698 reviews
Color out of space literally blew up my mind. I wasn't expecting any thing like that. The plot is very basic yet terrifying and sureal. Based on Lovercraft's short story, its about The Gardner family, who have lately left the citylife for a more bucolic life in a remote property are the prime subject of the movie and after a meteroite lands in their farm, the family find themselves battling a mutant organism that infects their minds and bodies, transforming their quiet rural life into a nightmare.
Director Richard Stanley who returns to the cinema after a really long time has made almost a classic this time. The movie did start slow but finds its pace as the story progresses. He has utilized the visual effects so well, I was heavily impressed.
Nicolas cage was simply fantastic in the movie and he ensures there isn't a dull moment when he is on screen. Joely Richardson looks convincing.
I admit the movie is very very weird and totally on a different storyline but it's really enjoyable.
Director Richard Stanley who returns to the cinema after a really long time has made almost a classic this time. The movie did start slow but finds its pace as the story progresses. He has utilized the visual effects so well, I was heavily impressed.
Nicolas cage was simply fantastic in the movie and he ensures there isn't a dull moment when he is on screen. Joely Richardson looks convincing.
I admit the movie is very very weird and totally on a different storyline but it's really enjoyable.
Written and directed by Richard Stanley (his first film in 25 years, after he was infamously fired three days into production on his long-gestating dream project, The Island of Dr. Moreau (1996)), Colour Out of Space is a modernised adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft's 1927 short story "The Colour Out of Space", and takes a good stab at depicting one of Lovecraft's most oblique entities. Mixing humour and body horror (perhaps weighed a little too much towards humour), the film gives Nicolas Cage another opportunity to go full-Cage, and boy does he lean into it - this is the most ludicrous, histrionic, and borderline farcical performance he's given since Vampire's Kiss (1988), and how much latitude you give him may well determine your opinion of the movie.
Just outside the city of Arkham, MA (the fictitious setting of many Lovecraftian stories), Nathan Gardner (Cage), his wife Theresa (Joely Richardson), and their children Benny (Brendan Meyer), Lavinia (Madeleine Arthur), and Jack (Julian Hilliard) have moved into Nathan's deceased father's property, with Nathan embracing rural life by raising alpacas on the property's farm. On an otherwise normal night, the sky fills with pulsating light and a meteorite crashes onto the Gardners' land, and as time passes, the Gardners start to experience ever-more bizarre events - unnaturally localised lightning storms that seem to come from nowhere; huge fuchsia-like plants that seem to grow overnight; a horrific odour that only Nathan can smell; a gigantic purple mantis flying around; radios and the internet cutting out more than normal; the water turning strange colours; the family's dog, Lavinia's horse, and Nathan's alpacas starting to acting strangely; even time itself appears to be corrupted. And soon enough, the family members themselves begin to show signs of unnatural change.
After some basic narrative preamble and a contemplative sub-Terrence Malick-style voiceover, the film features one of the most inorganic expositionary scenes I've ever seen, as Nathan and Theresa stand on the porch, and spend a good five minutes telling each other things that they both already know. Thankfully though, the clunkiness of this opening isn't a sign of things to come, and one of the film's most consistent elements is the subtlety with which Stanley depicts the entity, or rather, doesn't depict it. Lovecraft felt that if humanity were ever to encounter real cosmic beings, they could be so unlike anything in our experience as to be impossible to describe, or even process in our minds, and one of his aims with "Colour" was to create an entity that doesn't conform to human understanding - hence the only description is by analogy, and even then, only in relation to a colour beyond the visual spectrum. With this in mind, Stanley wisely keeps everything as vague as possible - vibrant, modulating pulses of light that seem to be emanating from somewhere just outside the frame, vaguely-defined spatial distortions, colour manipulations with no obvious source, etc.
Important here is the colour itself, and instead of attempting to create the indescribable colour featured in the story, director of photography Steve Annis chooses to go the route of not settling for any one stable colour - every time we see the effects of the meteorite, the hue appears to be in a state of flux - so although we can say the colours are recognisable, they're never identifiable as any one specific colour, which, is probably the best choice the filmmakers could have made.
As we get into the third act, the film abandons all sense of restraint and goes completely insane, with the body horror which has threatened to break through from the earliest moments finally unleashed, foregrounding the exceptional work of special effects supervisor/creature designer Dan Martin. These scenes are heavily indebted to David Cronenberg, especially his earlier work such as Shivers (1975), Rabid (1977), and The Brood (1979), although the most obvious touchstone is Chris Walas's work on Cronenberg's masterpiece, The Fly (1986). A lot of Martin's creature design also seems inspired by the legendary work of Rob Bottin, and there's a direct visual quote of one of the best moments in John Carpenter's The Thing (1982).
It's also in the last act where Cage is turned loose, signalled by an epic meltdown when he discovers Benny hasn't closed the barn door and the alpacas have gotten out. From there, it's Nicolas Cage unrestrained. There is a problem with this, however. Full-Cage has been seen in films such as Vampire's Kiss, Face/Off (1997), Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (2009), Mom and Dad (2017), and Mandy (2018), but each performance has felt fairly organic, never becoming self-conscious. In Colour, however, to an even greater extent than in the virtually unwatchable The Wicker Man (2006), Cage crosses into self-parody, with his performance having as much to do with people's preconceived notions of a Nicholas Cage performance as it does with finding the character. There are a couple of scenes here that seem to have little to do with legitimate character beats and more to do with Cage winking at the audience.
