MovieChat Forums > Mandy (2018) Discussion > Batsh!t crazy

Batsh!t crazy

posted 6 years ago by [deleted]
7 replies | jump to latest

This horror/action/thriller didn't quite work, but it sure wasn't for lack of trying.

The plot is wafer thin... essentially a 'revenge' movie. This movie though is all about style over substance, and it had that in spades.

The obvious influences that I could detect were:

i. David Lynch. Big one here. Strange off-kilter music. Oddball characters with extended monologues... or silences. Abstract ambient lighting.

ii. Sam Raimi's Evil Dead series... Who didn't think of Ash when Nic Cage, eyes blazing from a face awash in dried blood, started swinging a chainsaw around? The gory and graphic kills were also very much in keeping with that series.

iii. Heavy Metal: The Movie. The animated dream sequences and titles were very reminiscent of the style and themes of that movie.

What else did I miss?

And the most surprising thing of all... Nic Cage WASN'T the craziest character in the movie. That would be Linus Roche who goes all in as the cult leader. He's never really made a huge impression on me in his other movies, but all eyes are on him in this one.

Recommended just for the sheer WTF experience...

Trivia tidbit: I live in Victoria, British Columbia. Director Panos Cosmatos is the son of George Cosmatos, who directed action movies such as The Cassandra Crossing, Rambo II and Tombstone. The Cosmatos family moved here in the early 80s... the father died here about a decade ago.

[–] [deleted] 6 years ago

Everything you said is pretty much spot-on regarding plot, style and influences.

That being said I didn't care for it. I like revenge movies. I like (some) surreal movies. I like David Lynch. I like Evil Dead. Hell I even like Nic Cage. But for whatever reason this one just missed the mark for me. I get why people like it though.

[–] [deleted] 6 years ago

Another influence that I should have mentioned was Rob Zombie's Devil's Rejects / House of 1000 Corpses which in turn is heavily influenced by grindhouse movies. A typical element of some of these movies was the killer family / redneck hillbilly cannibals (The Hills Have Eyes, The Chainsaw Massacre movies, etc).

One of the characteristics of those movies is how disposable they were... if you saw it once, there was no need to see it again because they were pretty forgettable and interchangeable.

[–] [deleted] 6 years ago

One of the characteristics of those movies is how disposable they were... if you saw it once, there was no need to see it again because they were pretty forgettable and interchangeable.

Funny you say this because I wasn't that crazy about House of 1000 Corpses because I really felt like I had seen it before. I did like Devil's Rejects significantly more though.

[–] [deleted] 6 years ago

Yeah, same here. The first one seemed more like a straight up horror movie. For some reason -- no idea why -- the tone of it reminded me of Phantasm, even though they had no similarity in plot whatsoever.

I thought the second one was superior and it was the one that made me re-think Rob Zombie's talent as a writer/director. It was more a violent crime thriller movie than straight up horror.

[–] Starman (412) 6 years ago

I used to be a huge fan of his father since the 70's, it seems like his son has inherited his penchant for visuals and horror images or genre. Did you know George? Panos has certainly showed lots of promise, his further projects could be even more successful.

[–] [deleted] 6 years ago

No, I never knew him or met him. It wasn't til his obit appeared in our local paper that I even knew he lived here. Tombstone would certainly be in the top half of my favourite 100 movies.

[–] Rockman4 (1606) 6 years ago

Yeah this movie was interesting and bizarre and crazy with great performances. It's definitely one of Nic Cage's best recent performances