Movie Review: Cannibals And Christmas Lights – ‘Mercy Christmas’ Is A True Gift

 
When you think about the holiday season one of the first things that pop into your mind is the food and sitting around the table with your loved ones. Every family has its own traditions and many times that includes meals. That’s exactly what the holiday horror film Mercy Christmas is about, with a twist. The Robillard family has a unique way of celebrating the holiday.
When Michael Brisket gets drafted to work on his boss Andy Robillard’s presentation during Christmas he thinks things couldn’t get any worse. He’s about to discover that he’s very wrong.
Michael isn’t the most popular guy at work. When he throws a Christmas party he’s heartbroken when no one shows up, that is until his boss’ beautiful secretary Cindy arrives. After a night of games and eggnog, Cindy invites Michael home for the holidays. Thinking he’s hit the jackpot he agrees.
 

 
At first, Cindy’s family seems great, but that changes when his boss walks in the door. It turns out he’s Cindy brother. Things quickly go downhill when after a big meal Michael is drugged. He comes to in the basement and finds he’s tied up and he’s not alone. Three strangers are tied up beside him. When Cindy’s brother Abe comes down and drags off one of the people.  Michael realizes that he’s in serious danger. He listens as one of the strangers scream’s on the other side of the hanging drop cloths finally stops.
Soon, Andy comes down and drags Michael upstairs and demands that he finishes working on the presentation. Wrapped in Christmas lights and shocked into submission, Michael begins to write, but his boss seems to find joy in zapping him.
 

 
It doesn’t take long for the film to reveal that the Robillard family have a very old, very odd Christmas tradition, serving “long pork”, people, the other white meat. That’s right, they’re cannibals.
I’ll be honest, I was pleasantly surprised by Mercy Christmas. It was everything you could want from a holiday horror film. Not only was it entertaining, it was well written and funny. It has a unique story that is never dull.
The cast did an amazing job. Michael (Steven Hubbell) was sympathetic and interesting. While being the sweet underdog, he has quite a bite when pushed to the limit. Being drugged, kidnapped, and tortured has to be worse than hearing your cousin Buck telling bad, insensitive jokes and watching Uncle Bob spill crumbs all over himself while eating like a pig, at least I think it is (?). Hubbell captured every bit of fear, desperation, and anger that his character was experiencing and does it so very well.
Cole Gleason made his character Andy easy to hate. He’s the stereotypical douchy boss. He’s handsome, rude, demanding, and everything you could expect from a narcissistic, angry little man.
 

 
Casey O’Keefe’s Cindy was relatable (even though she’s a cannibal). She’s beautiful and knows just how to reel Michael in.
Gwen Van Dam (Granny), Dakota Shepard (Denise), Whitney Nielson (Katherine), David Ruprecht (Abe), Joseph Keane (Phillip), and D.J. Hale (Eddie), who did well in their roles, co-starred in this great film written by Beth Levy Nelson and Ryan Nelson who also directed.
While the film is about cannibals, it’s also about family. The family in Mercy Christmas are like most families, trying to keep traditions alive, dealing with sibling rivalry, jealousy, missing a lost loved one, new loved ones, things that we all experience (minus the chopping off of limbs).
By the end of the film, I was making a note to add it to our must-watch Christmas movie list. Out of the holiday horror films that I’ve seen in the past few years, I have to say this is my favorite. I mean come on, it’s got it all, gore, action, cannibals, and Christmas lights. I think Santa was listening when I asked for a great Christmas movie. Now for my rating, Mercy Christmas gets a 41/2 out of 5 bloody candy canes.
 
Mercy Christmas opened in theaters on November 28, 2017, and is now on Digital.