Which might be entertaining and all, but which doesn't serve the film especially well. For all its insanity, this is a relatively serious movie, but Cage's performance is so manic, that it affects everything around it. For example, after the aforementioned meltdown ("Don't you know how expensive those alpacas were"), which just about fits with what we know of the character, as Nathan is walking away from Benny and Lavinia, he stops, turns, pauses, shouts "ALPACAS", pauses again, and then walks away. This got a huge laugh at the screening I attended, and it was undoubtedly funny. But does self-reflexive humour by the leading man help tell the story or even create the right tone? No, not in the slightest. In essence, this scene marks the point where the character ceases to be Nathan Gardner and becomes a version of Nicolas Cage.
The other characters all have a kind of internal logic to their crumbling sanity; the meteorite affects each of them differently, with their minds disintegrating in different, but consistent ways. With Nathan, however, Stanley seems unwilling, or unable, to establish the parameters by which his mind is breaking down, seemingly going for laughs rather than something more cogent.
This issue notwithstanding, I enjoyed Colour Out of Space a great deal. Stanley's return to the director's chair is to be admired for its restraint and how faithful it remains to the very tricky Lovecraftian original. The body-horror in the film's last act will appeal to fans of the grotesque, whilst others will take great pleasure from Cage's insanity, as narratively unjustified as it is. The film is ridiculous on many levels, but it's extremely well realised and well made, and is to be applauded for not trying to attach an explicit meaning to a story which avoids any kind of thematic specificity.
Just outside the city of Arkham, MA (the fictitious setting of many Lovecraftian stories), Nathan Gardner (Cage), his wife Theresa (Joely Richardson), and their children Benny (Brendan Meyer), Lavinia (Madeleine Arthur), and Jack (Julian Hilliard) have moved into Nathan's deceased father's property, with Nathan embracing rural life by raising alpacas on the property's farm. On an otherwise normal night, the sky fills with pulsating light and a meteorite crashes onto the Gardners' land, and as time passes, the Gardners start to experience ever-more bizarre events - unnaturally localised lightning storms that seem to come from nowhere; huge fuchsia-like plants that seem to grow overnight; a horrific odour that only Nathan can smell; a gigantic purple mantis flying around; radios and the internet cutting out more than normal; the water turning strange colours; the family's dog, Lavinia's horse, and Nathan's alpacas starting to acting strangely; even time itself appears to be corrupted. And soon enough, the family members themselves begin to show signs of unnatural change.
After some basic narrative preamble and a contemplative sub-Terrence Malick-style voiceover, the film features one of the most inorganic expositionary scenes I've ever seen, as Nathan and Theresa stand on the porch, and spend a good five minutes telling each other things that they both already know. Thankfully though, the clunkiness of this opening isn't a sign of things to come, and one of the film's most consistent elements is the subtlety with which Stanley depicts the entity, or rather, doesn't depict it. Lovecraft felt that if humanity were ever to encounter real cosmic beings, they could be so unlike anything in our experience as to be impossible to describe, or even process in our minds, and one of his aims with "Colour" was to create an entity that doesn't conform to human understanding - hence the only description is by analogy, and even then, only in relation to a colour beyond the visual spectrum. With this in mind, Stanley wisely keeps everything as vague as possible - vibrant, modulating pulses of light that seem to be emanating from somewhere just outside the frame, vaguely-defined spatial distortions, colour manipulations with no obvious source, etc.
Important here is the colour itself, and instead of attempting to create the indescribable colour featured in the story, director of photography Steve Annis chooses to go the route of not settling for any one stable colour - every time we see the effects of the meteorite, the hue appears to be in a state of flux - so although we can say the colours are recognisable, they're never identifiable as any one specific colour, which, is probably the best choice the filmmakers could have made.
As we get into the third act, the film abandons all sense of restraint and goes completely insane, with the body horror which has threatened to break through from the earliest moments finally unleashed, foregrounding the exceptional work of special effects supervisor/creature designer Dan Martin. These scenes are heavily indebted to David Cronenberg, especially his earlier work such as Shivers (1975), Rabid (1977), and The Brood (1979), although the most obvious touchstone is Chris Walas's work on Cronenberg's masterpiece, The Fly (1986). A lot of Martin's creature design also seems inspired by the legendary work of Rob Bottin, and there's a direct visual quote of one of the best moments in John Carpenter's The Thing (1982).
It's also in the last act where Cage is turned loose, signalled by an epic meltdown when he discovers Benny hasn't closed the barn door and the alpacas have gotten out. From there, it's Nicolas Cage unrestrained. There is a problem with this, however. Full-Cage has been seen in films such as Vampire's Kiss, Face/Off (1997), Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (2009), Mom and Dad (2017), and Mandy (2018), but each performance has felt fairly organic, never becoming self-conscious. In Colour, however, to an even greater extent than in the virtually unwatchable The Wicker Man (2006), Cage crosses into self-parody, with his performance having as much to do with people's preconceived notions of a Nicholas Cage performance as it does with finding the character. There are a couple of scenes here that seem to have little to do with legitimate character beats and more to do with Cage winking at the audience.
Which might be entertaining and all, but which doesn't serve the film especially well. For all its insanity, this is a relatively serious movie, but Cage's performance is so manic, that it affects everything around it. For example, after the aforementioned meltdown ("Don't you know how expensive those alpacas were"), which just about fits with what we know of the character, as Nathan is walking away from Benny and Lavinia, he stops, turns, pauses, shouts "ALPACAS", pauses again, and then walks away. This got a huge laugh at the screening I attended, and it was undoubtedly funny. But does self-reflexive humour by the leading man help tell the story or even create the right tone? No, not in the slightest. In essence, this scene marks the point where the character ceases to be Nathan Gardner and becomes a version of Nicolas Cage.
