Oh wow, if when I woke up this morning and you told me that one of my favorite films of 2018, Panos Cosmatos' MANDY, would be getting an all-too-fitting trailer makeover, I might not have believed you. However, if there's one thing I've learned in my time on the internet, it's that it can always surprise you, as can the people who're savvy enough to create fun trailer mash-ups on YouTube.
Not long ago, Josh Olson, the Oscar-nominated screenwriter of David Cronenberg's A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE, married the theatrical trailer for the Nicolas Cage starrer with that of Barry Manilow's 1973 ballad of the same name. To my surprise, the track goes along with the trailer quite well, a little too well in fact. What's that? You have your doubts? Well then, why don't you click on the video below and experience the magic for yourself?
So, do you have anything you'd like to say to me? An apology perhaps? After all, you should know that I would never deliberately stear you wrong, especially when it comes to music – which truth be told, I love more than film any day of the week. While I'm not a Manilow fan, I do delight in the idea of taking something truly terrifying, MANDY, and marrying it with that of something sweet and endearing like Manilow's sappy chart-topper from yesteryear. Regardless of how you feel about the American songwriter's extensive catalogue, I can guarantee that your life is now all the more complete, since witnessing this simple-yet-inspired mash-up.
Oh, I almost forgot. For those of you who're unfamiliar with Panos Cosmatos' MANDY, let me break it down for you real quick by pulling a quote from my own review of the film. The movie is a "truly psychotic action horror thriller that reaches up into the asses of its audience, throttles their spine, and doesn't let go until the last deadly deed is done. Taking place in the year 1983, the film finds Red, a misanthropic lumberjack, living in seclusion with his artistic and heterochromic girlfriend, Mandy. One day, Mandy attracts the attention of a cult leader by the name of Jeremiah Sand, who summons a hellish group of motorcycle-riding demons to kidnap her. Upon making the grim discovery of his girlfriend's abduction, Red arms himself with a crossbow, his trusty axe, and an insatiable thirst for revenge against those who disturbed the couple's tranquil courtship."
You got all that? Good. Now go watch MANDY while thinking of Barry Manilow's dolcet tones. Or, just watch the film and sway to its hypnotic, original soundtrack composed by the late and great Jóhann Jóhannsson. Either way, I hope the rest of your day is amazing. Cheers!