User reviews

That any soft or hard core producer would only dream of. This one has it all; good acting, turn on scenes, bisexuality, lesbianism, murder, sexual deviation and maybe a cult and/or a serial killer thrown in too.

A little too much actually but it makes for a decent thriller although it becomes a little too predictable during the middle.

You have to be fairly open minded and in the mood but this will keep your attention. Particularly good performances by Julian Sands, whom I normally dislike, and Pita Wilson.

I can understand those who give Mercy a 1 ... in many ways, it's a terrible film. For the most part, it's a teenaged boy's wet dream about beautiful lesbians, wrapped in Lynchian style.

And yet, I couldn't stop watching it. Ellen Barkin remains a highly underrated actress (and an unbelievably sexy woman for her age.) Peta Wilson has hypnotic beauty and holds her own quite well with Barkin. She actually "researched" the role by delving into LA's lesbian S&M scene for a few weeks ... what a trooper.

If you have Memento-esque short-term memory lapse, this is a great film. Forget the plot and float along in its lurid eroticism.

I have read the 28 most recent comments by various people regarding this movie and was surprised that no one mentioned the fact that the first victim, shown on the bed with the "missing eyelids", as the camera pans up and away from her face, blinks! Yes, BLINKS! I recorded it as it came on HBO this past weekend and when I saw this I literally had to replay it several times, focusing on one eye at a time to make sure that I was not seeing things! Of course, after that, it was hard to take the movie seriously although there were a few interesting and intense scenes with Julian Sands. Very disappointed and give it a 4 mostly due to the fact that the 1st victim blinks in one of the last frames as the camera pulls away from the body/face. Too bad.

The erotic ambiance of this film is overwhelming. The plot is sexually charged despite the fact that there is no overt sex depicted in the film. The nudity that is shown seems more for function than exploitation. Peta Wilson's performance is incredibly compelling and sensual. "Mercy" is worth seeing for her presentation alone. Add the somber mood of the film, the secret femme culture of rough sex that is explored, Ellen Barkin as a troubled detective, and what could have been merely an "B" Movie cop thriller becomes a special film that held me rapt from start to finish.

Female protagonists dominate "Mercy". I think that is one of the key factors that make it so entertaining. It makes no apologies its depiction of its women being independent and living their own, albeit secret, lives. One learns gradually of this subculture as the erotic Vicki Kittrie reluctantly guides Detective Catherie Palmer through this dark, ethereal world in search of a killer. This is really a film worth enjoying. The acting is superb from one and all. The plot moves along with constant suspense, and the climax is gritty and real, yet stunning in its poignance. And that aura of the sensually erotic simply pervades every scene. I highly recommend "Mercy".

I caught this on HBO under its category of "Guilty Pleasures", and I would agree that I felt guilty (and pleasured) watching it. One, it's trash, and really raunchy trash. Two, the plot is slow and predictable and once you learn "who did it", you think, "So what?". However, I must admit to being enough of a male chauvinist pig to want to sit through what is obviously a poor movie, if for no other reason than to see Peta Wilson get completely naked a number of times. Do I feel dirty for having watched it? Yes. Am I sorry I watched it? No. So, there's the contradiction between being a lover of good movies and a lover of the female anatomy, even when in a poor movie. Sigh!

When it comes to sex, normative behavior depends on the circles in which one travels. This film traverses a very sordid perimeter, and jolts us with images ranging from mild deviance to utter depravity. The themes include a women's club where affluent married women come to cheat on their husbands with other women, as well as transvestitism, sadomasochism, dominance and bondage, lesbian seduction and incest. Oh, and lest I forget the main storyline, we have serial killings where the mutilated female victims are always found in the nude.

Ellen Barkin plays a homicide detective investigating the killings. In the course of the investigation, she becomes obsessed with Vicki, who is a suspect due to her connection with two of the victims. Vicki introduces her to a world where pain, pleasure and sex collide.

This is a bold venture into sex noir that is sometimes provocative and at others disturbing, raw and distasteful. The plot was good and the ending original as mass murder stories go. Unfortunately, the presentation was very disjointed and often hard to follow. That is probably because the investigation took a back seat to the sexual odyssey, which meandered self-indulgently from hedonism to perversion. This film contained a good deal of nudity, some of which was appropriate to the story and much of which was gratuitous.

The direction by Damian Harris was good with a lot of interesting perspective shots and tight close-ups that enhanced both the suspense and the lustful aspects. However, the cinematography lost a great deal because the color quality was poor.

Ellen Barkin was a good choice for the lead in this film. Barkin has a natural toughness combined with a scorching sexuality, which was the precise combination her character needed. Peta Wilson played the sexually gifted Vicki and was seductive, sultry and lascivious.

