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.

This movie is not really a horror movie so much as a black comedy. It is meant for people (like me) who have a dark or morbid sense of humour. It has a lot of things that make it suspenseful, but not scary per say. I recommend it for people who like movies that outright explain themselves in a humorous way and can appreciate something morbid. It has a good crew of actors which make you feel like you can personally feel the emotions that their feeling. Also as previously stated the crew of cameramen were sensational. they gave good angles that kept you at the edge of your seat. they also did a sensational job of showing emotion and feeling, what with the lighting and everything they had without changing what it would look in real life. Finally i want to point my feelings toward the director. The way that he weaved the story with narration and background was impressive. He made it look as it should look, a dark and screwed up town. At the same time i would also like to point out that this movie is not for the faint of heart and not for people who are critical about matters regarding drugs, religion or guns.

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.

Almost Mercy was much better than I expected for a lower budget Indy Horror flick. There was your traditional slasher stuff and also with an overlying message that that is very timely. Almost Mercy is not afraid to take on a variety of meaty issues that are all too common for adolescents in this day and age...some of the horror veterans (Bill Moseley and Kane Hodder!!) are nice surprises as well. The lead actress - Danielle Guldin - keeps the beat during the entire movie. I have seen other films form the director Tom DeNucci & Woodhaven and this is a real step up from their previous work as this company matures so does their work. I enjoyed it very much...