Mandy

A 2018 revenge nightmare starring Nicholas Cage & from co-writer/director Panos Cosmatos (Beyond the Black Rainbow). A happy couple, Cage & wife Andrea Riseborough, live in a secluded cabin in the woods but one day while walking home, Riseborough catches the eye of a psychotic mad man, Linus Roache, w/a messianic complex (aren't they all?) who directs his minions one night to scoop her & Cage up. After she's drugged & dragged in front of Roache, Riseborough makes the cardinal, fatal sin of laughing in front of his presence causing him to kill her off in front of Cage who's left bound to watch. Breaking free of his bonds the next morning & after an interlude of unhinged hysterics & vodka, Cage embarks on a mission of revenge (along w/a trusted crossbow he gets from his friend, Bill Duke) taking down any & everyone behind his wife's demise. Set against a kaleidoscope of purples & blacks in imagery reminiscent of a hellscape painted on the side of a 70's custom van, Cosmatos indulges in the ultimate anti-date night movie which doesn't give us an easy closure to the events but somehow wallows in the id of the characters to send its message home.

Just a brief review here summed up in two words...Absolutely Mental.

Ok so I first watched this not sure what it was about but I was hopeful of some good old meme quality Nic Cage Rage scenes at the very least. After it finished I sat there thinking WTF and I had to go make a cup of tea and seriously think about some of my life decisions.

Once that was done I came on imdb to find out more about the film and to frankly rant a little. After spending a good half hour reading a lot of very mixed reviews I decided to leave it and watch the film again another day. Which I just have.

It's not my cup of tea. I think the majority of people will hate this film purely because it's not what they are used too, and they just don't get it. Yes ok sympathise with the haters the film is a very simple revenge plot, there's not much dialogue, it's filmed mostly in red and it can drag on in places and many will turn it off before it gets half way.... Which is a shame as this film left me with a similar 'wtf did I just watch' feeling that reminds me of the first time I watched 'Eraserhead.'

'Mandy' is very much an arthouse film with a dose of 80's grindhouse thrown in and if that's the kinda film you like you will love this film. Nic Cage is brilliant in it, and yes he has those rage moments, the violence is swift and brutal, there's even a chainsaw fight. It's surreal, the atmosphere and music blends perfectly with the madness and drug induced hysteria and anger the film is trying to portray in its own arthouse style and I genuinely think this will turn out to be a cult classic.

So yep, not for everyone, but at least try and appreciate it for what it is. 8/10.

There are those who easily forgive transgressions by misguided people and seek to have them treated and return to society as productive people. For those, this is NOT the type of movie.

Perhaps the most appropriate review title here is "Entertainingly Insane." The best clue regarding this movie is what the director says, "The actual story is not so important, what matters is how you shoot it and edit it." In other words, how it looks and feels is most important, and that comes at you full force in this movie.

I would not normally seek out this type of movie but recently I read that Nic Cage says during a period when he was in debt by several $Millions he took lots of roles and made some questionable movies because he needed to earn money.

This probably isn't one of those, I saw a recent interview on a late night show and when asked to name his five favorite movies he has made, "Mandy" was on that short list.

Set in the Pacific Northwest, it was filmed mostly in Belgium where they found some very interesting locations, which adds to the visual design. The movie has lots of red in it, particularly red lights at night, and lots of gore and blood. At its core it is a revenge movie, to destroy a misled religious cult with a fanatic as its leader.

At home on DVD from my public library.

First off, any movie that opens with a song by King Crimson should get our attention. MANDY is a hallucinatory, revenge / horror film set in the early 1980's. Red Miller (Nicolas Cage) is on a mission of bloody vengeance after a cult full of psychopaths does the unspeakable to the title character (Andrea Riseborough).

Oh, but it's so much more!

Whether you're a rabid Nicolas Cage fan, or you can't stand him, especially, if you can't stand him, you must see him here! Part Charles Bronson, Part Bruce Lee, Part Bruce Campbell, and all Cage! This is the role he was born to play! He forges his own weapon! He takes on demon bikers! He lights a cigarette with a burning, severed head!

Director Panos Cosmatos pulls out every stop, even outdoing his BEYOND THE BLACK RAINBOW! This movie is LSD itself! In case you were wondering, yes, there is a chainsaw! Two, in fact! Dueling chainsaws! My sweet Lord! The finale will alter your reality and change your religion! All this, and cameos from Bill Duke and Richard Brake too! Watch this ASAP!...