Horror Shorts: Mandy

This hallucinatory modern film pairs the classic revenge themes with themes of demons and magic. Filmed with pulsing colourful lights, short animated sequences, we are given the feeling of a dream or perhaps some kind of acid trip. The trippy soundtrack from Icelandic composer Johan Johansson melds perfectly with the fever dream visuals. Johansson was gaining recognition for his music when he unfortunately passed away at only 48 and this was his last film score.

We learn little about the main characters other than they are in love and happy with their simple life. When a group of cultists destroy that life, of course, we are thirsty for revenge. One of the great things about a revenge film is that we are allowed to revel in the violence, to enjoy bad people suffering for their actions. Seeing evil be punished is a guilty pleasure we are allowed to embrace in film.

British actor Linus Roache is amazingly creepy, playing a despicable and somewhat pathetic failed musician become cult leader.  With vibes of Charlie Manson, his adoring cultists will do anything for him, including kill. Nicholas Cage also manages to play his role well, rarely resorting to his custom comic  overacting, instead giving us a lot of silent, staring eyed menace. This is a man who has lost everything and has no need for sanity anymore. Andrea Riseborough as the titular character is enigmatic and haunting, her huge eyes drawing us in. Although she has the smallest role in the film, her presence is there throughout. 

 The film contains aspects of magic, with a gang of bikers turned demons and a drug dealer with psychic powers. These are accepted as normal, part of the magic that appears to underlie everyday life. We have seen aspects of this before in films like Pumpkinhead, where hillbillies have access to ancient folk magic. It adds an element of horror to what would otherwise be a straight revenge film.

4/ 5