The other characters all have a kind of internal logic to their crumbling sanity; the meteorite affects each of them differently, with their minds disintegrating in different, but consistent ways. With Nathan, however, Stanley seems unwilling, or unable, to establish the parameters by which his mind is breaking down, seemingly going for laughs rather than something more cogent.
This issue notwithstanding, I enjoyed Colour Out of Space a great deal. Stanley's return to the director's chair is to be admired for its restraint and how faithful it remains to the very tricky Lovecraftian original. The body-horror in the film's last act will appeal to fans of the grotesque, whilst others will take great pleasure from Cage's insanity, as narratively unjustified as it is. The film is ridiculous on many levels, but it's extremely well realised and well made, and is to be applauded for not trying to attach an explicit meaning to a story which avoids any kind of thematic specificity.
If you like both Nicolas Cage and Lovecraft like me, you are in for a treat. The film is also really gorgeous in a creepy kind of way.
It starts off pretty slow, but it does get better especially as the creep factor sets in. Typical of Lovecrafts work things get stranger and stranger, and the scary part is the unknown as something that is happening is so unfamiliar to us.
Then you have Nicolas Cage, being Nicolas Cage wandering around in this situation. He really does bring HIM into all this situation, and I think that's awesome. The film would probably be scarier and creepier without him, but I had great fun with this film.
It starts off pretty slow, but it does get better especially as the creep factor sets in. Typical of Lovecrafts work things get stranger and stranger, and the scary part is the unknown as something that is happening is so unfamiliar to us.
Then you have Nicolas Cage, being Nicolas Cage wandering around in this situation. He really does bring HIM into all this situation, and I think that's awesome. The film would probably be scarier and creepier without him, but I had great fun with this film.
A -{ B i g }- Screen Review, republished -Long- after the cinematic release of the picture, as a rewrite .
______________________________________________________
Ward : " What touched this place cannot be quantified or understood by human science. It was just a color out of space. A messenger from realms whose existence stuns the brain and numbs us with the gulfs that it throws open before our frenzied eyes " .
______________________________________________________
So here's the thing. I Honestly don't know which was more " Macabre " . Watching Nicky Cage go, well, -{ Almost }- er, " Full-on Batsh... Nicky Cage Crazy { 😅 } " ...Or the -{ Actual }- spooky stuff in the film ; { and believe me, there is a veritable ( -Ton- ) of it, to boot, I can Un-equivocally assure you }. On a really Positive note, however, I was utterly Wowed by a -{ Lot }- of the movie's Sheerly Superb Cinematography, courtesy of its veteran D. P, Steve Annis. From delectably wide nature shots and " Lavish " Sunrise & Sunset Vistas to some Truly astounding nature capture , { including, but not limited to } . . . Several Completely -Stunning- 'More Than' Poster Perfect 🏞 shots of towering trees & glittering lakes . . . A -Good- deal of the picture is an un-deniable, veritable , " Rich Visual Treat " . Not to mention the super-Vivid " Colour Kaleidoscope " that gradually accrues, permeating a -Significantly- large proportion of the film's eerie frames, as a -{ Direct }- result of the Alien-presence that 'The Meteorite' brought with it. { No spoilers here ; this is ( -All- ) in the trailer } .
Everybody gives a -Hugely- commendable performance in 'Color Out Of Space', ( broadly speaking ), with a -{ Particularly }- Special 🌠 "Mention-Of-Note" going out on the one hand to the movie's amateur occultist, Madeleine Arthur's 'Lavinia Gardner', and on the other to Tommy Chong's all-knowing Deep-forest-sage, 'Ezra' . What's more, the story in & of itself, is Absolutely, Positively . . . -{ Solid }- . . . Although it very clearly bears noting here that there are -{ Very }- many rather disturbing scenes, in said film. ( As, I suppose, is only to be only expected from a film of this particular nature ). So, All-said-&-done, and as a " Firm , Unwavering -{ Non }- Horror-movie Aficionado " ; I must say that as a 'Pure, flowing work of art' alone ; this often 'Grotesque', yet all at once often -{ Beautiful }- picture... { swaddled in its 'Shockingly' Vibrant, Psychedelic, Phantasmagoric ( -Even- ), " Visually Extravagant Hues 🍭 " } ...succeeds, well, " Phenomenally " .
Summation : Gifted Director Richard Stanley alas , has hit a bit of a stumbling block, by way of allowing the 'afore-mocked' { yet ( -Very- ) talented, let's be clear } Nicholas Cage a tad -Too- Much Leeway, with his outright "Over-The-Top" Scenes. If I -Had- a 15 year old , I would most definitely -{ Not }- want her or him watching such scenes ( The Film Is Rated '15' ). For this reason -Alone- , it's going to have to be a 'Sizeably' reduced ; yet -{ Nonetheless }- " Sparky , Lustrous 7.50 Marks Out Of 10 " , from me 👏 💥 🏆 .
______________________________________________________
Ward : " What touched this place cannot be quantified or understood by human science. It was just a color out of space. A messenger from realms whose existence stuns the brain and numbs us with the gulfs that it throws open before our frenzied eyes " .
