Opening with a song by King Crimson, filmmaker Panos Cosmatos' surreal, insane horror film "Mandy" is another of those films that will only appeal to certain tastes. It tells of a happy couple, Red and Mandy (Nicolas Cage and Andrea Riseborough), whose peaceful existence is shattered by an evil hippie cult. Led by the demonic Jeremiah Sand (Linus Roache), they do their great damage and leave; Red manages to get free and takes after them, determined to mete out BRUTAL vengeance.
"Mandy" is incredibly stylized right from the start, with so many elements taking on nightmarish tones - visuals as well as performances. Watching this, you feel like you've descended into a level of Hell. This is a potent journey marked by tragedy, gore, action, and some humorous touches, not to mention the striking score by the late Johann Johannsson and the lighting schemes by cinematographer Benjamin Loeb. Although very slow at times, it revs up big time for the second half and Reds' enraged spree of vengeance.
Cage does go entertainingly over the top at times - in the Nicolas Cage tradition - and creates the kind of badass hero who forges his own weapon and has a chainsaw duel with one of the baddies. Riseborough is quite appealing in her time on screen, while Roache creates such a loathsome antagonist that you REALLY anticipate his demise. His flock are populated by other memorable creeps who get under the skin. There are also vivid but much too brief cameos for Bill Duke and Richard Brake.
While I can see some viewers NOT caring for this picture - like, at ALL - I had a fairly good time with this vengeance saga. It goes off the rails in a true eye-popping way.
Seven out of 10.
"Mandy" is incredibly stylized right from the start, with so many elements taking on nightmarish tones - visuals as well as performances. Watching this, you feel like you've descended into a level of Hell. This is a potent journey marked by tragedy, gore, action, and some humorous touches, not to mention the striking score by the late Johann Johannsson and the lighting schemes by cinematographer Benjamin Loeb. Although very slow at times, it revs up big time for the second half and Reds' enraged spree of vengeance.
Cage does go entertainingly over the top at times - in the Nicolas Cage tradition - and creates the kind of badass hero who forges his own weapon and has a chainsaw duel with one of the baddies. Riseborough is quite appealing in her time on screen, while Roache creates such a loathsome antagonist that you REALLY anticipate his demise. His flock are populated by other memorable creeps who get under the skin. There are also vivid but much too brief cameos for Bill Duke and Richard Brake.
While I can see some viewers NOT caring for this picture - like, at ALL - I had a fairly good time with this vengeance saga. It goes off the rails in a true eye-popping way.
Seven out of 10.