Year: 2019
Director: Richard Stanley
Country: US
Language: English
Color Out of Space was originally a bizarre HP Lovecraft novel that was deemed to be unfilmable due to its strange nature. Though, like anything considered as such, cinema will find a way to put it onscreen. Made on the cheap by SpectreVision, this picture is both of pure horror and bone tickling humour. It reminds me of Sam Raimi's The Evil Dead, especially with how outlandish many of the violent scenes are.
In this, a secluded farm is struck by a strange meteorite which has apocalyptic consequences for the family living there and possibly the world.
Color Out of Space begins with the appropriate mood and stark seriousness one expects from Lovecraft, as the run-time goes forth we find ourselves in a fever dream that seemingly switches mood and tone at random. Nic Cage brings a frenetic energy that evokes the best -and worst- of his acting range. It's very hard to tell if this movie is good or so bad that it's good. Either way you'll find it difficult to turn away from the screen.
Director Richard Stanley brings Lovecraft to life by creating an uncomfortable and transient atmosphere, with inspired production design by Katie Byron and cheap looking, though perfect for this picture, CGI. The the phantasmagoric, hallucinatory quality of the original text is perfected here; though it loses-and gains- from straying from super serious Lovecraft to having more comedic elements like Tommy Chong as a neighbour.
I like Color Out of Space, I put it in my top 10 of 2019 simply because its such a different vision from anything I have seen lately. No major studio, or even Netflix, would be brave enough to release this strange artifact of cinema & thus I feel it will gain a major cult following in the years to come.
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