______________________________________________________
So here's the thing. I Honestly don't know which was more " Macabre " . Watching Nicky Cage go, well, -{ Almost }- er, " Full-on Batsh... Nicky Cage Crazy { 😅 } " ...Or the -{ Actual }- spooky stuff in the film ; { and believe me, there is a veritable ( -Ton- ) of it, to boot, I can Un-equivocally assure you }. On a really Positive note, however, I was utterly Wowed by a -{ Lot }- of the movie's Sheerly Superb Cinematography, courtesy of its veteran D. P, Steve Annis. From delectably wide nature shots and " Lavish " Sunrise & Sunset Vistas to some Truly astounding nature capture , { including, but not limited to } . . . Several Completely -Stunning- 'More Than' Poster Perfect 🏞 shots of towering trees & glittering lakes . . . A -Good- deal of the picture is an un-deniable, veritable , " Rich Visual Treat " . Not to mention the super-Vivid " Colour Kaleidoscope " that gradually accrues, permeating a -Significantly- large proportion of the film's eerie frames, as a -{ Direct }- result of the Alien-presence that 'The Meteorite' brought with it. { No spoilers here ; this is ( -All- ) in the trailer } .
Everybody gives a -Hugely- commendable performance in 'Color Out Of Space', ( broadly speaking ), with a -{ Particularly }- Special 🌠 "Mention-Of-Note" going out on the one hand to the movie's amateur occultist, Madeleine Arthur's 'Lavinia Gardner', and on the other to Tommy Chong's all-knowing Deep-forest-sage, 'Ezra' . What's more, the story in & of itself, is Absolutely, Positively . . . -{ Solid }- . . . Although it very clearly bears noting here that there are -{ Very }- many rather disturbing scenes, in said film. ( As, I suppose, is only to be only expected from a film of this particular nature ). So, All-said-&-done, and as a " Firm , Unwavering -{ Non }- Horror-movie Aficionado " ; I must say that as a 'Pure, flowing work of art' alone ; this often 'Grotesque', yet all at once often -{ Beautiful }- picture... { swaddled in its 'Shockingly' Vibrant, Psychedelic, Phantasmagoric ( -Even- ), " Visually Extravagant Hues 🍭 " } ...succeeds, well, " Phenomenally " .
Summation : Gifted Director Richard Stanley alas , has hit a bit of a stumbling block, by way of allowing the 'afore-mocked' { yet ( -Very- ) talented, let's be clear } Nicholas Cage a tad -Too- Much Leeway, with his outright "Over-The-Top" Scenes. If I -Had- a 15 year old , I would most definitely -{ Not }- want her or him watching such scenes ( The Film Is Rated '15' ). For this reason -Alone- , it's going to have to be a 'Sizeably' reduced ; yet -{ Nonetheless }- " Sparky , Lustrous 7.50 Marks Out Of 10 " , from me 👏 💥 🏆 .
- Radio-1s_Mr-MovieMad-Ami_104-1FM
- May 13, 2021
- Permalink
I am not a big fan of scary movies but watched the Color out of Space yesterday because I like cosmic horror and Nicolas Cage - the movie had plenty of both yet I was a bit disappointed at the end.
The story is quickly told: Nick Cage and his family - including children Lavinia, Benny, and Jack - live on his late father's farm in the middle of nowhere. One night, a weirdly colored meteor crashes into their garden and things get weird to say the least.
And weirdness is one thing this movie does really well. Theres an eerie atmosphere during the first two thirds of the movie that worked well for me. People behaving weirdly, things starting to look strange and an ever growing tension kept me on the edge of my seat. I also feel like this is an aspect of Lovecraftian horror the film captured really well, i.e. The descent into madness while reality crumbles around the protagonists. Cage has a few great moments here and his acting style really fits.
Unfortunately things get worse towards the end. People stop acting weird and start acting movie-stupid i.e. They do what the plot wants them to do regardless of their characters or common sense. The entire movie crumbles in a way, loses its unique tone and feels poorly crafted. The weird over the top finale didn't help either and I feel like the movie would have been better if they had cut the last 30 minutes. Really sad because there was a lot of potential there.
Still I recommend watching the movie. It's a fun take on Lovecraftian horror and the crazy Nicolas Cage performance fits right in.
The story is quickly told: Nick Cage and his family - including children Lavinia, Benny, and Jack - live on his late father's farm in the middle of nowhere. One night, a weirdly colored meteor crashes into their garden and things get weird to say the least.
And weirdness is one thing this movie does really well. Theres an eerie atmosphere during the first two thirds of the movie that worked well for me. People behaving weirdly, things starting to look strange and an ever growing tension kept me on the edge of my seat. I also feel like this is an aspect of Lovecraftian horror the film captured really well, i.e. The descent into madness while reality crumbles around the protagonists. Cage has a few great moments here and his acting style really fits.
Unfortunately things get worse towards the end. People stop acting weird and start acting movie-stupid i.e. They do what the plot wants them to do regardless of their characters or common sense. The entire movie crumbles in a way, loses its unique tone and feels poorly crafted. The weird over the top finale didn't help either and I feel like the movie would have been better if they had cut the last 30 minutes. Really sad because there was a lot of potential there.
Still I recommend watching the movie. It's a fun take on Lovecraftian horror and the crazy Nicolas Cage performance fits right in.
This movie is just baffling decision after baffling decision. An absurd script, horrendous over acting, and a plot that completely abandons what makes the original story so eerie and mysterious.
What an absolute waste of amazing source material.
What an absolute waste of amazing source material.
