Mercy (2014)

As I continue to struggle through the final days of this miserable college math class, I decided that it was time to throw on something supernatural to assist in my learning. After some debate, I decided on the 2014 independent entry Mercy.  

Plot/ Two unruly boys move with their mom to grandma’s old farmhouse to care for her and discover that grandma has a pact with ancient beings that bestow on her special powers. Now they must survive the terrifying presence in the farmhouse.

I often cringe when I see something listed as a Stephen King adaptation, as usually they can never live up to the source material. Unfortunately, while this movie is not as bad as some, it definitely struggled to capture the atmosphere and creepiness of the original short story Gramma. While there were some positives in the film within the extremely short run time, with a decent cast, some solid performances, and the pace kept things interesting. However, even with those positives, the lack of atmosphere and some strange cinematic decisions with the lighting brought this down to average at best. In the end, this one again failed to match the potential of the sources King work, and becomes another in a long list of movies that fail to capture the magic. Is it terrible? No, but it is not great either. If you love Stephen King, give it a shot, if not, there are better options out there.