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Mandao of the Dead

  • 2018
  • 1h 14m
IMDb RATING
4.7/10
154
YOUR RATING
Mandao of the Dead (2018)
Watch Mandao of the Dead Teaser
Play trailer0:38
1 Video
21 Photos
ComedyHorrorSci-Fi

If you could astral project back in time and stop a murder, would you do it? Slacker Jay Mandao and his sidekick Jackson are about to find out. Premiered at the San Diego Comic Con 2019.If you could astral project back in time and stop a murder, would you do it? Slacker Jay Mandao and his sidekick Jackson are about to find out. Premiered at the San Diego Comic Con 2019.If you could astral project back in time and stop a murder, would you do it? Slacker Jay Mandao and his sidekick Jackson are about to find out. Premiered at the San Diego Comic Con 2019.

  • Director
    • Scott Dunn
  • Writer
    • Scott Dunn
  • Stars
    • Alexandre Chen
    • Sean Liang
    • Scott Dunn
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    4.7/10
    154
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Scott Dunn
    • Writer
      • Scott Dunn
    • Stars
      • Alexandre Chen
      • Sean Liang
      • Scott Dunn
    • 11User reviews
    • 33Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • Videos1

    Mandao of the Dead Teaser
    Trailer 0:38
    Mandao of the Dead Teaser

    Photos21

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    Top cast13

    Edit
    Alexandre Chen
    Alexandre Chen
    • Raymond Mandao
    Sean Liang
    Sean Liang
    • Cousin Andy
    Scott Dunn
    • Jay Mandao
    David Gallegos
    David Gallegos
    • Darth
    Linda Loysen
    Linda Loysen
    • Maeve's Mother
    Marisa Hood
    Marisa Hood
    • Maeve
    Erin Leigh Neumeyer
    Erin Leigh Neumeyer
    • Mrs. Mandao
    Tenoch Gomez
    • Dj Miguel
    • (voice)
    Sean McBride
    • Jackson
    Gina Gomez Dunn
    • Fer
    • (as Gina Gomez)
    Samara Kohne
    • April
    Max Moreno
    • Young Jay
    Rosa Ledesma
    • Lucinda
    • Director
      • Scott Dunn
    • Writer
      • Scott Dunn
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews11

    4.7154
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    10

    Featured reviews

    6kannibalcorpsegrinder

    Highly enjoyable indie sci-fi/horror comedy

    Living off his relative's inheritance, a man living with a loner slacker friend finds that his strange dreams are signaling the ability to astral projection, but by doing so he comes upon a ghost wanting him to perform certain actions with his powers that put them all in great danger.

    For the most part, this was a rather enjoyable effort. One of it's better aspects is the rather strong and enjoyable atmosphere that creates a rather light, easy-going tone. The friendship between the two is a prime example, but the main starting point here is the revelation of his ability to astral project that provides this one with the most to like as it features some lighthearted comedic moments. With the main focus in the middle of the film coming specifically from this aspect of the film, there's a rather breezy tone that's established rather enjoyable to get through. This is mainly due to the projection sequences themselves being rather enjoyable. There's an otherworldly quality to these scenes of them interacting together in a different plane of existence, with the ethereal tone, voices and generally odd atmosphere showing them interacting with the different figures in his dreams. As these help the movie along with its main goal of helping the friend to overcome his affliction by recreating the events that killed them resulting in some madcap adventures to always right their wrongs, making for a lot to really like with this one. The film's main issue is the inability to connect with the best friend making it difficult to really sympathize with his situation. The idea of the lonely man-child in his mid-thirties who stays home, watches cartoons and does nothing all day is not funny in concept or execution, leaving the entire woe-is-me routine of the first half rather flat and lame. Thankfully, it's kept to a minimum that doesn't affect the film all that much in the end, but the idea of it still being a prominent part of how we're supposed to get on his side being a reliable friend. The other main issue here is a real lack of explanation for what's going on within the film. Not only is there no real reason for why he's suddenly able to perform this strange ability, but the idea of what it wants to do with him is also completely misguided from what the actual action is supposed to be. As well, the entire concept of suddenly being able to interact with the dead through this activity is never explained or given, leading to a real sense of confusion as for how they came into contact with each other and what he expects to occur based on their interaction with each other. These here are what hold it down somewhat.

    Rated Unrated/R: Language and Violence.
    8Film_Noob_David

    Waiting for the sequel

    We loved reviewing this film. The film's consept was unique and the production value was on point. Lots of practical use of lighting and camera shots. Everything about the story telling was well done from shot selection to editing. Both practical effects as well as visual didn't take you out of the story at any point. Acting was also tight and very believable from the characters. For the budget this film was shot for they did extreemly well, we would love to see the next part hopefully if they decide to shoot it since they included a bit of a cliff hanger which played a little off back to the future. Really good movie after all and really worth the watch.
    5bipbop13

    Bills Short Reviews For Short Attention Spans

    Well, this was a pretty fun movie. Not really laugh out loud funny, but a humorous thread runs through the movie. I was impressed with the actors & sets, as the film was on a very low budget. The director played it smart, working well on a storyline that keeps your attention as well as characters you can invest in. There are some shifts in time, and "astral projection" with one of the characters. The film makers keep it simple and the viewer doesn't get confused at all. I wouldn't call this a horror flick, as the title would suggest, but more of a drama/thriller with sci-fi undertones. It's worth a watch, and the run time is only about 70 minutes. There are worse ways to waste that time.
    4Gunnar_R_Ingibjargarson

    A kind-of a boring scifi

    Nothing really special about this one, it is a b-horror sure, but it's just a bunch of amateur actors talking around. Just bad.
    10susy_lv

    Love this Indie film

    I am addicted to indie films, although not all indies are created equal. My husband and I watched this movie and were pleasantly surprised. The plot was original and had a few twist and turns which I'm am not going to divulge. You will need to see the movie to see what happens. The characters were fun, funny, with great chemistry, and believable. The music is original and had some catchy tunes. The quality of the film was pretty good and didn't seem like a low budget film. I recommend watching this horror/comedy, you won't regret it!

    More like this

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    5.6
    Mandao Returns

    Storyline

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    Did you know

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    • Trivia
      Official Selection of the Comic Con International Independent Film Festival 2019.
    • Goofs
      Jackson (Sean McBride) had cut this hair shortly before the re-shoots. The difference in hair length can be barely scene in the original wide-shots and re-shot close-ups for two scenes: the breakfast scene immediately after Jay (Scott Dunn) travels to Maeve's home for the first time and the confrontation between Jay and Jackson after they use astral travel to discover Maeve is the murderer.

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • November 11, 2018 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Official sites
      • Official Facebook
      • Official Twitter
    • Language
      • English
    • Production companies
      • Dunnit Films
      • Mandao Films
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

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    • Budget
      • $20,000 (estimated)
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

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    • Runtime
      1 hour 14 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.35 : 1

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