Review: Mandy Is A Blood Soaked, Neon Infused Adventure
- Oct 17, 2018
- 2 min read
Chainsaws, neon, synth and Cage. This is it. Peak cinema.
It is 1983 A.D. Red (Nicolas Cage) a lumberjack by trade, loves a quiet, happy life alongside his wife Mandy (Andrea Riseborough). Their happiness however, is shattered when the eyes of a psychotic hippie cult fall upon Mandy. As commanded by their leader, Jeremiah Sand (Linus Roache), a gang of demonic bikers attack Red's home and drag Mandy away and burning her before her husband's eyes. Red, confused and alone, is consumed with an undying rage, one that drives him along the path of bloody revenge.
What is Mandy? Ask someone else, I don't think I'm qualified. All I can tell you is that this neon and synth soaked film feels like it was torn from the pages of a Robert E Howard pulp novel. It's like Conan but of the 1980’s, with all the lunacy, drugs and absurdity that comes with it. Mandy is as if John Carpenter had a fever dream that printed directly out of his mind and onto a strip of film. In short, it's great. Bizarre, mind boggling, confusing, and great. One the surface, a blood soaked revenge thriller but underneath that? There may be something, there may be nothing, that's up to you to decide.
Nicolas Cage is one of those actors who, when cast in the right role, excels. This is the right role. There is ample opportunity for the patented “Cage Rage” to devour the screen, and everyone on it, whether he's battling demon bikers or engaging a cultist in a chainsaw duel, the man is endlessly entertaining. He possesses the perfect balance of weird reservation and over the top insanity that helps to tie the piece together. Linus Roache is also great as the deranged leader of his cult. He seems to dwarf all but Cage, spouting religious rhetoric and pseudo-intellectual nonsense like he was born to do it.
Mandy is a film that cannot properly be explained with words. It's a visual film, with a noticeable lack of dialogue. So much of it is portrayed through what the viewer sees that it renders it impossible to describe. Just watch it. Experience Mandy for yourself.
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