Charlotte's Song (2015) Reviews

• Terrible Audio

  steelebeam2019-02-26

  Tried watching this film on Hulu: the audio editing was so bad I couldn't watch more than 17 minutes, with the music loud and the talking soft I gave us due to the need to adjust the remote constantly, which is a shame since the film looked interesting. It's not my television and I doubt it's a Hulu problem since all other programs and films are fine.

• You're killing me, Charlotte

  onyamariea2019-04-23

  The trailer looked intriguing. The trailer lied. I don't write reviews, but this film really bothered me. The trailer looked amazing, and I figured I'd give it a go. For the $2 million dollar budget this film had, it should have been excellent. Yet, it was, at best, a grossly drawn out student film. The first three minutes or so, the film shows off its best assets; the lighting, cinematography, and set design. Really, whoever was on set and costume; you're the one thing that made this movie worth watching (and yes, I did watch to the end). I did notice the sound seemed a bit off, but kept watching anyway. After the initial credit roll, when the movie actually started, I knew I was in for a bumpy ride. Music is overlaid in every scene. After fiddling with the sound for a solid five minutes, I finally turned the subtitles on. Without it (and sometimes even with it), I had no idea what the actors were saying. And who was who? When Tim was first introduced, I thought he was a slightly older actor playing Charolette's crush? Her brother? A hired hand? I had no idea. Halfway through the movie, it's revealed he's George's (the Dad's) friend. I never would have guessed. Apparently Gertrude is George's second wife? I found that out about five minutes before the ending (everyone calls George 'Father'). No intentions are clear. The script makes no sense and characters say lines that leave you thinking '...did I miss twenty minutes?' I'm still not sure why they owed Randall money in the first place. Nothing is really explained. Gertrude (the wife??) calls Charlotte's mom 'mother.' Honestly, I don't know who's who. And Tim...if the whole point of the child is for her to be the product of true love...why aren't any of the other sisters mermaids? Why is it only Charlotte? Then I was waiting for the twist that Tim was the father...that didn't happen either. To recap: sound effects lagged, dialogue was beyond hard to hear, acting was okay but nothing to write home about, hire the set designer for your next renovation project. This movie could...no, should have been really fantastic...but it fell unbelievably short.

• My Review Of "Mermaid's Song"

  ASouthernHorrorFan2018-10-07

  Nicholas Humphries' fairytale is a dark dabble into a troubled life during a harsher period of American life. The 1930'second was the last great decade of some truly depressing and dark times, a stark reality of the decadent and the derilect- no real rights save for the wealthy, and not much compassion beyond a mother's love (and based on the cap I watched based on the times, even that was a 1 in 5 chance - if you were lucky.) Anyway, "Mermaid's Song" encompasses a slice of that existence, wrapped in a coming of age tale, garnished with a flare of dark fantasy. The settings and period trappings are nice, well conceived elements that help to really frame what becomes an almost Gothic story. The characters are traditional souls similar to the characters in 'Damnation', a series set in a time just before Nicholas Humphries' story. Most are two-dimensional but the main character, Charlotte and the antagonist, played by Rheon really stand out. The special effects, although mostly CGI, are quality works that achieve the necessary effect that Humphries is going for. The creature design and transition sequences are cool, entertaining moments. The sound effects and music score are mixed bagged notes that, at times, seem out of place, but for the most part blend nicely with the pace of the story and creates a nice slow stride. "Mermaid's Song" is marketed toward the horror fan, but it is more of a period drama with dark fantasy edges. The horror elements are mild, however there are moments in the film that explores some elements of sex trafficking, exploitation of women, and child molestation. Still those are mostly insinuated, and never pushed beyond respectability. Just keep in mind that this is no kiddie flick.

