Man this movie is awesome...

I'm not into trippy psychedelic arthouse films. It's not my wheelhouse for entertainment.

However, the very first time I saw the trailer for Mandy I was hooked. The vibe, the music, the colors, and the strobe effects made it look like a vision of something extraordinary delivered in a visually stunning yet compact production.

It definitely lived up to -- and then some -- my expectations.

I really don't get into the whole shamanistic/mysticism stuff, but the heavy metal romance/revenge vibe was wicked. We just don't get enough movies like that.

Also, Nicholas Cage probably gave his best performance ever here. The scene in the bathroom on the toilet was like pure, raw emotion. I could feel his pain. It's not often actors can capture that kind of feeling and display it on screen in such a believable way without uttering a word.

As bizarre and deranged as the whole thing was, it was infinitely entertaining, especially the second half. This is also one of the few films where I actually felt for the lead characters -- I wanted so badly for things to be all right for the happy little couple living in the mountains away from civilization. Yet it just didn't work out that way.

I can't remember the last time I actually felt sick or emotional about a character's fate, but that just goes to show how effective writer/director Panos Cosmatos was at delivering a seemingly simple yet compelling narrative.