that the film neither subscribed to being a horror, a comedy or a character study. Almost Mercy was stuck in a no man's land. It was attempting to be a dark comedy but achieving none of the depth and execution of a dark comedy. It was incredibly hard to like the main characters in any way despite being the 'weird' kid once upon a time.I felt almost insulted at times by the constant tropes, it seemed lazy and unoriginal. Which completely took away its value as a 'quirky' indie movie.The music was often clashing with the film itself. It annoyed me multiple times. Whether it was supposed to be jarringly juxtaposed, I don't know, but I felt that many songs were poor choices.As a positive, the female lead put in a decent performance and I could definitely see her advancing. The camera work was great and I liked a lot of the shots. I would not recommend this film, unfortunately.

I came by this movie by accident, I saw it under the horror genre and what struck me was the casting Bill Mosely (House of 100 Corpses) and Kane Hodder (Friday The 13th) so I was already expecting something good but unique and I wasn't disappointed... It wasn't even the well known actors that made it good Almost Mercy follows Jackson and Emily (whom narrates throughout the film) both sociopaths waiting to explode. The young kids are bullied throughout school because there a little different deemed strange. Events start to build up as they enter senior year, Emily finds drugs and partying whilst Jackson find guns this ultimately leaves him 2 months in an institution. During that time we see more into there home life which isn't so bad until Emilys mum kills herself and Jacksons dad he leaves to die.The dramatic part of the film is the ending, Jackson has plans to shoot up his school Emily not in agreement. Jackson couldn't go through with it at the gates and is caught and arrested. Dubbed the stronger of the two across the film will Emily finish of what Jackson had planned If you want something different this is for you even avid horror fans will enjoy this. Its a dark film more so in the content and issues, from high school shooting to a church paedophile ring exposed and cliché teenage drama, Its worth a watch or two nd should get a load more credit

I really didn't expect much when I found this movie on Netflix. Usually when I see a horror movie with names more recognizable than the title, I get concerned. However, I was pleasantly surprised.You go on this dark ride with two misfit kids as they grow up in Nowheresville, USA. Bill Moseley (from House of 1,000 Corpses and Devil's Rejects) and Kane Hodder both play their parts just as well as expected, but I have to say the two stars really shone brightly and seemed to take their roles seriously. Without spoiling anything, it was wonderful to see such a strong female lead who kept her clothes on and stayed interesting. If you're a fan of horror, I think you'll have the stomach to handle some of the darker elements of the film, but understand that what you're going into is more like a dark, dark, drama that just has more than its fair share of blood. The visuals are striking, and some of the scenes are designed to make the viewer uneasy, but instead of gore, they mostly use psychological elements to make you cringe. The soundtrack fit the mood perfectly, and really added to the ambiance of the film.I went in to this film looking for something to kill some time, and what I ended up getting is a new favorite. I've recommended it to all of my friends, and now I'm recommending it to you. If you're looking for something different, you've found your film.

There are two types of horror movies we see being scrounged up these days. There are the over the top flicks that make you "jump" with spontaneous startles or over the top gore. Then there are flicks that have something to say about modern society and cultural values, strewn in with over the top murder and other risqué elements. "Almost Mercy" sits comfortably in the latter category, bringing elements of social commentary in with over the top gore, sex, and violence.The story starts off by introducing Jackson (Jesse Dufault) and Emily (Danielle Guldin) as two outcasts in a small town in Rhode Island riddled with corrupt leaders, parents with addictions to pills and infidelity, and all kinds of terrible mentors that haunt Jackson and Emily's childhood. For a while, you feel a lot of sympathy for the two troubled youths. Dufault and Guldin have terrific chemistry and truly bring their characters to life. There are no awkward lines. Even their first on scene kiss doesn't feel or look terribly awkward. Sometimes it can be difficult for two actors to portray a life-long friendship, but Guldin and Dufault pull it off quite well!As with many horror films, there is no moderation. All of the characters are terrible, terrible people on a moralistic stand point. Jackson and Emily are made out to be the victims, until the last 20 or so minutes of the film where Emily finally snaps and ends up violently butchering almost all of the "bullies" that are introduced in the film. If you found yourself cheering for Emily, the film makers did their job properly. This is truly where the social commentary value lies. At some point you say to yourself "Wow, I'm cheering for the mass murderer right now." Emily's character does show a bit of humanity when her mother overdoses, but that seems to only add fuel to the young girl's rage.Overall, I was impressed by this indie flick. There are some scenes that drag a bit, audio quirks that caught my ear, and some make up / FX that seemed off, but thanks to the enthralling story, none of that really bothered me enough to turn it off in displeasure. Composition was fantastic throughout the story. Lighting was on point and there weren't any scenes where I was struggling to make out what was happening, which is a common flaw in a lot of low budget films. As mentioned earlier, the movie does drag at some points. There are sequences with many fast cuts to show long lapses in time which help push the story along fantastically. However, these are often followed by slow, droning scenes that creep along, not allowing the rebuilding of tension, just sluggishly moving the story to the next major plot point. I think the editor's could have shaved a good 6 - 8 minutes off the film and still came out with a fantastic final product. Oh, Rhode Islanders will love this movie, as it takes place in RI and you will recognize some of the locations if you're from the state.