Hello Youtube! I am Torstein from Cinema Terror and this is my last review of the films I
saw at the amazing horror film festival called Ramaskrik up here in Norway before rewatching
it once again at home before now compiling together my thoughts on it. And I did save
a good one for last as this film is none other than the insane new film from the compelling
filmmaker Panos Cosmatos called Mandy.
Where to even start with Mandy. As you will be able to tell by the clips I include on
this video, this is not your average horror film. This is an ultra stylish film that wants
you to get invested through it's psychotic, out of this world and beautiful visual look
and strange narration, while the story of the film comes second. I was surprised at
just how basic of a story that the film actually has, and I think it was a smart idea to make
it simple so it would be easy on its audience as it is already a demanding film due to how
unconventional it is.
The plot of the film reminded me of the exploitation films of the 1970's with cults, bikers and
stuff like that. I don't want to spoil too much of the film, which is kind of hard not
to do if I am going to give any type of plot synopsis on this, but it's basically a revenge
movie and I think I'll keep it at that. The movie is sort of split into two halfs, with
the first hour of the film being the setup for the second part, and the two are actually
seperated by first displaying the title credits of the film in between them.
Our characters are made up by our main couple, Nicolas Cage and Andrea Riseborough, who plays
the title character of Mandy. With little use of dialogue, they are able to come off
as a loving couple who I felt myself caring for quite quickly. Especially all the early
shots of Mandy are filled with so much detail, love and affection. You feel the presence
of Mandy, even in all the scenes that she are not in and I found myself nearly falling
in love with her, just like the characters in the film does.
On the opposite end we have a cult leader and his gang of bizarre people. If you've
ever been freaked out of the Manson family stories, then this gang will give you nightmare
for days. Every person that gets screen time feel like they have an expanded backstory
behind them, even if we don't get to see it and they all feel unike and shockingly realistic,
even when presented in this colorful, visceral experience. Their leader is played by Linus
Roache and my god did he come off as creepy, charismatic and evil. It seems to be like
they took characteristics from all the known cult leaders of the real world and mixed them
into this character that goes by the name of Jeremiah.
And then there are a batshit crazy, over the top biker gang, fueled by some bad LSD. They
feel like they belong in a brutal comic book and the design of them make them look like
they rode their bikes right out of hell. I've seen some compare them to cenobites from the
Hellraiser movies and yeah, I can see that resemblance, although these take more joy
in being bad ass and demonic with less purpose.
Every single actor involved delivers memorable performances and all deserve major praise
for their work on this film, but I will of course have to single out the star of the
film, Nicolas Cage and talk about him for a few moments. His popularity seems to have
risen the last five years, perhaps due to him being so "memeable" on the internet and
people now appreciating his more out there performances more than before, but he deserves
more than just that and he proves himself once again by delivering one of his best performances
that I can remember on this film.
Cage was actually first considered for the part of the evil cult leader, but after a
while Cage was able to convince the rest that he was the best choice for our leading character
instead. It definitely turned out to be the right choice, but I'd be all for watching
Cage as a demented cult leader in another film someday. You could make some slight comparisions
to his character in the second part of Mandy and the fan favorite Ash from the Evil Dead
series. And there are chainsaws involved here for sure. He also gets another axe like weapon
that are supposed to be referencing the metal band Celtic Frost, one out of many things
about this film that makes it feel like a heavy metal horror film. There are some stand
out Cage moments that are certain to become internet classics over the next years that
you are unsure of is supposed to be taken seriously or if its played up for comedy with
the answer probably being somewhere in the middle.
While it does give some comedic situations that you might find yourself bursting out
laughing at, there are still some pretty dark stuff in Mandy. It is at times very uncomfortable
to watch as they hit your emotional side when they first start to introduce the violent
act that sets everything off. There is so much mood and atmosphere filling up every
single scene in this film that it never lets you sit and not evoke any feelings out from
you. And the fact that you never know what is coming up next or which twists and turns
this film can take, everything about the experience just elevates further.
