“Throw the phone out the window
If you want the neighbors woke
You’ll have to shout out loud
And set the bed alight and slow
If you want the neighbors woke
You’ll have to shout even louder.”
-St. Vincent – Black Rainbow
======
By the mid 2000’s, I had grown into a somewhat crusty old school horror fan. I loved the genre and kept up on the entertainment side of things, but was pretty much just watching the same 25 movies on repeat for years at a time. Dawn of the Dead, The Exorcist, Phantasm, Halloween, and all the other franchises on loop were a form of comfort and nostalgia, which I’ll never get tired of.
However, something peculiar happened in 2018 with the release of the now cult classic action/horror film MANDY. This brutal and surreal film starring Nicolas Cage, written and directed by Panos Cosmatos, and produced by Elijah Wood, reinvigorated my love of horror cinema and piqued my interest in terms of the more independent and “underground” releases I’d been missing.
MANDY is a psychedelia inducing revenge movie, featuring Nicolas Cage in best form, which moves with ease from a lulling synth dreamscape to blood spattered nightmares of torture and carnage. All of the elements come together in a bizarre alchemy which defies classification, both paying homage to the past while also creating something totally fresh and new.
For many viewers, this was the first time being introduced to the unique atmospheric style, color pallet, and subject matter of writer/director Panos Cosmatos. Of course, Nicolas Cage is at the heart of the production, providing a memorable performance only Cage can deliver, yet Panos Cosmatos provided the soul and vision needed to elevate this piece to an art-form beyond typical horror.
Personally, I would place MANDY in any “Best Horror Movies of the Decade” discussion, if for no other reason than it caught my attention and got me interested again. Though the script is simple, it’s beautifully directed, incorporates a lush soundtrack, and treads some new ground which left viewers wanting more from this distinctly original filmmaker (and more horror roles for Cage).
======
Panos Cosmatos (Feb 1st, 1974) is an Italian-Canadian filmmaker, and son of the late George Pan Cosmatos; a successful Hollywood film director of such classics as the sci-fi feature LEVIATHAN, as well as the western film TOMBSTONE. From an early age, Panos was instilled with talent from both his father, and his mother, an accomplished sculptor.
BEYOND THE BLACK RAINBOW (2010) is a Canadian horror film and feature debut of Panos Cosmatos as writer and director. This mesmerizing and trippy movie was hard to find for several years, and has only recently become available for mass streaming on various platforms. It’s a cinematic experience akin to watching Cronenberg, Kubrick or Ridley Scott on neon lit, blacklight laced LSD.
While some reviewers found BTBR to be overly long and boorish, or had complaints about the way the film ends (which is a valid critique), the production is solid while the direction and script is strange and inventive. You can’t help but to get the impression that Cosmatos is building a larger world of his own design and influences, glimpsing into the terrains of Lovecraftian cosmic terror.
The writer/director would then go on create episode 7 of Guillermo del Toro’s CABINET OF CURIOSITIES (2022) series on Netflix. In this tale, entitled The Viewing, we are again treated to the unique style and otherworldly themes of this emerging filmmaker. The cinematic works are filled with lavish retro-futurism and a brooding darkness which is palpable.
NEKROKOSM is the next feature film for the director (no current release date), stated as being “a phantasmagorical sci-fi fantasy nightmare set deep within a strange galaxy where two lovers are torn apart as they try to survive a malevolent alien invasion.” From the sound of it, the production will be of a much larger scope than previous entries, and potentially higher production values.
======
It’s hard not to overuse the words “psychedelic” and “trippy” when describing the works of Panos Cosmatos, just as it’s difficult to categorize all the various influences on display. One could make the argument that films like BEYOND THE BLACK RAINBOW and MANDY helped pave the way for a “Neo-Giallo” movement being produced internationally, and largely independently.
Let me be clear, the films of Cosmatos are not for everyone, and despite the underground success of MANDY, Panos has yet to turn a profit in terms of box office revenue or ticket sales. BTBR was produced for $1.1 million and only made $56,491 dollars (!) in theaters, while MANDY had a $6 million budget and only generated $2 million in ticket sales.
That’s not to say that rentals and streaming deals didn’t eventually turn profit (MANDY is honestly the last DVD I ever remember renting back in 2018, and one of the reasons I subscribed to SHUDDER shortly thereafter), but so far it would appear that, as a filmmaker, things are just breaking even. Hopefully one day we’ll see some huge IMAX 3D spectacle of a movie, but I’m not holding my breath.
In the meantime, we should appreciate those things which actually make an effort. Because, let’s face it, there is a lot of shitty and uninspired horror out there regurgitating the same ideas. A lot of corporate horror, keeping things PG-13 and Disney friendly. It isn’t very often that something comes along, low budget, and truly transcends the genre; exploring new dimensions while connecting with audiences.
For me, MANDY was the film that really got me excited about horror again, serving as a pallet cleanser to all the other familiar titles I had been gorging on for so long. While I wouldn’t consider MANDY to be a “masterpiece”, it seems all too obvious that, given the chance, Panos Cosmatos is fully capable of creating such a film. We can only hope he continues to evolve as a filmmaker.
======
Michael A. Dyer is the host of the HORROR TO CULTURE podcast and website.
