Die Farbe aus dem All

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.

What's starts out as a strong and interesting movie. Slowly turns into something where nobody knows what next to do - especially the director.

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.

A -{ B i g }- Screen Review, republished -Long- after the cinematic release of the picture, as a rewrite .

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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 " .

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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 👏 💥 🏆 .

This is definitely overall one of the better Lovecraft films but it's certainly not the best. It has stunning cinematography and possibly the best music I've ever heard in a movie. The special effects are excellent but I couldn't help but think it would have been more lovecraftian if it had more practical effects. The characters and story are hard to engage with which leads me onto my biggest issue with this film, the first half is very slow. They could have easily taken 20 minutes out of the first half and ended up with a better film. Nicolas Cage very much carries the movie in terms of characters and really makes this entertaining, especially in the second half. The final 45 minutes really is excellent, I'm glad that I stuck with it like Hereditary (2018) as it's worth being bored for the overall experience.