Don't take me the wrong way, I am not wow-ing out of being impressed, but more by "wow, what an experience". This movie was incredible to watch, but I am not quite sure that made it good.
As I said, Cosmatos is already known for his previous movie (Beyond the Black Rainbow), some calling it comparable to Lynch and Cronenburg, or others less forgiving and saying it "has a doomy, dreamy, druggy, draggy feel that's impressively sustained - until it becomes oppressive, then pointless, then laughable." I haven't seen it, but if Mandy did anything, it makes me want to even more.
At its core, Mandy's story is a pretty straight forward revenge flick. Its 1983, Red (Nic Cage) and Mandy (Andrea Riseborough) live together in the woods. By day Nic is a lumberjack and Mandy works a convenience store. By night they make love in the woods, fish on the lake and frolic in the green. Mandy wears metal shirts, has a strange scar and reads 70s fantasy novels as if deep philosophy. And then the hippie cult shows up.
Jeremiah, the cult leader, wants Mandy for himself and summons four ATV riding demons to capture the couple. Yup, ATVs and motorcycles. Things don't go as the cultist planned and Mandy scoffs at his overtures. She is rewarded with death by fire, while Red watches on, bound in wire, but is left alive. That was a mistake.
This movie is all colour and sound, seen through the lense of mind altering substances. And rage. Red's vision is well ... red, of fury and blood. At one point he forges (literally) a massive battle axe straight from the covers of heavy metal albums and D&D games. Or vans. You could see this entire movie through the lense of an 80s metal head D&D player, kind of like Joe Manganiello's new business venture Death Saves. As long as said D&D player is deeply steeped in LSD.
I was rather disappointed that the demon bikers turned out to be basic LSD addicts, instead of true demons, but they were portrayed in a manner that out did Hellraiser or Silent Hill in horrific natures. Too bad, this is as far as the real horror of the movie went. The rest just degrades into bland death scenes, finally petering out with the (inevitable) craven death of Jeremiah.
I am still challenged about whether the trippy imagery and sound barrage actually contributes to the movie, or just pulls you from the centre of revenge. I think if Cosmatos had delved more deeply into the anguish and fury of Red, as he did when Red self-medicates with vodka. That imagery of Nic Cage dialed to 11 was what I wanted more of, and less of the animated Riseborough scenes. But, still... quite the experience.
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