• Mermaids are the bomb nowadays.

  peterp-450-2987162019-01-27

  Her story begins where the fairy tale ends. I suppose this movie was inspired by the well-known fairy tale "The Little Mermaid" by Christian-Andersen. Now, if you were an attentive reader, you'd noticed that this little sea-dweller was explicitly present throughout the whole story. If this film is a kind of homage to this fairytale, then it really falls short on that part. It's more like the movie "Godzilla". This legendary monster also appeared only a few minutes in the film. The same for the singing mermaid in "Mermaid's song" (First titled "Charlotte's song"). You can admire her for 5 minutes. That's rather scanty for a film that lasts 88 minutes. But in that short period, you can see that the transformation of Charlotte (Katelyn Mager) to the dreaded mermaid is shown in a successful way. This film obviously isn't a fairytale suitable for little children. However, it's not such a frightening film as the film poster suggests. And categorizing it under the genre "horror" is also a bit exaggerated. You could call it a drama with some fantasy elements. The drama part deals with the demise of a flourishing cabaret theater somewhere in no man's land in the United States. The deterioration of this establishment is caused by the death of Serena (Natasha Quirke, mother of Charlotte and also blessed with the mermaids gene) and the economic depression. And before he realizes it, George (Brendan Taylor), father of Charlotte and a spineless wimp, is having a financial hangover and is heading for a forced closure. Whether the bankruptcy of this bar is caused by the prevailing economic crisis only, I doubt anyway. The stage show isn't exactly a crowd puller either. Maybe it was exciting enough for that period. In those days naked flesh of a female foot was enough to drive an average man crazy. I was surprised to see (during a stage performance) that the phenomenon of twerking was already invented in the 1930s. The fact that a lot of people showed up in the past, was mainly because of the enchanting singing of Serena. She was a mermaid who has exchanged her tail for a pair of slender legs and completely renounced to live on as such a sea miracle, so she can spend the rest of her life with the man who has completely and absolutely won her heart. But to be honest, the whole thing about mermaids is subordinate to the rest. "Mermaid's song" is rather a social drama about poverty and the local mafia trying to exploit misfortunes. That's when Iwan Rheon appears on the scene. He plays Randall. A kind of Mafia type who has a lucrative proposal for George so the bar could be saved. The fact that George needs his daughters to act as ordinary prostitutes and his business is more like a brothel from then on, is the other side of the coin. And in this horrifying situation, Charlotte needs to grow up. An innocent looking girl who discovers that she has a special gift. It's strikingly clear that "Mermaid's song" is a low-budget film (and the lion's share of that budget went undoubtedly to Iwan Rheon). The sound is simply terribly bad. The balance between music, sounds, and speech was so bad that you couldn't understand what people were saying sometimes. It was completely drowned out by the sound effects and music. Sorry to say, but that's something typical for a low-budget film. Also, the acting wasn't always enjoyable. It was rather clumsy and inexperienced. In retrospect, Katelyn Mager wasn't so bad after all. But I was really pleased with the overall presentation of the film. The decor, the props, and clothing looked authentic. And the scarce moments with the mermaid showing up, weren't so bad either. So, all in all, it is nothing more than an average film. No, it's not the kind of film that makes you very enthusiastic. And no, it isn't so bad that it should be ignored at all time. If you ever come across it on one or another television channel, you should give it a chance. "Mermaid's song" is definitely worth a look. The film itself dates from 2015, but only surfaced again last year via "Video On Demand" services. Weird. Does it seem as if they are trying to benefit from the success of "The shape of water"?

• Not your ordinary sweet Little Mermaid

  shagee79772018-09-20

  Director Nicholas Humphries tackles this horror version of Hans Christian Anderson's The Little Mermaid called Mermaid's Song, premiering on digital from Wild Eye Releasing. This is a homage with a different spin of Hans Christian Anderson''s The Little Mermaid. It's very dark and very creepy. A young women trying to keep the family's singing and dancing club open proves hard. This is during the Great Depression of 1930's and Young Charlotte has a lot of work to do. When a charming gangster comes into the picture he offers to help her out and pay of the debt owed. Being a mermaid like her mom she possess magical powers. Magic powers that are done through her magical voice. With her voice she can control people. But when it's found out there is a battle from good bad and all that want the power of her voice for there own use. Wow this movie was nothing what I expected. It's a dark very atmospheric movie. The costumes and cinematography are very focused on what classic time period this is. If it was filmed in B/W you would think you were watching a movie from those golden days of film. I was amazed at what details were put into the making of this movie. Game of Thrones Iwan Rheon is featured as the Local Gangster Randall. But the prize goes to the amazing young actress Katelyn Mager. She is brilliant and you can see many good things coming the way of this young actress. From director Nicholas Humphries, and starring Iwan Rheon, Katelyn Mager, and Brendan Taylor, Mermaid's Song arrives on digital September 18.