BLOG AMNESTY: MANDY @ PCC

So guys I have been lets be honest crap this year. In trying to do everything at once I ended up neglecting this  blog completely of which by the way I am  sorry. I had to prioritise my mental health on this one. Anywho on that note December is now my Blog Amnesty all the stuff I meant to post but just never got round to. So I'm starting off with a compete gem that I sought out. Mandy! A film that is a beautiful premium cut of Cage Rage!

SUMMARY TIME: In 1983 lumberjack Red (Nick Cage) and his artist girlfriend Mandy (a hauntingly pretty Andrea Risborough) live in a beautiful cabin by the lake. However everything goes to hell when a cult called the Children of the New Dawn turn up. The leader (Linus Roache) desires Mandy for his own and will do anything to get her dead or alive.

Holy crap is this a fantastic movie. It's aesthetic is insane and it may just be in the running for my top movies of the year. I don't actually believe I have seen something before that just made me sit there and just take it all in. It's not that its just a horror. I'd say its barely a horror, more of a revenge thriller with  elements of so many other genres thrown in for good measure. It's 80's styling is brilliant without being cliche.

One thing it does very well is straddle the line between the serious and the ridiculous. Moments of Nick Cage's performance is completely ludicrous but you never feel like you are laughing at the film but laughing with it. One scene where he is in the bathroom raging is honestly both hilarious and affecting. Also if you haven't heard seek it out for the Cheddar goblin alone.

Also it would be remiss to say that this film isn't loaded to the hilt with some of the most bonkers phallic imagery I have ever seen in my life. The whole thing is heaving with it in a way that is brilliantly uncomfortable. It would be also be wrong for me to not mention the fact that Nick Cage forges an axe in this movie.

That isn't to say that the other actors can't live up to Nick Cage's larger than life performance. On the contrary everyone is brilliant. Especially Andrea Risborough as Mandy. She is haunting and steals all her scenes in such a quiet but effective way.

It's easy to say that Nick Cage is the thing about this movie that is brilliantly unhigned but to be honest its the whole movie. Every shot is beautiful and freaky. The colour scheme is gorgeous and the music is haunting. The whole thing is like a relic from another time.

in the PCC lobby

On that note I'd also like to say how much fun it was to see this movie at The Prince Charles Cinema. It's been on my bucket list to go for years and I'm so glad I finally made it there! It was such a great time!


NOTE: I saw this at the time of the BFI film fest where it was showing but i did not see it in an official BFI screening but i've tagged in the film festival tag for ease.