I didn't really like this movie but I don't think it is a bad movie. It just isn't for me. It can be mesmerizing at times. The colors and score are really good but the movie is way too slow and there is hardly any plot that makes sense. The last act is by far the best but that's only because the first two are so slow. Still it is great to see Nicolas Cage getting revenge and killing people, I just wish it was in a better movie.

LSD fueled nightmare This is a basic revenge film but it's visually one of the most unique in the genre. The cinematography and soundtrack blend perfectly to create a feeling of film where you're not sure if it's set in reality or someone's nightmare. It's the kind of movie where it's best to just go along with the ride and not question too much. It's a very weird movie that won't appeal to everyone but I enjoyed it for it's creativity and originality. We live in a time of remakes, reboots, re-imaginings and recycled everything when it comes to film. Mandy takes chances and you have got to appreciate that.

There are 3 distinct parts in the movie. First we just see the life of the characters. Nothing much happens. Their conversations are totally inane, quite boring. The images are beautiful though. Greats shots, over saturated colours on beautiful sceneries. It's ok as an intro. Then the antagonists are introduced. A kind of sect with a guru who, classically, thinks he's chosen by God to own the world, and his totally devoted followers. They seem to use a lot of drugs too. The guru takes a liking to Nicholas Cage's wife and have her kidnapped. This whole part is really great work. There is a whole sequence where everybody is on drugs and it's perfectly shown. There's also the horror and I inhumanity of what the followers can do. Then the pain, despair, total helplessness of character when he can just watch his wife [spoiler]being burned alive[/spoiler]. This part is great, on every aspect, this is what the whole movie should have been. And then we get to the revenge part. I can't say it's that bad, but it totally does not fit. Also it's already been done twice with Nic Cage, so this feels like a remake. In Ghost Rider, it was supposed to be serious and turned out quite bad. In Drive Angry, it's fully assumed over the top 2nd degree, and it works beautifully. It's ridiculous, but that's the point, which ends up funny and it's great entertainment. There it tries to go the Drive angry way, but it just comes out of nowhere. This just feels so forced and out of place that it just doesn't work. (Well, in my opinion, other people in the theatre seemed to like it.) So now he just got a super crossbow, and he's forging his own weird ass axe. Ok... Contrary to the previous two there is no supernatural in the scenario. Yet we start with hunting some legendary demon-like junkie bikers. After killing them he should have lost his only lead. But it's ok because he then go to see a shaman guy that tells him where to go. Wtf ? He's at the same time incredibly good at fighting/killing them but also extremely clumsy which makes for some good comedy/action but makes no sense, you can almost see the writers going "oh and now make him fall stupidly there, they will love it". It's really way too forced down your throat for no reason at all. We then go through all the cliches and gags you could expect, up until a chainsaw duel. There are still some nice images and great shots during all that. But the whole thing is way too much. Too bad, it started pretty good. Still get a 7 as even if the end is barely a 5-6, it's not that bad in itself, it's just that it does not fit, and the middle part is a solid 8+.

Nicolas Cage in the titles is an insignia for a certain quality of the movies these days. I have to agree on all of the Neal Mahoney points. Colors are vivid, score is nice. But the movie is so slow. No fantasy or mysticism involved, don't make some tags fool you. I was hoping for some The Evil Dead or Hellraiser. [spoiler]I see no points of some drugs scenes in this movie. And many sex references just made it taste bad. My short description of this movie for friends was: Nicolas Cage on LSD and cocaine killing Christian fanatics and BDSM dressed bikers.[/spoiler] It should be 40-50 minutes shorter.