Stephen
King’s cool “Dollar Baby” policy grants accredited student filmmakers permission
to adapt any of his short stories for one dollar, provided they are only screened
in classrooms and film festivals. Naturally, the quality varies widely. As a
result, commercial filmmakers really need to bring their A-games when adapting
King’s short fiction for an anticipated commercial release, lest they be
unfavorably compared to the Dollar Babies. Unfortunately, that did not happen
with Peter Cornwell’s Mercy (trailer here), a generically
mediocre reworking of King’s “Gramma,” now available on DVD from Universal
Studios Home Entertainment.
While
Mercy seems to be losing her faculties, her family is so boring, you might
forget them too. The only one she was ever really close to was her sensitive
grandson George. Much to the disgust of his older brother Buddy, they have moved
back to their old hill country home so their mother can care for the
increasingly erratic Mercy in what are presumed to be her final days. Unfortunately,
Rebecca, the military vet and single mom, is the only surviving family member
up to the task. Sadly, their degenerate Uncle Lanning is constitutionally
incapable of responsible behavior. However, Mercy may not be ready to give up
the ghost just yet, particularly when George is around. Whether Mercy is good
for George is a different question entirely.
Mercy is one of several
Blumhouse titles finally getting a DVD release after spending considerable time
consigned to the shelf. It’s nothing special, but you would think the
combination of King and Blumhouse would have guaranteed a decent theatrical
opening. Nevertheless, anyone expecting something seriously Lovecraftian will
be disappointed. Granted, it is usually a mistake to show too much in horror
movies, but if you are going to invoke the name of Hastur and hint at a Cthulhu-like
mythos lurking out there in the hills, folks are going to want to see tentacles
at some point. In fact, Mercy arguably
has too many woo-woo effects, but they all revolve around George’s bed-ridden
granny.
Two
time Oscar nominee Shirley Knight is pretty credible playing both Mercy’s
dementia and her supernatural malevolence, but this is not going to be the film
to get her back into awards contention. As the brothers, Chandler Riggs and
Joel Courtney are instantly forgettable. Dylan McDermott also checks in from
time to time, as Jim Swann, a friend of the family whose subplot is so
underdeveloped we never really know why he is in the film until a supposedly
big third act reveal. Only Mark Duplass manages to give the film any appreciable
energy as drunken Uncle Lanning.
