Viaje a la oscuridad

Anyone remember the BBC "Merlin" series with Colin Morgan? Well, this is really just like an updated version of one of his adventures, only without the costumes, charm or dragons! We start with some lovely drone footage of the treetops before being introduced to "Rhona" (Lauren Lyle) who has assembled four of her friends to hike twenty-odd miles into the wilderness to find a remote cabin that she has inherited from her long-time estranged father. They haven't a clue, but luckily "Carla" (Nicolette McKeown - who reminded me a lot of Rebecca Ferguson) is on hand and she offers to guide them on their quest. It turns out, though, that "Carla" has quite a psychologically malevolent streak and that "Rhona" and her mates are all rather fickle, shallow types - except, perhaps, "Scott" (James Watterson). What now ensues gets gradually more silly as we discover there is precious little that's likeable about any of these people before a denouement that says very little about the standard of high-end British military training. The audio work is effective, but the rest of this is unremarkable fayre that will keep until it's on the television around Halloween.

Tubi Originals can be hit or miss, and while this really isn't a big hit, neither is it a stinker. The scenery in the Scottish Highlands and other camera work is actually quite good. At the beginning of the movie, as they are driving to the Inn, a woman is hitchhiking, and they pass her by, saying one can never be sure. In an evening get together at the Inn, one of the characters acts like a jerk, so one watches to see if he will be the first killed. Rhona's father left her a cabin in the woods, and they set out on a hike, and along comes Carla. But no emergency plan, as they didn't think one was important. It is clear the group are not hikers, but Carla seems to know the area, so she leads. So off they go, but how many will survive? In flashbacks, Carla is former soldier, likely in Afghanistan, and she has a 'unique' way of handling people who are in pain or suffering. Turns out she is psychotic and also a deserter. What is her motive for killing is not explained, but who will survive? It becomes a tense cat-and-mouse game. Rhona was there as a child, but that was a long time ago, so she isn't sure about the area. There are a couple of disconnects. For a short hike, Carla has a length of climbing rope and climbing gear. And the cabin once reached, seems out of place for how far it is from everything. It is not a simple back country shack. But the group of young people seems believable even if one wonders how they got together with so many conflicts present. The story progresses without a lot of side trips. It is a decent movie redeemed by the scenery.

This film has potential but is held short of the finish line by its middling plot and flimsy dialogue. However, the movie is visually stunning with beautiful sweeping shots of the Scottish wilderness and some very appealing shots in various scenes, the cinematography is worth a nod. Mercy Falls relies on the trope characters upon which the genre was built. And the cast work wonders to make these cliche characters work and feel believable and likable in the face of some truly poor writing. Some characters come over better than others - eg lead Lauren Lyle's performance as uninteresting protagonist, Rhona, comes over unenthusiastic aside from key moments- but overall the cast should be proud of being the highlight of the film. Layla Kirk and Nicolette McKeown are particular stand outs. Kirk brings convincing life and (more importantly) enjoyability to an otherwise lazy trope character, Heather. McKeown steers the ship as a solid antagonist, her character, Carla's story has such great potential but is underutilised by the writer(s) in favor of something much less gripping or compelling. But nonetheless she digs deep for the movie's strongest feature and her charisma will almost have you rooting for Carla to succeed in her hunt.

There is nothing really surprising here. Mercy Falls is a thriller/horror, feels more like a thriller to me. You follow a group of friends hiking through the Scottish Highlands who picked up a spare person on the way. The pacing is great, cinematography is nice, characters are pretty believable. There's a bit of gore but nothing over the top. A few beautiful shots of the Scottish Highlands and the falls. Overall I enjoyed it and would probably recommend and watch again. Tubi has been my go to for streaming movies lately - they have so much available, and their "Tubi originals" are generally pretty entertaining.

The storyline is the standard "escape from a killer in the woods," but with a better backstory than other similar movies, however, the characters make the most cliche, idiotic decisions, that at times, it almost seemed like they forgot they were running for their lives.

The acting wasn't as bad as some other reviews mentioned. The characters did feel real, but I still couldn't care about them due to them making the wrong decision every time a choice was to be made.

If you are looking for a standard slasher flick, I'd give it a chance, but if you want something of substance that will keep you guessing and surprise you now and again, I'd skip it.