Normally, this wouldn't be the type of film genre I would be interested in seeing and yet in spite of the familiar tropes often found in these horror/suspense movies (including this one), I found Mercy Falls surprisingly engaging. Though I found much of the dialogue to feel very "written", with those certain brands of cadences that you only find in movies such as this and not reflective in how people talk in real life. I also felt that the swearing came across as forced and unnatural at times and as often found in these types of low-budget affairs, I could have done without the obligatory pointless sex scenes. In spite of all this, I found the general premise of escaping from a killer and overcoming said obstacles to be fairly engaging. I also found the establishing shots to be surprisingly well put together for a low-budget film of this calibre. There were times were it felt like to movie was trying put across moments of symbolism, without really giving much thought into what the filmmakers intended, Though most of the performances of the principal cast were at best serviceable, I found the best performance came from Nicolette McKeown, who provided some great moments of drive and intensity in the role of Carla. I hope to see more of McKeown's work in future screen roles to come. So overall, if this is the sort of genre that would interest you and in spite of its budgetary, story and character limitations, I would recommend checking out Mercy Falls. Mostly on the strength of Nicolette McKeown's performance as the antagonist and some well produced establishing shots and moments of atmosphere. Otherwise, I would say either rent this or wait until comes out on a streaming service.