- williamjosephmaples
- Jan 19, 2020
- Permalink
It seems fairly obvious to me who has and who has not read this short story, or any Lovecraft for that matter. So many reviews rating this movie a 1 and claiming that there is no point to the movie. A lot of Lovecraft's work is centered around how terrifying the "unknown" is. You are supposed to feel unnerved and confused, you are meant to ask yourself "What the hell is going on?" No this movie may not be a 100% pure adaptation to the original story, but any Lovecraft story will need some tweaks to translate to film, that is just the nature of his stories. They are meant to tap into the limits of your imagination. That is harder to do with visual movies. Anyway, if you enjoy Lovecraft them give this movie a watch!
What's starts out as a strong and interesting movie. Slowly turns into something where nobody knows what next to do - especially the director.
What in the hell is going, how do these films get made? Can't someone take Nicolas Cage and tell him he is really badly overacting (again). None of the family make sensible decisions, not that you really care what happens to them.
Could have been a decent Outer Limit episode instead.
- bobeaumont
- Feb 13, 2020
- Permalink
Felt like elements from 'the shining', 'signs' and 'the thing' so I loved that side of it, the effects are glorious, cage having fun with the role, loses points for unrewarding payoff but a gripping ride that seems to have something to say.
I read into it some interesting metaphors about cancer effects on family, off grid hobby farming, land management/indigenous culture, I don't know the source material or if these things were intentional. Hope the director makes more I love the Carpenter style of it all.
I read into it some interesting metaphors about cancer effects on family, off grid hobby farming, land management/indigenous culture, I don't know the source material or if these things were intentional. Hope the director makes more I love the Carpenter style of it all.
- hughchilles
- Mar 22, 2022
- Permalink
I put this off several times but glad I finally watched it. I generally like horror movies though I don't actually watch or enjoy watching them as often anymore. Horror grounded in reality gets arduous quick but as far as supernatural thriller-type movies this one's a winner. It does something different without coming off low budget or unrelatable.
Sure, there's some flaws but once the color arrives all the characters thought processes are suspect. So when a character pauses in mid-escape to attempt a near-hopeless rescue from about the most likely place to get killed on the property, you have to just go with it. If there's a purple hostile alien presence and you've got a way you escape you just go,
There's humor too. Some obvious, some not so much. Clearly funny: Dad: "I'll handle it." Daughter: "Like you 'handled' the alpacas!!" The whole alpaca angle makes for some good chuckles.
Other stuff might be obscure for some people. . Seeing a teenager bust out the Necronomicon you just know someone's taking themselves too seriously. Then trying to use it for "help" is just hilarious. It's been awhile but I'm pretty sure it's no self-help book. But that whole aspect of the story gets dropped. Maybe it was to indicate that the evil purple thing is so alien that even Kthulu and Shub Niggurath were at a loss? I don't know but the movie stays pretty busy so there's not a lot of time to dwell on it.
The gist of the story, as I understand it, is a meteorite crashes, bringing with it a most likely malevolent entity that's not really definable by our senses. A color not in our spectrum. A concept some may have pondered already. How can we know if we're seeing all the colors? There's really only like a half dozen? Well no but we stop naming them after awhile. It's a tricky concept to convey in writing much less visually. It's something different. You could even argue the alien color thing isn't even trying to intentionally ruin anyone's day. Maybe it's version of taking a nap just happens to also make Earth goats melt? Gives you things to think about. Answering everything would defy what they're trying to show you.
Nicholas Cage gets weird but less so than other movies and everyone is adversely effected anyway. In my opinion he could've hammed it up way more than he did. Tommy Chong was good but could've used a little more maybe.
It's creepy, suspenseful, gets gross. The soundtrack does a great job. The visuals seem to be a mix of CGI and practical effects. It's worth your time if you're at all interested. If you have doubts probably best to pass. Just because it's not for you doesnt mean it's bad. Not necessarily anyway.
Sure, there's some flaws but once the color arrives all the characters thought processes are suspect. So when a character pauses in mid-escape to attempt a near-hopeless rescue from about the most likely place to get killed on the property, you have to just go with it. If there's a purple hostile alien presence and you've got a way you escape you just go,
There's humor too. Some obvious, some not so much. Clearly funny: Dad: "I'll handle it." Daughter: "Like you 'handled' the alpacas!!" The whole alpaca angle makes for some good chuckles.
Other stuff might be obscure for some people. . Seeing a teenager bust out the Necronomicon you just know someone's taking themselves too seriously. Then trying to use it for "help" is just hilarious. It's been awhile but I'm pretty sure it's no self-help book. But that whole aspect of the story gets dropped. Maybe it was to indicate that the evil purple thing is so alien that even Kthulu and Shub Niggurath were at a loss? I don't know but the movie stays pretty busy so there's not a lot of time to dwell on it.
The gist of the story, as I understand it, is a meteorite crashes, bringing with it a most likely malevolent entity that's not really definable by our senses. A color not in our spectrum. A concept some may have pondered already. How can we know if we're seeing all the colors? There's really only like a half dozen? Well no but we stop naming them after awhile. It's a tricky concept to convey in writing much less visually. It's something different. You could even argue the alien color thing isn't even trying to intentionally ruin anyone's day. Maybe it's version of taking a nap just happens to also make Earth goats melt? Gives you things to think about. Answering everything would defy what they're trying to show you.
Nicholas Cage gets weird but less so than other movies and everyone is adversely effected anyway. In my opinion he could've hammed it up way more than he did. Tommy Chong was good but could've used a little more maybe.
