Mandy is a 2018 American action horror film directed by Panos Cosmatos from a screenplay co-written with Aaron Stewart-Ahn. The movie stars Nicolas Cage and Andrea Riseborough.
It is one of the last films scored by the late Icelandic composer Jóhann Jóhannsson.
Plot:
Somewhere in the primal wilderness near the Shadow Mountains in the year 1983, Red Miller (Nicolas Cage) has fallen deeply for the deceptively charming Mandy Bloom (Andrea Riseborough).
However, the life he has made for himself comes crashing down suddenly and horrifyingly, when a vile band of ravaging cultists and supernatural creatures desecrate his idyllic home with vicious fury. A broken man, Red now lives for one thing only—to hunt down these maniacal villains and exact swift vengeance…
Reviews:
“Most surprising of all, Mandy isn’t solely about the carnage-heavy path for revenge. Cosmatos knows that the impact will be much greater felt if there’s an emotional backbone. Thus, one can feel the soul-churning passion behind every popping eye and crushed skull.” The Film Stage
” …the kind of cosmic wonderment that so animated H.P. Lovecraft’s prose, the late Jóhann Jóhannsson’s final haunting score and a main title card that appears an hour into the movie, and you have an expressionistic midnight movie that stirs its many influences into something startlingly unique.” Games Radar
“What Mandy excels at is marrying the visually gorgeous scenery with horror, but also with performances that go from extremely grounded to batshit insane, all in the same film. When Red partakes of the drugs that help him descend into the world the cult is a part of, it’s similar to what we would get if Jodorowsky directed Hellraiser, a drug-fueled nightmare that you simply cannot take your mind off of.” Ghastly Grinning
“Tricky effects, like a drugged-out sequence shot with a CRT monitor’s gloss, the slowed-down voices as Red achieves his final form and a sublime use of fonts (and a main title card that doesn’t appear until one hour in!) are pure catnip for fetishists of this milieu. Either you are one of the devoted or you’re not. You won’t know what camp you’re in until you see it.” The Guardian
“As a horror-thriller, Mandy works. This is most likely because Cosmatos is in complete control of his vision. Unfortunately, that’s probably the same reason the film faulters a bit. This is evident in Mandy’s pacing. There are dull, bloated moments throughout that tarnish an otherwise awesome film.” IGN
“Superficially, it has roots twisting into fantasy novels and horror movies, fuelling the film’s heavy, strange “nightmare in the woods” aesthetic. The second outing from Beyond the Black Rainbow writer/director Panos Cosmatos shares visual elements with his debut: hyper-saturated colors, particularly red; oblique shots that emphasize tone and texture; a sense of experience rather than narrative.” The Playlist
” …for all of the endless feral performances that Cage has given, in movies good, bad and forgettable, Cosmatos’ style-driven, ‘80s-tastic passion for weird worlds and characters takes full advantage of Cage’s greatness, and then some.” RogerEbert.com
“In many ways, Mandy is to early 80s occult-horror psych what Anna Biller’s The Love Witch was to early 70s occult-horror psych. Running at 120 minutes each, both films provide a feast of visual delights but you need to accept them on their own plodding terms. However, if you can get into the creator’s headspace, then this film is a journey worth taking.” Screen Anarchy
“Horrible and ludicrous, this is an all-time-great Nicolas Cage wig-out.” The Telegraph
Release:
Mandy premiered at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival on January 19th 2018. It was released on September 14th 2018 by RLJE Films.
Main cast and characters:
Nicolas Cage as Red Miller – Between Worlds; Mom and Dad; Pay the Ghost; The Wicker Man; Ghost Rider and sequel
Andrea Riseborough as Mandy Bloo
Linus Roache as Jeremiah Sand
Bill Duke as Caruthers – Predator
Richard Brake as The Chemist
Ned Dennehy as Brother Swan
Olwen Fouere as Mother Marlene
Sam Louwyck
Hayley Saywell as Sis
Technical details:
121 minutes
Aspect ratio: 2.35: 1