Overall, this was a good, well-acted thriller with bizarre sexual preoccupations. I rated it 7/10, but I can understand why so many people hated it. It is definitely not for everyone. Many viewers will find the deviant sexual themes repugnant and offensive. If you are averse to lesbianism, sexual perversion or graphic gore you will want to go out of your way to miss this film.

As much as I love Ellen Barkin (who is really underrated) I have to boo this movie. If you can't tell who did it AND why in the first half hour you obviously have never seen a psycho-sexual thriller or have never watched 20/20. It's like the filmmakers and actors didn't care that they way they were shooting it and they way they were playing the characters would be a dead giveaway.

Overall, this movie serves to turn-on the dirty perverts who like to mix violence and sex. Not a fun movie to sit through, although if you like Ellen Barkin it's nice to see her place a tough lady.

Mercy. Ellen Barkin. Confusing movie. Tons of plot holes and poor story structure. The central theme of the movie is lesbianism and sexual endeavours. Ellen Barkin plays a sure headed detective who slowly lets her curiosity get the best of her. Barkin is drop dead gorgeous in this film and is by far the best actor in this movie. When she's on screen, it'll catch your attention. Her character though and the plot is written with a lot of gaps and head scratching moments. There are a few moments that are memorable, however. If you're curious like me then you might just watch this. Not a bad movie, easy enough to get through, but flawed. Likely filmed on a low budget. One time viewing was satisfying enough.

What an intriguing film, toted as a twisted "basic Instinct" I found that it shared the same slickness and visual style and the plot has similarities: There's a Cop, investigating a series of sex murders who becomes involved with a female suspect. The twist I suppose is that the Cop in Mercy is Female.

The Psychoanalytical discussions regarding the impact of Child abuse on sexuality and the intersesting, if moral position, the movie takes, will provoke discussion and argument if viewed in a group.

Peta Wilson is excellent as the seducer of Ellen Barkin and possible murder suspect. Ellen is her usual, if a little reserved, self and Julian Sands is unfortunately pedestrian, until he puts on a dress.

The B & D and S & M sequences are not too disturbing but are explicit enough to leave you with a sense of your own Voyeurism. The blood and gore isnt over done but be prepared for a lot of nudity.

I didnt pick the killer till the last murder and I had a lot of fun trying to quess who it was. This is an erotic thriller that isnt porn, with great performances from its two leading ladies and most of the support cast.

My Opinion?:Well worth a viewing and I would do so twice.

I'm not sure if this movie even came out in the theaters, if it did, it wasn't advertised where we live. But the preview was on about 10 movies we rented, so we figured we'd see it. It was a little strange, but it keeps you guessing. And as usual, Julian Sands plays a weird but well played part. Overall worth seeing.

This one is a bit more stylish than the average erotic thriller and Peta Wilson is a very sexy presence but it plays like they lost a few pages of script somewhere. Subplots come in and out of nowhere, the connections between some of the characters are murky and the killer's motivation is unclear to say the least. Maybe they could get away with this in a porn version, but here some more clarification is needed.

It's completely refreshing to see a movie live up to its video store movie box cover hype. I hadn't heard of this movie so I didn't know what to expect. Mercy delivers in a big way. This movie about serial killings occurring among a group of S/M lesbians was thoroughly enjoyable and DEFINITELY watchable. The violence, blood, gore, nudity, and sex was served up splendidly. The plot, and the movie moves along at a nice pace. Ellen Barkin is, I think, one the sexiest women in Hollywood. Peta Wilson(from La Femme Nikita television series) is hot! hot! hot! I don't watch her tv series but now I just may start. Easily figuring out who the killer was was the only weakness of the movie for me. Otherwise, if you don't mind watching this type of movie then go and pick it up. You will certainly feel "guilty and pleasured", as one other reviewer put it. 9/10

Unsatisfactory movie, slow and with an uninteresting plot. In each scene there is a state of continuous tension which, however, always leads to nothing. Eventually you get bored and after a yawn you fall asleep.

This wont be seen so peta has developed a character you can tell she cared about,plus peta's on screen presence is sensual without overkill I wonder how or who she used for researching thi role, the direction was the best part ,the movie was a bit over sexualized but I suspect it had to be to have a well rounded delivery exploring characters and how people are affected by this type of imaginary crime,interesting as it is ,its worth the watch for strong female characters,unique storytelling,and to see peta ,and Ellen in good solid performances.

