Mercy Black! One of the best films of 2019 so far?

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Mercy Black is awesome. I am going to get directly to the heart of the matter, this will be on everyone’s Top 10 of 2019 lists come the end of the year, me personally, it’s number 1 for me right now.  I am getting directly to the point because this movie does the same thing, from the drop you are hit with gruesome imagery and post title card you are immediately hit with the jump scares and the eerie tension.  It’s like jumping on a moving train and I love it.  Too many horror movies these days hold your hand, giving you every single detail and wasting the first 40 minutes of the movie doing it too.

Not this movie.  Not Mercy Black.

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The entire premise of the movie is set up in the first 2 minutes of the movie, Marina Hess, played by Daniella Pineda, is coming home from the crazy house 15 years after her and her friend killed and maimed another 10-year-old girl in brutal, disturbing fashion as laid out in a series of flashbacks.  Now these flashbacks aren’t your typical drawn out, whispered filled sequences they are flashbacks, quick hits to strong imagery that allows you to build the story in your imagination.  Something drastically missing in today’s movies.  This quick pace sets up the premise and lets the rest of the run time allows it to breathe and grow.

Marina, having been gone from the world the last 15 years, learns about the internet and how her story and the Urban Legend of Mercy Black, a phantom who promises to take away the pain but requires sacrifice, has gone viral and is spreading throughout the world.  Is she crazy?  Are these copycats?  Or is Mercy Black real?

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You might be thinking “Oh, this is like Slenderman” and I’ve seen many folks online saying this exact same thing and casually dismissing Mercy Black, I highly suggest you don’t.  Plenty of movies have tried this formula before from Slenderman and The Mothman Prophecies and going all the way back to Candyman and Prom Night 2 but Mercy Black has perfected it. Comparing this movie to Slenderman is like comparing Martin to Bram Stokers Dracula, yeah both are about vampires, but they are completely different things. Mercy Black is a completely different thing. This is the Candyman of this generation.

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This movie is way more than the standard “I poked the demon, now he’s gonna kill me” flick. Part psychological horror thriller with a fantastic plot twist or 3 that will completely catch you off guard. Part classic horror masterpiece that doesn’t have to rely on cheap gimmicks, gratuitous gore or the monster sticking their face in the camera, dislocating their jaw and roaring.

I demand at least 6 sequels. I want them to expand on the legend, I want more of the family to be written in and written out, I want Mercy Black to go to space and then go to hell and then to return like so many great monsters before her.  The director/writer of Mercy Black, Owen Egerton, is very new and does not have much in his filmography but I want to get a hold of what ever he has previously done (Bloodfest and Follow), and I am excited for what he is going to do in the future.

An outstanding almost all female cast with characters that you really care about including Janeane Garofalo as the psychiatrist Dr. Ward.  Creepy soundtrack, a creepy mask, a creepy monster, a creepy little boy and a unique creepy story puts this movie firmly atop my Top 10 of 2019 so far.

Mercy Black is now streaming on Netflix so bump everything off your queue and put this right on the top

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Written by Bud

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