Review of Mandy (2018) by Mmadnessgames — 23 Jun 2019

What do you get if you mix the weirdness of arthouse film-makers like David Lynch/Cronenberg and a great manic performance by Nicolas Cage with LSD, strobe lights and campy 1980's horror movies like Hellraiser and The Evil Dead?

You get Mandy.

It's not as accomplished artistically as the best Lynch. Not even close. While it obviously takes some inspiration from some of his most iconic films, it's a different beast.

If you like gore and you appreciate a good Nicolas Cage meltdown, Mandy is for you... Would be great to watch on acid or shrooms. About halfway through, I regretted not partaking in some psychedelic popcorn prior to pushing play.

There are two recent indie horror films worth seeing with Nic Cage. But, Mandy is by far the best of them... I loved Mom & Dad. But it was just hilarious garbage, whereas Mandy is a true classic.

Visually stunning. Lots of bold directorial decisions, including animated segments and very theatrical rave-like use of lighting/colour themes. From a technical standpoint, it's not quite Natural Born Killers. But, it's reminiscent of that sort of bizarre experimental style.

The editing is also very interesting.

As far as the characters go, the antagonist is fantastic. The actor is like a mix between Willem Dafoe and Rutger Hauer. Either of them could have been cast comfortably in the role, but the actor they went with is more suited. His performance is intense and hilarious and disturbing.

Mandy (the character) is great, too.

Highly recommended.