A bit long-in-the-tooth at times, Pano Cosmatos' sophomore feature film is never less than visually stunning. His use of color is ripped straight out of the Italian genre master's handbook (think serious nods to both Bava and Argento), not to mention his use of intrinsic and bombastic prog rock-cum-metal influenced music.
While on the surface this is a rather simple revenge story, it is teeming with fantastical elements. In fact, for me, it really felt like Cosmatos was channelling John Milius' classic minimalist sword/sorcery epic Conan the Barbarian, both in terms of its story and the old school medieval violence. I mean there are demons, a charismatic cult leader, his mindless and obedient servants, there's pagan rituals, and heavy metal sword fighting (albeit, in this case it's axes and chainsaws). Scratch the surface, however, and underneath it all one can easily construe that this is a condemnation of religion and the violence that has surrounded it for years; how people take beliefs and twist them to their own purpose all in the name of a higher being. But if that kind of philosophical slant ain't your cup of tea, no worries. The film is chock full of some good ol' ultra-violence, not to mention some gonzo humor.
And Nic Cage? Sure, he's made a latter day career out of doing over-the-top characters in direct-to-video B-movie schlock (think Mom and Dad), but here he takes the cake. When he's not chain smoking, chopping wood, or cuddle/spooning with his lady (the titular Mandy), then he's covered in blood, killing deranged biker gangs, and engaging in chainsaw dueling frenzies of mayhem.
His adversary, played to the hilt by Linus Roache, is a nefarious blend of weasely androgenous petulance. He is a narcissistic slimeball who teeters on the brink of empyrical sacrosancticity; he is creepy and sniveling and always malevolent.
Throughout the film there are obvious visual nods to The Road Warrior and the Evil Dead trilogy-by-way-of-Texas Chainsaw Massacre, as well as the aforementioned stalwarts of Italian horror cinema, plus a heavy debt to the psychotropic films of the '60s and early '70s. In the end, though, this is pure Cosmatos; a deja vu laced pastiche of all the best parts from myriad core genre films done as a loving homage to those influences and rendered in a manner that also manages to come off feeling and looking fresh and vibrant.
If there is any washback, I would say it comes in the form of the rather slow and long set-up; the first act is a bit too introspective for my tast and easily could have been edited down a bit. But that's just me, impatient as f#$k to get to the insane action and nuttso violence.
Rating: 3.5/5
RIYL: Baskin; Beyond the Black Rainbow; Harlequin (aka Dark Forces); The Neon Demon; Only God Forgives; Susperia; the films of Alejandro Jodorowsky; Conan the Barbarian
