Overview
The Shadow Mountains, 1983. Red and Mandy lead a loving and peaceful existence; but when their pine-scented haven is savagely destroyed, Red is catapulted into a phantasmagoric journey filled with bloody vengeance and laced with fire.
This is one insanely trippy movie. Mandy (Andrea Riseborough) and Red (Nicolas Cage) live a peaceful existence in a cabin in the woods. Red is a lumberjack, and Mandy paints, reads and works in a local store. One day, the leader of a local religious sect, Jeremiah, sets his eyes and desires on Mandy, and sends his followers out to bring her to him. They violently abduct her and Red sets out on a relentless rampage of bloody revenge…
There’s a lot to like about this movie: Nicolas Cage gets to be as unhinged as he has ever been, but here it makes sense for once; the imagery is gorgeous – every scene is a painting; the atmosphere harks back to 70s horror and grindhouse; and it has all the potential of becoming a cult classic.
There are also a few things not quite right: the pacing is off, and the first half is (far) too slow and will see people leaving the cinema I think; there is no backstory to any of the characters so they are all caricatures; and it is all so trippy that you probably need to be a genre lover to really enjoy this.
So is this a good movie? Well, I sort of liked it, but at the same time I doubt I will every watch it again – I am not going to be a cult fan. If you do watch this movie, be prepared for the slow start and as you will really watch it for the stylised visuals, it is best seen on a large screen. Or watch it with friends on Halloween while drunk and as high on cocaine as Red so you can maybe begin to understand the insane trippiness that is Mandy.
★★★☆☆