It's creepy, suspenseful, gets gross. The soundtrack does a great job. The visuals seem to be a mix of CGI and practical effects. It's worth your time if you're at all interested. If you have doubts probably best to pass. Just because it's not for you doesnt mean it's bad. Not necessarily anyway.
I was really looking forward to seeing this, and had just finished reading the short story this movie was based on. This travesty of a film could have been so so SO much better. I had to laugh a few times at the poorly written script and horrendous acting by everyone on the movie.
There was probably 20 minutes left in the movie, but I couldn't take any more. The writing, editing and acting were plain awful. Nicholas Cage is a really bad actor, in almost every movie except Moonstruck and Raising Arizona. But I think this may be his worst.
There was probably 20 minutes left in the movie, but I couldn't take any more. The writing, editing and acting were plain awful. Nicholas Cage is a really bad actor, in almost every movie except Moonstruck and Raising Arizona. But I think this may be his worst.
Considering how difficult the source material must have been to translate to a visual medium, they really knocked it out the park. Gruesome, trippy visuals and great performances. Worth a watch if you're a fan of cosmic horror
Richard Stanley's comeback to feature cinema is an equal-parts breathtaking & terrifying experience, highlighted by gorgeous cinematography, overwhelming dread and of course a bizarre Nicolas Cage performance. Some take umbrage with the film's pacing and run-time, I couldn't wait to leave this doomed farm in the best way possible.
7/10 buckets of alpaca milk.
7/10 buckets of alpaca milk.
- marshallonfilm_
- Mar 18, 2020
- Permalink
This is well worth watching. From start to finish it is an engaging and solid sci-fi production, with great acting from all the cast.
When you do "weird" you have to start from a place that ISN'T weird, using constrast to sell the weirdness. This starts with the weirdness levels at 11 and just continues to rise. When it's ALL weird, when there's zero grounding, then NONE of it is weird and therefore nothing is interesting. Ultimately i found this an annoying experience and couldn't wait for it to be over.
- reeeeecey-10-505169
- Feb 27, 2020
- Permalink
This movie is a perfect example of lack of talent at every level. The script is pathetic, and doesn't even contain an actual protagonist. Cage's acting is horrible, and nobody else is much better. Dialogue made me wonder if it was written by a high school student. What a sad pathetic waste of money. No, it's not an Arthouse movie or a wonderful cult classic. Just bad.
- scott-113-862348
- Mar 14, 2020
- Permalink
We were all excited about this year's H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival (HPLFF) and the Pacific NW premier of Richard Stanley's colourful Color Out of Space adaption of Lovecraft's famous story.
Color shows why Stanley should do more feature films (hopefully more Lovecraft or weird tale adaptions) as his passion and his knowledge of the source material shines through... much like Lavinia's forehead. It is also a very personal film for Richard as it touches on elements from his own life.
Over all the film is solid and I think the cinematography is great with very well-done CGI. Richard focuses on the family as he should but it feels like the movie has been edited down as we have gaps in the appearance of certain characters who only appear in the first and last acts. The most creepy and unnerving scene is with actor Tommy Chong near the end of the film... it is really perfect. The weakest part of the film for me is Nicholas Cage ... he is okay but distracts from the film at times. I would have preferred to have seen more of Madeleine Arthur as Lavinia Gardner.
Overall I am giving this an 8 since it is a serious attempt at a Lovecraft adaptation and hits the cosmic horror nail on the head... however I think most mainstream viewers won't get the love to source material and give it a much lower rating.
"It was just a colour out of space - a frightful messenger from unformed realms of infinity beyond all Nature as we know it; from realms whose mere existence stuns the brain and numbs us with the black extra-cosmic gulfs it throws open before our frenzied eyes." -- H.P. Lovecraft, The Colour Out of Space
Lovecraft was very proud of "The Colour out of Space" calling it "my best tale" and "the only one of the lot which I take any pride in." Richard should take pride in his adaption as well.
Color shows why Stanley should do more feature films (hopefully more Lovecraft or weird tale adaptions) as his passion and his knowledge of the source material shines through... much like Lavinia's forehead. It is also a very personal film for Richard as it touches on elements from his own life.
Over all the film is solid and I think the cinematography is great with very well-done CGI. Richard focuses on the family as he should but it feels like the movie has been edited down as we have gaps in the appearance of certain characters who only appear in the first and last acts. The most creepy and unnerving scene is with actor Tommy Chong near the end of the film... it is really perfect. The weakest part of the film for me is Nicholas Cage ... he is okay but distracts from the film at times. I would have preferred to have seen more of Madeleine Arthur as Lavinia Gardner.
Overall I am giving this an 8 since it is a serious attempt at a Lovecraft adaptation and hits the cosmic horror nail on the head... however I think most mainstream viewers won't get the love to source material and give it a much lower rating.
"It was just a colour out of space - a frightful messenger from unformed realms of infinity beyond all Nature as we know it; from realms whose mere existence stuns the brain and numbs us with the black extra-cosmic gulfs it throws open before our frenzied eyes." -- H.P. Lovecraft, The Colour Out of Space
Lovecraft was very proud of "The Colour out of Space" calling it "my best tale" and "the only one of the lot which I take any pride in." Richard should take pride in his adaption as well.
- accts-696-251131
- Oct 9, 2019
- Permalink
An isolated family is intruded on by a water scientist during his field work for a dam project, but then suffers a greater intrusion when something from space lands in their front yard ...
The last time I looked through my fingers at a Lovecraft movie was Dagon, with Barbara's severed arms dangling gorgeously over the Cthulhu pit. So this time I was expecting something equally cheap and pointlessly mystifying. Wrong and wrong.