Mercy the movie, actually starts out as a somewhat decent film, and ellen barkin does give a strong performance. But if you have read the book and actually got to know the characters and cared who done it the movie just does not compare. It is always hard to brink a book onto film and unfortunatley this one ends up failing...... 3 out of 10

(2000) Mercy PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER/ MYSTERY

Adapted from the novel by David L. Lindsey, co-written and directed by Damian Harris that has Det Catherine Palmer (Ellen Barkin) in charge of an investigation of Dorothy Samenov as her partner who discovered her, Vickie Kittie (Peta Wilson) is being interviewed. And as it turned out Vickie has not been 100% truthful in terms of her involvement with the decease. Meanwhile, viewers are then shown a therapist, Dr. Dominick Broussard (Julian Sands) having an affair with one of his patients, Bernadine Mello (Wendy Crewson) and then another patient, Mary (Karen Young). There's a connection there viewers are obvious what that is until the movie continues further. However, when Det Palmer returns back to the bedroom where Dorothy's body has been discovered, and then uncovers a secret compartment in the closet underneath a rug where a briefcase has been taken out. And inside that briefcase are S&M materials with a photo. And it is during then she is introduced to the world of S&M with presumptions who it might be as there is a serial killer in the midst.

The question of why some are drawn into S&M because early abuse from the time they are young has not been explored often. And that is probably what makes this film interesting, even though the reason why there is no marks of DNA is not explained because as it turned out bodies were being carried if there are no blood stains on the bed and so forth.

Very slow, plodding movie with a confusing story line. The movie's only hope of keeping the audience interested is the gratuitous nudity thrown in at regular intervals. Ellen Barkin is miscast and her looks do not hold up when she is on screen with the much-younger Peta Wilson. Not sure what this movie was about.

Ellen Barkin & Peta Wilson had excellent chemistry together in this movie. Very hot together! A great psychosexual thriller that kept you wondering what was going to happen next. Great location shots! Peta Wilson was very captivating on screen and she kept you wanting more. If you weren't a fan of hers before, this movie might convert you! Damien Harris did an excellent job in directing this movie. He did a lot of research and it shows! This movie can be compared to "Silence of the Lambs."

Personally I am not overly keen on murder mystery thrillers, much less police investigation movies. The reason for "Mercy" having a place in my DVD collection is because Julian Sands is in it. And I have had the movie for months before I got around to actually watching it.

The story is fairly straight forward, as for being a murder mystery. However, there are some twists and plot turns here and there, letting the viewers in the dark and guessing as to who is the actual killer. Bit by bit, we are given pieces and hints as to whom it is, although I will say that my money was not on the actual killer, so that was a nice turn of events.

Personally, I wasn't overly impressed by the movie, as it was generic and the story came off as forced and halting. And certain things throughout the movie were just so out there that they weren't believable. For example, why would detective Cathy Palmer let the murder suspect Vickie Kittrie into her personal home, socialize with her and even succumb to sexual advices? It was just so unprofessional behavior of a police officer that it was downright painful to behold. But hey, without it, there would be no movie, I suppose.

Being a fan of Julian Sands and having seen most of his movies, it is always a thrill to see him in the quite often less than ordinary roles that he takes on. And his performance (and role) in "Mercy" is just that, another of the quirky roles that he executes well.

Despite not being a fan of murder mysteries, then "Mercy" was actually quite interesting, if you can suffer through the obvious flaws and the slow pace the movie moves forward in. I had to give up at 50 minutes into the movie, and then continue watching the following day. The movie is mind-numbingly slow.

Personally, I found that the movie had a little bit too much focus on the sexual nature of the storyline and used a bit too much screen time on showcasing the scenes.

"Mercy" deals with some pretty heavy issues, such as incest, S/M, bondage, transvestism, voyeurism, just to mention a couple of the aspects of the storyline. So it is a matter of personal preference whether or not the story is interesting or not. I found it a bit too much.

The upside to the movie was the people they had cast for the various roles, whom did good jobs with their characters and their acting. Ellen Barkin (playing detective Cathy Palmer), Peta Wilson (playing Vicki Kittrie), Julian Sands (playing Dr. Dominick Broussard) and Karen Young (playing Mary) were really putting on some great performances, which made the movie just that much more tolerable to sit through.

My overall impression of the movie was mediocre.

I rather enjoyed this movie. I thought the acting was very good. It kept me alert, and thinking throughout. THIS IS NOT A FILM ABOUT lesbianism at all. What I do think, it has a lot more to do with "bondage" "s/m". If your looking for kinky lesbian sex, your not going to experience it here. However, if your looking for a movie that dabbles, in the minds of certain main stream adults who have hang-ups with sex and pain, then this may be entertaining for you. Ellen Barkin, was perfect for this role, her facial expression told her story before her mouth moved. yet you weren't quite sure if she was wondering out loud on the fact that she may like this alternative life style. Peta Wilson, also did a tremendous job in role playing in this film. Im serious wondering, why I havent seen her in more films. She was utterly convincing, and beautifully attired in this movie.

All in all a good movie, that I will view again in the near future.