History Film / Mandy2018

* DisproportionateRetribution: How does Jeremiah handle Mandy laughing at his music? [[spoiler:By burning her alive, of course. All while forcing Red to watch.]]

* AlienSky: [[spoiler: One with three moons appears in [[GainaxEnding the landscape Red's driving through at the end.]]]]

In 2020, Sacred Bones Records released ''Lift it Down'', a [[{{Defictionalization}} defictionalized]] version of Jeremiah Sand's second album performed by Creator/LinusRoache.

Set in 1983, the film centers on a logger named Red Miller (Cage) who lives in the Shadow Mountains with his beloved wife Mandy Bloom (Riseborough). When she is spotted by the sadistic cult leader Jeremiah Sand (Roache), he has a demonic gang kidnap Red and Mandy, bringing their tranquil existence to a horrifying end. Now, driven by fury and vengeance, Red goes after the cult and the entities that they have brought forth.

''Mandy'' is a 2018 psychedelic ActionHorror film directed by Creator/PanosCosmatos of ''Film/BeyondTheBlackRainbow'' and starring Creator/NicolasCage, Creator/AndreaRiseborough, and Creator/LinusRoache.

The film was co-written by Cosmatos from a story he conceived, and co-produced by Creator/ElijahWood through his [=SpecterVision=] company. It premiered at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival in January of that year before getting a theatrical release in mid-September.

* AlwaysABiggerFish: There's a funny moment when Red [[ChainsawGood revs up a chainsaw]] in preparation for murdering a guy with it, only for that guy to pull out his own chainsaw that's nearly ''[[SerialEscalation twice as long]].''

** While Red is wallowing in the shock and horror of watching [[spoiler:his wife burning to death in front of him]], he turns to the television set and sees the world's dumbest mac-n-cheese commercial in existence.

* BlindWeaponmaster: The supposedly fearsome leader of the biker gang Skratch somehow rides a motorcycle through the forest and fights hand to hand while starting facing away from his opponent [[spoiler:with what looks to be a leather sack over their head and no eye holes]]

The film was co-written by Cosmatos from a story he conceived, and co-produced by Creator/ElijahWood through his [=Specte bad guys" in cireVision=] company. It premiered at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival in January of that year before getting a theatrical release in mid-September.

The film was co-written by Cosmatos from a story he conceived, and co-produced by Creator/ElijahWood through his [=SpectreVision=] company. It premiered at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival in January of that year before getting a theatrical release in mid-September.

* ObviouslyEvil: Has there ever been a clearer sign of "yup, they're the bad guys" in cinema history than a band of [[EvilSoundsDeep deep]]-[[VoiceOfTheLegion voiced]] [[LegionsOfHell possibly demonic]] [[AllBikersAreHellsAngels bikers]] [[SpikesOfVillainy covered in spikes]] who call themselves the '''[[DarkIsEvil Black]] [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Skulls]]'''?

* HollywoodDarkness: Averted: most of the nighttime scenes feature actual darkness, in which it is hard to see what is happening. Red's bathroom breakdown scene is distinctive for being brightly lit.

* BlingBlingBang: There are only two real guns in the entire movie; one is a gold-accented Luger owned by the Chemist, who chooses not to use it on Red, and the other is a sawed off shotgun that is fired precisely once and misses.

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome:
** [[ChainsawGood Chainsaws]] are awesome, but they're designed for forestry and construction work - they're [[AwesomeButImpractical not actually very efficient weapons]].
** [[DefiantCaptive Laughing]] at a maniacal cult leader who's already murdered at least three people is not going to end well. Than again, he has you hostage, so [[DefiantToTheEnd you're fucked either way]].

* SpiritualSuccessor:
** Arguably, to ''Film/DriveAngry'', another Creator/NicolasCage "80s GenreThrowback" action movie where he takes violent revenge on a group of insane cultists with an ImpossiblyCoolWeapon ([[{{BFG}} The Godkiller]] in ''Drive Angry'', The Beast in ''Mandy''.)
** A basic plot description (Creepy, egotistical musician kidnaps rock and roll girl, boyfriend takes action) sounds a lot like both ''Film/StreetsOfFire'' and ''WesternAnimation/RockAndRule''. However, ''Mandy'' is DarkerAndEdgier than both, not to mention much, much more of a bad trip.
** In a number of ways, this film is ''Film/ConanTheBarbarian1982'' reimagined in an 80s backwoods American setting. Red is the [[TheBerserker rage-fueled]] BarbarianHero taking [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge violent revenge]] on an insane cult leader and his followers who ruined his life, destroyed his home, and [[spoiler:murdered a woman close to him (in ''Conan'' it was his mother, in ''Mandy'' it was the title character.)]] The ForgingScene of the Beast being made is very similar to the iconic opening from ''Conan'', and several of the characters have close analogues: Red is Conan, Carruthers is Subotai (the best friend who takes care of a bow for the protagonist), The Chemist is the Wizard of the Mounds, and Mandy is Valeria, [[spoiler: the doomed love interest.]] Like Thulsa Doom, Jeremiah Sand is an evil cult leader who forces a young female follower to show her loyalty in an act of deadly masochism (although Sister Lucy survives the game of RussianRoulette) and is [[spoiler: killed when the protagonist refuses to listen to him any longer and destroys his head.]]

* AnAxeToGrind: Being a lumberjack, Red forges a huge axe-looking thing for himself (the script calls it The Beast) and [[OffWithHisHead puts it to good use]].

** Arguably, to ''Film/DriveAngry'', another Creator/NicolasCage "80s GenreThrowback" action movie where he takes violent revenge on a group of insane cultists with an ImpossiblyCoolWeapon ([[{{BFG}} The Godkiller]] in ''Drive Angry'', [[AnAxeToGrind The Beast]] in ''Mandy''.)