Netflix surprises fans with Blumhouse horror flick Mercy Black

Netflix has just surprise-dropped Mercy Black, a new horror film from Blumhouse Productions, the company behind Glass and Happy Death Day 2 U -- not to mention a little film called Get Out -- from writer/director Owen Egerton (Follow, Blood Fest). It stars Danielle Pineda of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, Austin Amelio (Dwight from The Walking Dead), Elle LaMont (Screwhead from Alita: Battle Angel), and Janeane Garofalo from Wet Hot American Summer along with all sorts of subversive comedy since the 1990s, which fits with Egerton's prominence on the Austin comedy scene, including performing with the horror-mocking Alamo Drafthouse troupe Master Pancake.

Here's Egerton's tweet announcing the drop:

"It’s the story of a woman 15 years after she stabbed a classmate,” Egerton told Entertainment Weekly. “She committed this horrendous act to conjure a phantom called Mercy Black. She’s just now getting out of a mental asylum and presumably cured, but she’s beginning to see all the things she never thought she’d see again. The creature becomes a viral success, even her young nephew is becoming obsessed with this Mercy Black, and she has to, perhaps for the first time ever, face what she’s done and the power of this mythical creature.”

There are definitely parallels to the Slender Man phenomenon, but Egerton explained his approach thusly: “I’m trying to scare myself with concepts and moments, more than shock myself, but really scare myself with film situations that make me feel horribly uncomfortable. It’s filled with scares and surprises and all the stuff I love in horror movies, but some of the most terrifying moments are when two people are talking and a truth comes out that’s just too hard to take.”

You can watch Mercy Black right now on Netflix. If you dare.