RavenGlamDVDCollector
(the spoiler bit is only in the last paragraph)Be warned, if you're scouting for a hot title, this one is just too much of a cold fish to be anything like that, or if you're scouting for a dark title, this one is too mild to be anything like that either. Good performance by Ellen Barkin, but if you carry an erotic torch for her, go to the sea, the SEA OF LOVE, ah, those were the days. Peta Wilson? I was, upon first sight, disappointed, but, yeah, she is something to see, especially as the film progresses. She's a very complicated character though. So any fun? Quite frankly, few and far between, with lotsa yuck getting into the way. And it's kinda dorky yuck, cause convincing it's not, the dead bodies are clearly prop department works of 'art.'Getting slapped with a wet fish through the face, that's what this creepy movie is. I don't mean creepy in a shivery way. I mean creepy as in yuck. Corpses galore. Naked corpses. Bloodied naked corpses. Close-ups of bloodied naked corpses. This movie caters to the vulture mindset.Quite distasteful, leaves a bad taste, though well-filmed. Unsettling story-line is not what I am referring to. Plot holes and lots left unexplained.A dark psychological thriller loaded with psychobabble, inane Freudian ramblings that has never held any water but is being devoured like sweet-cakes at a church fair, because it tells people what they want to hear. In the World as it is, we are all very, very different, and no one damn universal truth exists. We are all very strange bunnies, so damn the case files, just because Person A acted like this ten decades ago, doesn't mean everybody is going to follow suit, but there is a whole industry of psychologists who can afford to live life up high in their own ivory towers charging rent to other people's castles up there in the sky. Much of the motivation doesn't even make sense, for instance, the sniper scenes, I fail to understand, obviously because it is just a bunch of junk.I originally saw the downloaded trailer and figured it to be a good bet. Well, it's kinda really really a letdown in many, I'd say, most ways. Visually not nearly as exciting as it promised to be. Wallowing about in stupid badly-presented psychological disorders. The swimming pool scene was well done, however. Danielle Marie Straub, no speaking part, unforgettable in her aquamarine bathing suit, the very symbol of innocence, plays the molested child with a dismayed questioning expression that speaks volumes.It was an expensive purchase for me. All well and fine if you can see it for the price of a rental, or on cable, whatever you guys do, but I went the whole hog.Now, the spoilers:Julian Sands. Getting eaten alive. Yells out campy-voiced. Oh go home man! Karen Young, who is quite good at times, is absolutely inadequate in that crucial scene where she approaches drag- outfitted Dr. Broussard. That has the feel of a first attempt. And what a monumental waste writing Peta Wilson out of proceedings long before the end. Some unforgivable mistakes.
somehope
This film tried, but ultimately it was a waste of talent. It tried to hard to be "sexy." I'm not putting down the works of such actresses as Ellen Barkin and Peta Wilson (who will find something besides TV's "Le Femme Nikita" worthy of her talents.) I just didn't find, even in Ms. Wilson's so-called near-seduction scene with Mrs. Barkin any real emotion, even though I know the thespians tried very hard to make the scene work. If the sexual elements of Wilson's disturbed sex victim didn't touch our heart (which it didn't even by an ending it didn't deserve), neither did the murder element of the plot. Perhaps it was the script or perhaps the direction, but I didn't feel for anyone in this movie, and without this feeling, a movie doesn't work for me. If you are interested in a movie about lesbianism, there are a least two films on either side of the specturum to check out: 1.) The gulity pleasure of "Bound" which works well in a noir setting; and 2.) The more honest, and touching story of a lesbian growing up in Hell's Kitchen called "All Over Me." It's a well-defined indie from the mid-90's that handles that coming-of-age issue with feeling, not forced sexuality. Both would be a better rental than "Mercy" which has next to nothing.
petersimcox
I watched this turkey because Ellen Barkin is in it. Thanks, Ellen. This is a serial murder movie, Barkin is a cop. The victims arewomen who belong to an S&M group. Barkin has conflicted sexualfeelings. Get it? In it's best moments, it reminds you a little ofDressed To Kill but without the style, without the writing andwithout Michael Caine. Ellen Barkin ambles through the filmwearing a one-size-fits all expression that could come from asevere sleep disorder, a few reefers or from make-up that set uptoo hard, I couldn't tell. This film purports to tell the story from afemale perspective, and so if you are terribly interested in thisaspect of movie story-telling, you may find something here that Ididn't. I will confess by bias against preachy feminism in film. (Ihated The Piano, and I thought the Julianne Moore characterruined the second Jurassic Park movie.) And as for Julian Sands,he's going to wind up typecast like Anthony Perkins. Thetransvestite dancing scene is as funny as the "She Works Hard forthe Money" scene in The Birdcage. Too bad it wasn't played forlaughs.
vyto34
One of the most visually appealing movies made in recent years, with a good dose of eroticism, to boot. But somewhat unpleasant theme, so enjoy the visuals!Peta Wilson may be the sexiest actress playing in movies today! (and Ellen Barkin is no slouch in the sexiness department herself).
