Weirdos are the order of the day in 2017’s Mercy Christmas, a cheap and cheerful but wryly demented horror from director Ryan Nelson . This one sees overweight, exploited office sadsack Michael Briskett (Steven Hubbell) meet the gorgeous girl of his dreams and get invited to Christmas dinner at herhouse, only to discover her family are cannibals and he’s on the menu. Hubbell is perfect as the clichéd office drone loser, perpetually taken advantage of by dickish superior Andy (Cole Gleason) who talks down to him and forces him to work on a report over Christmas.
Oddly, Andy’s attractive new secretary Cindy (Casey O’Keefe) takes a shine to him and they’re soon getting along famously. Well-acted moments between them feel authentically sweet, but we know we’re watching a horror film and the dude’s name is Briskett, for God’s sake, so we know something’s up. Cut-aways to scenes of other lonely California residents being kidnapped suggest this will not turn out so well. It also doesn’t help that Cindy keeps telling him how much her family “want to have you” for Christmas. Mmmm-hmmmm…
Yup, surprise surprise, it’s all a set-up, Cindy is really Andy’s sister and Briskett is soon shackled in the basement and still expected to finish Andy’s report before they cook and eat him. Harsh. It’s all played for laughs, with Cindy’s family portrayed as essentially lovely people with just this one teeny tiny quirk. The dad is played by Dave Ruprecht, the normally-wholesome presenter of Supermarket Sweep, so it’s kinda funny to see him switching from cheery dinner table banter to nipping downstairs to hack a guy’s leg off.
The film’s script is sadly a lot weaker any time the camera moves downstairs, with Briskett’s fellow captives not doing much other than shout and swear a lot, which doesn’t make for much fun. Luckily, when Briskett reaches breaking point and busts out, there’s some excellent low budget carnage with family members - including old granny – getting their brutal comeuppance via an old steam iron and a gardening hook.
The movie works as some entertaining wish fulfilment for anyone who’s ever felt pushed around by their boss. Gentle giant Briskett is exploited to the point where they actually plan to eat him, so his metamorphosis into screaming, vengeful avenger is really gratifying.
Some of the visuals are pretty memorable too, like a roasted human leg topped with pineapple – eeewwww. In an interesting touch, Cindy’s family take real pride in their preparation of human meat, spending ages marinating limbs and preparing a stomach-turning kidney-infused gravy. Cindy makes a big deal of how early she needs to get up on Christmas morn to prepare, and you just know a nice variety of sharp kitchen implements will be utilised in Briskett’s bloody escape.
I find I really appreciate Briskett’s fierce defence of his own Christmas values – he’s not just upset that he might get eaten, he’s absolutely livid that this whole sacrilegious feast will besmirch the magic of the season. He’s an idealist and it’s hilarious when (SPOILER!) having made his escape, he’s muttering about how he had assumed he'd get a white Christmas as his happy ending – even though this all takes place in sunny, humid California.
The film’s title is a bit weird, though – nobody is shown any mercy in this film at all. It’s also not as funny or as clever as it seems to think it is, but is still a diverting way to waste 80-odd minutes. Also, Nelson’s film does a pretty effective job of capturing the stress and pressures of trying to cook the perfect Christmas meal, though I’ve fortunately got no experience of cooking man-meat. Like the dinner on offer, this won’t be to everyone’s tastes but just maybe it’s worth a nibble if you’re curious enough.
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