Mercy - Die dunkle Seite der Lust

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.

Although it is not the most intellectually stimulating movie you will ever see, Mercy is well worth the rental price.

Ellen Barkin plays Katherine Palmer, a homicide detective tracking down a sadistic serial killer who chooses female victims from very wealthy and socially prominent circles.

Palmer finds a connection between the victims in Vicki Kitrrie (Peta Wilson) a mysterious and very seductive blonde who had a sexual connection with many of the victims. It seems that all the women belonged to a group that covertly engaged in lesbian sex and S&M. Palmer suspects someone in the group is the killer and must submerge herself in the women's sexual under world with Kittrie's help.

Yes, the plot is a straight to video exploitation standard. But the production values and the good perfomances by the leads make this a good watch.

One of the better written and highly disturbing novels of the serial killer genre, and David Lindsey's most famous work has been translated into a painfully tedious and mind-numbing movie. All of the electricity of the novel is gone. Despite Ms. Barkin's obvious talents, she cannot carry this through some terrible screenwriting, direction that is designed to anaesthetize, and peripheral acting, including her own, which seems downright ridiculous. Pretty obvious from the first 5 minutes that this was a Canadian production, probably Toronto, and probably by someone who couldn't get a car-chase action movie to direct. READ THE BOOK!!

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

This film is an interesting thriller that probes the after-hours private lives of well-to-do corporate women whose interests are unusual sex with other women. When some of the ladies turn up dead, the police step in, headed by Ellen Barkin as a jaded, shopworn and streetwise cop. Barken gets drawn in deeper into the erotic world she is discovering by a young woman and slowly pieces together the mysterious murders. There are red herrings and the plot twists and turns are more revealing in the film's home stretch. Barkin is as cool and wends her way through this erotic underground and the men portrayed in the film are shown in a poor light. Peta Wilson is sympathetic as the woman who guides Barkin through the maze of sex bars and clubs, and their chemistry on screen is sensual and suggestive. Barkin's trademark crooked grin is nearly absent in this picture owing to the subject matter but she is still a treat to watch. The music and cinematography are very good.