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Mandy
****
Dir: Panos Cosmatos
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Andrea Riseborough
(USA, 15, 2hrs 1min)
Nicolas Cage seems to have two speeds; somnambulistic with occasional eccentricity, as witnessed in many straight-to-VOD releases. Then there’s batshit crazy, as seen in his finest work, from Face Off, Wild at Heart, Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans and now, gloriously and gorily, in Mandy.
Set in 1983, Cage plays Red, a lumberjack in a blissfully happy relationship with Andrea Riseborough’s titular Mandy, an illustrator for pulp fiction. Their happiness is soon ruined after religious cult leader Jeremiah, a dastardly Linus Roache, kidnaps Mandy, with the aid of some demonic bikers for the benefit of the Children of the New Dawn.
Mandy is killed in front of Cage after she refuses to join in with the good ol’ devil worship and a bonkers, psychedelic revenge film goes into full swing. Using a variety of weapons, ranging from chainsaws to axes, Cage hunts down the murderers, both human and inhuman in a dream-like hymn to excess, all tightly controlled by director Cosmatos.
Although initially arthouse in feel, Mandy goes full exploitation B-movie whilst still retaining deeper quirks. Riseborough’s Mandy is a quirky love interest, the cult members are perverse and unsettling (seemingly cast offs from Hellraiser) and Cage is magnificently unhinged.
Its blend of psychedelia, upsetting violence and moments of beauty won’t be to everyone’s tastes, but Cosmatos’ vision is bold and assured. A luridly-coloured bad trip that borrows from many sources; the routine revenge thriller, The Evil Dead, Mad Max, Ben Wheatley horror and splatter classics. Yet Mandy still ends up as something completely unique. Cage gets crucified and wields chainsaws with unfettered intensity, delivering impossible line readings whilst spending most of the film covered in blood. It’s not for the faint-hearted but feels like an amped up video nasty from the 80s with added unworldliness. Has cult classic written all over it.
words Keiron Self
Opens October 12