This production has all the marks of quality, with a Spielberg-like set up of a lively family headed for horror in an American paradise. The cinematography is magnificent, the Color of the title radiating throughout, and the music and sound design awesome, starting off with a doom-laden, bone-crushing blast from a cosmic battle horn.
The plot is arrow straight, and it's really the concept and technique that gave me stuff to chew over. Performances are good, and I do think Cage is suited to this: weird and wild, and if that's not your thing, then who invited you? But in the end I found, for all the production values and skilful editing, I still couldn't sit through the whole show in one go.
A couple of things I only picked up on afterward. The colour magenta is a figment of our brains, completing a loop where nature has left it open - so it provides some deep cinematic content, but can't affect our experience of the story. And even if it did, the message is that we create the horror within ourselves - a very deep point I agree with, but not what this story seems to convey.
Something more effective, though, comes in a scene toward the end, where the father appears to have lost his mind as he introduces his family in the living room - keep an eye out for a later scene in the same location, and it helps explain the nature of what's happening, and how the story twists time. And maybe the use of the magenta figment reinforces that point.
I'm not a Lovecraft fan, I think because his stories leave humans passive and helpless, and so there's not much drama for me to get into. This movie helps by giving a conventional, although well made, set up; plus a firm outsider point of view; and the possibility of this thing being holistic - the intro puts science and mysticism in parallel, but then weaves them through the experience of cosmic what-the-hell.
There's enough environmental references to suggest an angle on what is called the Chthulhucene (sic), which is basically an attempt by science and the humanities combined to get a handle on the great crisis we've brought on by our messing with nature. So the sequels to this will be even more interesting if they follow that line of thought, which would make me very happy to mark the whole thing up a notch or two.
Overall: Accessible and incomprehensible.
The last time I looked through my fingers at a Lovecraft movie was Dagon, with Barbara's severed arms dangling gorgeously over the Cthulhu pit. So this time I was expecting something equally cheap and pointlessly mystifying. Wrong and wrong.
This production has all the marks of quality, with a Spielberg-like set up of a lively family headed for horror in an American paradise. The cinematography is magnificent, the Color of the title radiating throughout, and the music and sound design awesome, starting off with a doom-laden, bone-crushing blast from a cosmic battle horn.
The plot is arrow straight, and it's really the concept and technique that gave me stuff to chew over. Performances are good, and I do think Cage is suited to this: weird and wild, and if that's not your thing, then who invited you? But in the end I found, for all the production values and skilful editing, I still couldn't sit through the whole show in one go.
A couple of things I only picked up on afterward. The colour magenta is a figment of our brains, completing a loop where nature has left it open - so it provides some deep cinematic content, but can't affect our experience of the story. And even if it did, the message is that we create the horror within ourselves - a very deep point I agree with, but not what this story seems to convey.
Something more effective, though, comes in a scene toward the end, where the father appears to have lost his mind as he introduces his family in the living room - keep an eye out for a later scene in the same location, and it helps explain the nature of what's happening, and how the story twists time. And maybe the use of the magenta figment reinforces that point.
I'm not a Lovecraft fan, I think because his stories leave humans passive and helpless, and so there's not much drama for me to get into. This movie helps by giving a conventional, although well made, set up; plus a firm outsider point of view; and the possibility of this thing being holistic - the intro puts science and mysticism in parallel, but then weaves them through the experience of cosmic what-the-hell.
There's enough environmental references to suggest an angle on what is called the Chthulhucene (sic), which is basically an attempt by science and the humanities combined to get a handle on the great crisis we've brought on by our messing with nature. So the sequels to this will be even more interesting if they follow that line of thought, which would make me very happy to mark the whole thing up a notch or two.
Overall: Accessible and incomprehensible.
In a long, long time I haven't seen something worse.
Watched it only because of ... Lovecraft.
Expected something dull and stupid but that title exceeded ALL expectations.
If you like Lovecraft - dear lord watch not this.
How this title can get anything above 2 star rating is beyond me.
- dreamglider-29173
- Mar 12, 2020
- Permalink
I made the mistake to read reviews before watching the movie and missed the movie in its theater run. As usual the result was exactly the opposite that most of the negative reviews suggested, a situation which has become norm either way with IMDb reviews. If the bulk of them are positive, the movie sucks, if they are negative, the movie is great.
Peronally, I found the movie a totally engaging experience from start to finish, it captivated me and I loved the scale of intensity slowly and methodically rising as the effects of the unearthly ball did to the protagonists.
For me this is by far the best adaptation of this story, better and with faster pace than any previous one, including Die Farbe and the beloved Die Monster Die. Cage is his usual self, very believable despite his frequent overacting, as well as all the others excellent cast members . Some CGI could have been better, some humor felt a bit out of place but overall it was an excellent effort and surely Richard Stanley's best movie to date. As far as Lovecraft adaptations are concerned, I put this on the same level with The Resurrected, Dagon and even Roger Corman's The Haunted Palace
Peronally, I found the movie a totally engaging experience from start to finish, it captivated me and I loved the scale of intensity slowly and methodically rising as the effects of the unearthly ball did to the protagonists.
