"Mandy" Reviews/Discussion - 2022 Horror Challenge
 

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Re: "Mandy" Reviews/Discussion - 2022 Horror Challenge
 

I watched this just before the challenge and found it an enormous improvement over Beyond the Black Rainbow. I found the latter frustrating because of how insanely slow burn and "quiet" it is, but this kept much of the mysteriousness and creepiness of the director's previous effort while moving things a long a bit faster and allowing a little more exploration of the weirdness.

Re: "Mandy" Reviews/Discussion - 2022 Horror Challenge
 

I went into this one with decent expectations to find them shattered to pieces within the first 30 minutes.

Want a movie that desperately want to prove to the viewer that Style Over Substance wins out? This is the perfect example. And guess what...it doesn't. At least not this "style."

Literally nothing of interest happens in the first hour and 15 minutes of this movie. The entire first hour could have been covered in 5 minutes. Seriously.

After the first few minutes, I was thinking that this could have been a modern-day update of the original Mad Max. It was certainly setting itself up like that. Cut to 75 minutes in and several fancy stenciled title cards from time to time and I was still waiting for that to happen. Then when the action looks like it is getting going, it either takes another break or is filmed in such darkness that you don't know if you are seeing action or not. Probably not. So turn it off. This movie blows and I have no idea why it has such a following behind it.

You want to watch a funky Nicholas Cage swagger his stuff, be a badass and the film also have a cool "Style" the entire time...go watch Drive Angry. Don't waste your time with this. Ugh.

My rating: *1/2 out of *****

Re: "Mandy" Reviews/Discussion - 2022 Horror Challenge
 

This has a lot of interesting elements. I feel like I should like it more than I do. Its deliberate pace is something that really works against it. I suppose it's meant to build tension, but instead, this is the first time I've been able to watch the movie from start to finish without falling asleep. And I don't necessarily demand a big exposition dump, but it would be nice to know exactly what some of these things are supposed to be. If other elements had been handled better, the storytelling choice to not explain everything probably wouldn't have stuck out to me so much.

Re: "Mandy" Reviews/Discussion - 2022 Horror Challenge
 

Ultimately I enjoyed Mandy more that I did not. I love the experimental and creative elements here but some of it seems so overbaked to the point of distraction. It staggers between nicely over the top weirdness and pretentiousness (lsd stuff, Charles Manson-lite). The tone and energy in many scenes is rich but too consistently high key, there's no attempt at build up or thematic composition - it's in your face burn from the go without wavering and that creates a monotony that's rhythmic but distracting. Mandy feels hollow, the world probably needs more chainsaw fight films but, elements land as more cosmetic than thematic which is strange for a film so much about mysticism - "you're just meat without a soul without a brain without anything" seems right (not sure if those lines from the cult leader are knowing self parody). For a film that ends with a burning church Mandy feels like it either pulls a lot of punches or is too sheepish to be intellectually challenging - odd for a film otherwise about sensationalism religious skepticism here seems so well disguised it lacks provocation.The action oriented last third is the best part and the set-up the least compelling. Some of it's bravado is unearned - we see that Nicolas Cage is a logger and has a female companion then suddenly out of the blue he's retrieving crossbows and a superhero. There is an attempt to suggest grief (Cage's motive) but it's never really well established other than in screaming rage, which isn't really grief or a relatable reaction to death even if it's unjust, so a lot of the effort to justify the bloodletting seems misplaced.
Not just the set-up either; the climatic standoff is a let down because the cult leader comes across so puny we are denied emotional catharsis. Maybe this is a knowing brilliant way of toying with the audience that the real climax is him attacking nondescript 'bikers' rather than the red herring of a cult leader but Mandy just sort of disintegrates away with token resolution. Another 'woman in refrigerator' trope. The more I think about it the less I like Mandy.

Re: "Mandy" Reviews/Discussion - 2022 Horror Challenge
 

I love the cinematography in this one and Nick Cage going nuts and getting his revenge checks all my boxes. Love the film
8/10

Re: "Mandy" Reviews/Discussion - 2022 Horror Challenge
 

Man I love Mandy. Nic Cage’s later career may be a punchline, but I think Mandy and Color Out of Space are two of the best movies of 2018-19. It does take a while to get going, but when it does, Oh Baby! The world Panos has created is truly frightening. Cage is truly in his element and the ‘gang’ is delightfully creepy.

wearing my Cheddar Goblin shirt to work tomorrow

Re: "Mandy" Reviews/Discussion - 2022 Horror Challenge
 

I heard a YouTube reactor talking about newer horror movies and wished more would have story first with horror elements added. Nick Cage went full Nick Cage so the movie has that going for it.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandy_(2018_film)

I know this band and I would have never guessed that. :lol:

Re: "Mandy" Reviews/Discussion - 2022 Horror Challenge
 

I'm more in agreement with Spiderbite ad clckworang on this one. When I first saw it I gave it a 6/10 and wrote that it was very trippy and interesting but too long and hard to follow. This second go round, I still appreciate the visuals but was even more impatient for the story to move. No doubt, there are some great sequences but it annoys me when "auteurs" make things deliberately obtuse and hard to follow. I'm still around 6/10.

Re: "Mandy" Reviews/Discussion - 2022 Horror Challenge
 

I’m in the same boat. I believe this is my third viewing and it has diminished for me. I still really enjoy the visuals and the score. The bleakness, which normally I’m into is just exacerbated by the slowness.

Re: "Mandy" Reviews/Discussion - 2022 Horror Challenge
 

Mandy is one of those films I consider an experience, rather than just a movie. It is definitely light on story, but I really enjoy the visuals, soundtrack, and stylistic flourishes, and they all combine to give the movie a hypnotic quality. I liked Mandy a lot on the first viewing but actually enjoyed it even more the second time around. I'm looking forward to what Panos Cosmatos has in store for his next movie.