Colour from the Dark

Living alone on a small farmland, a man and his family are shocked when they discover a strange mystical light underneath their farm and overlook this feature due to the good fortune they receive, but when it all suddenly turns sour they realize that something's wrong on their farm and must try to save their lives.

There was quite a lot to like with this one. Among it's better elements is the impressive immediacy about the force being unearthed and how it starts to change everyone. With the seemingly innocent unearthing in the well happening in the first minutes of the film, there's a rather fun time to be had knowing that something's wrong almost immediately as the bright flash that emerges from underneath is wholly unnatural. This is compounded by the quick glimpses shown around the house that they're being infected against their will, from the sparkling water that goes unnoticed to the water being used on their crops or the discovery of the dead body covered in glowing orbs signaling the assimilation to come. Given that the changes to them start to occur in more pronounced ways immediately after when their physical maladies are soon healed or gigantic crop-yields from their farm showcase a rather obvious hint that something's wrong in the first half. As well, there's a strikingly enjoyable amount of solid action to be had here which helps to enhance the fun atmospheric build-up. From the nightmare of her trying to stop her beloved doll from bleeding which keeps spraying blood all over her own body in a shocking manner to the feverish chase through the corn-fields in an attempt to bury a cross, this start to the craziness allows it to grow far more impressive as time goes on. Ranging from vivid hallucinations about dismembering each other or themselves, frenzied outbursts that barely contain any sense of sanity or being influenced by the ethereal voices and shimmering light around them to commit quite heinous acts as a whole. That this begins to turn into outright over-the-top the longer this stays in their lives and begins to infect not only their lives but also those in the area around them which gradually offers far more uncontrollable situations the more they stay there. This section also offers some nice kills and far more gruesome practical effects work than expected to give this one plenty to enjoy about it. There are a few flaws to be found within this one. The most glaring issue is the fact that this one tends to go at a slightly slower tempo than it really should. It tends to evoke a much quieter or drawn-out style than what should be present if they're being corrupted by this outside force and being changed against their will. Although the actions tend to emerge with a rather decent pacing it still offers a much more downbeat pace which tends to downplay the severity of what's happening in favor of a mundane approach that doesn't come across with the same intensity. That also manages to highlight the fact that this one tends to really rally around the stupidity of the characters to stay there oblivious to the danger around them, as once the good fortune passes the series of horrifying events that happen are far more extreme and of pressing importance so they don't have realistic motivations for doing so. These do end up knocking this down somewhat.

Rated Unrated/R: Violence, Language, Brief Nudity, a clothed sex scene and mild themes of incest.

A modest but in ways a clever production which seems to miss the mark for viewers not familiar with events in 1943 fascist Italy .The melding of the Lovecraft story and the reality of the war years does not develop any of it's themes clearly .Pregnant with very good ideas the scope of the film is too narrow . It is perhaps best thought of as a nightmare . It would be interesting to know what might have been done with a much larger budget . I thought the actors were very good . The production in general was very well photographed . This was one of 8 titles in a DVD set called "8 Movies - Midnight Horror" which I got at my local Ralphs Market for $5.00

I had previously seen The Shunned House from this director and didn't particularly enjoy it. This movie is based on H.P. Lovecraft's classic tale of cosmic horror "The Colour Out of Space" is a huge improvement for Ivan Zuccon and a worthy addition in the many movie adaptations of this story. The main difference from the story is that the cosmic element is replaced by a vague demonic/ satanic element and it fits well in this context. We have some great atmosphere throughout, fine gore and effects and a slow build up to a crescendo, just like it should be. Debbie Rochon steals the show with her performance and while there are a few slow, clumsy and unneeded bits, overall this was well worth the viewing time. For me this is one of the best adaptations of the Lovecraft story, up there with Richard Stanley's Color Out of Space and Ovidio Assonitis's The Curse

The third film adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft's short story "The Colour Out of Space," this low budget ($100,000) flick from Italy is decent for the money. Set during WWII, it focuses on farmer Pietro (Michael Segal), who lives on the farm with his wife Lucia (Debbie Rochon) and her mute sister Alice (Marysia Kay). One day strange lights emerge from their well and the water it provides turns into some kind of healing elixir. The vegetables grow to massive sizes and Pietro's bad knee that kept him out of the service heals up (bummer). But Lucia starts to slowly go mad and turns into a hideous Linda Blair looking mofo.