I do remember seeing director and screenwriter Panos Cosmatos first film Beyond the Black
Rainbow eight years ago and while I wasn't the biggest fan of it back then, I surely
have to revisit it now as what Cosmatos did with Mandy was beyond impressive. No wonder
it's taken him so long to deliver another film as there is so much thought put into
every single detail of this film. I don't have to spend much time praising the skill
of him and cinematographer Benjamin Loeb as it is so easy to see how fantastic this film
looks just by the clips I'm using. It manages to be overstylised while still not becoming
style over substance. This isn't just a pretty film to look at by cinephiles, but a style
that can easily be enjoyed by everyone who can just appreciate an unique, brutal and
entertaining film.
Cosmatos originally intended to film parts of the movie with a 16mm camera, but only
a few days before shooting he was told that this would not be possible and he was close
to leaving the entire project. Instead he had to use grain filters in post-production
and personally I think it worked and gave the movie a different, unique style that worked
even better than what I would imagine real 16mm film would have for this project.
Just like with Beyond the Black Rainbow, Mandy is also set in 1983 and there are 80's references
being made every now and then. You have Camp Crystal Lake being mentioned, Nightbeast out
of all movies are playing on TV and much more like this. It's not just obvious nods to you
to tell you that "hey, remember the 80's?", but they all feel like they belong to this
world. And who the hell would recognize Nightbeast, except weirdos like me?
One aspect of the film that I actually felt a bit underwhelmed on is the brutality and
violence. And yeah, if you've seen this film already then you might wonder what the hell
I am talking about as it does have plenty of guts and gore that will satisfy most horror
fans. I just wanted it to push boundaries even a bit further as everything else in this
film is so over the top.
I also gotta talk about the music for this film as one of the first things that I wanted
to do after watching the film was to see if it had been released on vinyl yet. It's moody,
dark, emotional, out of this world and pure excellence by the Icelandic composer Johann
Johansson, who sadly passed away earlier this year. His work will live on and never be forgotten.
I should also mention that SpectreVision is behind this film. They are surely making their
mark with unique genre films as this follows previous productions such as Cooties, A Girl
Walks Home Alone at Night and The Greasy Strangler. I actually have to wonder if Elijah Wood,
one of SpectreVisions founders, would be considered in the role that eventually got to Nicolas
Cage. That would have been something to watch.
The experience that is Mandy can best be compared to taking mind altering drugs and then get
emerged in a booklet for a black metal album or comic book. It's a surreal experience that
I would recommend seeing on the biggest screen possible with loud sound. Even if this is
probably made by Panos Cosmatos as a film he himself would be proud of and want to enjoy
himself instead of trying to make a film that would attract a wide audience, I still think
that this is a film that everyone should give a chance, regardless if it looks like something
you would normally enjoy or not. While it might feel a bit slow for the first hour,
I was interested in every frame that was presented to me. Not only on the first watch, but also
when I revisited it again.
It does make me wonder what the future hold for Cosmatos. I can easily see some bigger
studios trying him out for a more mainstream type of film, but I can also see him just
wanting to keep on making his own stuff. I hope Mandy does well enough for him that he
gets the option to do whatever he wants next, regardless if it means a film with more mainstream
appeal or not.
Mandy is going to be a cult film for years and years to come and I loved it. I don't
know if this is common knowledge, but Mandy is also a nickname for MDMA, or Ecstacy as
it is more known as, and that's such an appropriate title for this film, so get your dose of Mandy
and have a psychedelic experience like no other. Mandy gets the score of 4.5 out of
5.
Have you seen Mandy yet? If so, what did you think of it? And have you seen Panos Cosmatos
first film Beyond the Black Rainbow? I'm curious if I should revisit it or not, so your comments
on it would be very appreciated. If you enjoy weird, surrealistic and colorful films like
this then check out my review of the Turkish film Baskin by Can Evrenol. I hope you enjoyed
this review of Mandy, there are plenty more horror movie reviews to be found on my channel,
so if you are new around these dark parts of Youtube then make sure you check it out
and also subscribe. Have a great day wherever in the world you are and thank you for watching
Cinema Terror.
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