It’s rare that today’s movie watchers actually demand to see a movie in a movie theater rather than just wait for it to hit streaming. But that’s what’s happening with Mandy, the totally bonkers new Nicolas Cage movie in which he plays a metal battle axe-wielding widower out for vengeance against the mystical cult that killed his wife (Andrea Riseborough). And yet this news is still big: When it hits the streaming part of its life, it will live exclusively on the horror service Shudder.
Shudder — which houses a wide range of classics, cult favorites, exclusives (like Rob Zombie’s 31), and original programming — announced the news today on Twitter, and on its site itself, with the words “Coming Soon.”
https://twitter.com/shudder/status/1052582525086912512
There’s no word yet on what “soon” means, especially as Mandy not only continues to do well in limited release but has, as per the afore-linked Business Insider article, inspired fans — even those who’ve already rented or bought it on iTunes — to demand local theaters book it.
Why are people demanding to see Mandy on a giant screen with super-loud sound? Because it’s filled with bold images and loud sound. The score, by the late Jóhann Jóhannsson (Arrival, Sicario), is a mix of death metal and droney atmospherics (plus this killer King Crimson jam). The music perfectly compliments such sights as long-haired cult leader Linus Roache summoning evil spirits by blowing a horn and its Oscar-winning star, his face stained with blood, chugging vodka while screaming. And that’s before he gets into a chainsaw duel.
Surely Mandy will have a long life as a midnight movie staple, playing theaters for crowds into its strange brew of slow cinema and borderline-camp OTT-ness. But every movie needs to hit streaming eventually, and when Mandy does there will be one place to see it — which also happens to be the same place to watch Beyond the Black Rainbow, director Panos Cosmatos’ previous (and somehow even spacier and weirder) feature. Just do us a favor: Play it loud.