For me this is by far the best adaptation of this story, better and with faster pace than any previous one, including Die Farbe and the beloved Die Monster Die. Cage is his usual self, very believable despite his frequent overacting, as well as all the others excellent cast members . Some CGI could have been better, some humor felt a bit out of place but overall it was an excellent effort and surely Richard Stanley's best movie to date. As far as Lovecraft adaptations are concerned, I put this on the same level with The Resurrected, Dagon and even Roger Corman's The Haunted Palace
- Hey_Sweden
- Jul 6, 2021
- Permalink
First of all it is absolutely essential to establish initially that this movie is in no way a lovecraftian movie but rather advertised as one.People who expect something remotely reminiscent of Lovecraft will be absolutely disappointed by this movie.
I was excited to hear about it's announcement and shocked to see who was the protagonist.I could hardly imagine an actor more unsuitable for the role than Cage.Of course anyone who's ever read Lovecraft could tell you the same which in turn shows that the director has absolutely no clue about his subject.That was the first clue of what was about to come.Still the colour out of space is one of my favourites novels and i tried to keep an open mind.
Let's start by the positives.The movie is visually perfect. The special effects are stunning and the scenes depicting the colour are flawless.Unfortunately this is where the positives stop.
The movie fails in every other aspect to be not just a decent lovecraftian movie but also just a decent horror movie.The plot is slow which is not necessarily a bad thing but the action is stagnant.It has no climax.You don't feel like the horror and anxiety are actually escalating partly because the main protagonist fails horribly to deliver a performance that reminds us of all the terror and uncertainty a lovecraftian character feels and partly because the plot doesn't help.
You see the thing about the plot is that there's hardly a plot.A very small part of the movie actually has to do with the plot which is very sloppy since no effort was put on it.Instead what you'll mostly see is the desperate attempts of the protagonist to fit in the shoes of a lovecraftian character trying to emulate a feeling of terror which he has never been able to accomplish in his entire career as an actor and some flashy special effects which in the director's mind are more crucial than building a plot .
But although the plot is hardly relevant to Lovecraft's work the worst by far is that the movie fails spectacularly in the most crucial part of actually being a lovecraftian movie.At no point in the point it makes you feel the terror and escalating madness that Lovecraft's works are notorious for and Cage's attempts are hilariously inadequate to mimic the feeling of helplessness that Lovecraft's protagonists have in his works.
The absolute terror that they feel when confronted with something that is not only greater than them but also incomprehensible to them and the dive into madness they take when they realise how small and irrelevant they are in the face of Lovecraft's eldritch abominations.
To sum up this movie failed because of a director who completely neglected or made an effort at all to understand his subject and because of his bad choices regarding actors as well as his inability to present a plot that was already written perfectly for him.Somehow Lovecraft's written work seems more alive and impactful on generating feelings than a high budget movie made in 2019.
There are plenty of movies made regarding Lovecraft that although they were made 30+ years back are actually closer and depict successfully his dark and twisted world managing to enter deeper into the writer's mind that this movie would ever hope to do.
Movies like from beyond and Re-animator which although old would eat movies like this for breakfast with their majestic plot progression and flawless and meticulous look into the very essence of Lovecraft's work.
We can only hope that the director of this movie won't attempt to murder Lovecraft again for the third time!
I was excited to hear about it's announcement and shocked to see who was the protagonist.I could hardly imagine an actor more unsuitable for the role than Cage.Of course anyone who's ever read Lovecraft could tell you the same which in turn shows that the director has absolutely no clue about his subject.That was the first clue of what was about to come.Still the colour out of space is one of my favourites novels and i tried to keep an open mind.
Let's start by the positives.The movie is visually perfect. The special effects are stunning and the scenes depicting the colour are flawless.Unfortunately this is where the positives stop.
The movie fails in every other aspect to be not just a decent lovecraftian movie but also just a decent horror movie.The plot is slow which is not necessarily a bad thing but the action is stagnant.It has no climax.You don't feel like the horror and anxiety are actually escalating partly because the main protagonist fails horribly to deliver a performance that reminds us of all the terror and uncertainty a lovecraftian character feels and partly because the plot doesn't help.
You see the thing about the plot is that there's hardly a plot.A very small part of the movie actually has to do with the plot which is very sloppy since no effort was put on it.Instead what you'll mostly see is the desperate attempts of the protagonist to fit in the shoes of a lovecraftian character trying to emulate a feeling of terror which he has never been able to accomplish in his entire career as an actor and some flashy special effects which in the director's mind are more crucial than building a plot .
But although the plot is hardly relevant to Lovecraft's work the worst by far is that the movie fails spectacularly in the most crucial part of actually being a lovecraftian movie.At no point in the point it makes you feel the terror and escalating madness that Lovecraft's works are notorious for and Cage's attempts are hilariously inadequate to mimic the feeling of helplessness that Lovecraft's protagonists have in his works.
The absolute terror that they feel when confronted with something that is not only greater than them but also incomprehensible to them and the dive into madness they take when they realise how small and irrelevant they are in the face of Lovecraft's eldritch abominations.
To sum up this movie failed because of a director who completely neglected or made an effort at all to understand his subject and because of his bad choices regarding actors as well as his inability to present a plot that was already written perfectly for him.Somehow Lovecraft's written work seems more alive and impactful on generating feelings than a high budget movie made in 2019.
There are plenty of movies made regarding Lovecraft that although they were made 30+ years back are actually closer and depict successfully his dark and twisted world managing to enter deeper into the writer's mind that this movie would ever hope to do.
Movies like from beyond and Re-animator which although old would eat movies like this for breakfast with their majestic plot progression and flawless and meticulous look into the very essence of Lovecraft's work.
We can only hope that the director of this movie won't attempt to murder Lovecraft again for the third time!
- gothicdoometal
- Jan 27, 2020
- Permalink