Director Ivan Zuccon made some waves with his low budget Lovecraft anthology THE SHUNNED HOUSE (2003) and this continues to deliver on that promise. The film has oodles of style, even if it is shot on high end Beta, which makes it looks kind of like a soap opera. He's still not totally there as a director (he seems to have fallen in love with using digital embellishments like bad looking computer fog), but I still think the guy has plenty of talent and is one to watch. Just ditch the video, son. Also, how can you not love a film where characters named Luigi and Giovanni are played by English and Irish actors?

This was a film that I learned about from the horror film encyclopedia that I'm working through. I didn't know much about it aside from the name and year. Something interesting is that I thought the title was similar to a film that is rumored to be made and it wasn't until after that I realized both are based on the same H.P. Lovecraft story. The synopsis is a married couple and her mentally handicapped sister unleashes something from their well that makes life better, but then also destroys them.

We kick this off with Alice (Marysia Kay) as she wakes up in the night. She is the mentally handicapped sister. We learn from dialogue later that she doesn't talk and she has a toy that she carries everywhere. She gets out of bed and goes down to the well. She thinks that she drops her doll when she is trying to put a bucket down there. She's then back in her room and is bleeding. She is panicking when her sister, Lucia (Debbie Rochon) and her husband, Pietro (Michael Segal) come into the room. They think she is sleeping and having a night terror. Lucia says to not wake her and let it play out.

We then learn that this is taking place in Italy back in 1942. Pietro has an issue with his knee and it is hard work on their small farm. Lucia takes care of Alice as well as the house. Pietro's brother Luigi is off in World War II and he misses him severely. With his knee how it is, he needs his help. Living nearby is Giovanni (Gerry Shanahan) and his granddaughter Anna (Eleanor James). I believe that Anna is either married to or just in love with Luigi. That night we see Anna is helping a local Jewish woman escape, Teresa (Alessandra Guerzoni). She is murdered by someone in the woods though.

Alice is told to fetch water from the well, but she drops the bucket without securing it first. It sinks into the water. She tries to get it out with a long hook they have, but its catching. She finds Pietro and signals she needs his help. He tries to free it, but it seems like something else is freed from beneath it. Smoke is released, but he does get he bucket back. He tries the water and it seems fine.

Things start to change though in their lives after what is released. Pietro's knee is healed, Alice can talk and Lucia seems to be abandoning her Catholic faith to pursue more carnal desires. There is an odd light coming from the well and it is almost like electricity jumping from things. Their crops have more yields and everything seems to be getting better. That's until we see that this force is actually sinister and tears them apart.

As I started this off, I stated I didn't know anything about the story. I will admit that as the film really kind of starts to play out, I thought it felt very Lovecraftian and I found it interesting this is based off his story 'The Colour Out of Space'. I love his concepts of there being things much older than humans and that they can tempt us with their power. We definitely get that here, my problem though is I would have liked a little bit of that explored.

This film does do a great job of establishing the character's lives and what is normal for them. All of these events take place over a week and we see how drastically things changes in that time. I did catch a title of another review how this is a metaphor for fascism in Italy during the war. I actually can see that. Early on it is showing how great things are. It also shows how quickly things fall apart as well and how those in charge take what they want.

To get back to what I disliked, I just felt like it moves too fast through things. We never really get a resolution. A local priest, Father Mario (Matteo Tosi), comes to help and there's nothing he can do. I did like this aspect, as I love this entity being older than Christianity and it is powerless. Luigi (Emmett J Scanlan) also comes home and I can see how this is showing that WWII was a pointless war from the view of Italians. My problem is that I wish they could have explored what came from the well and learn something about it, because we get none of that.

I do have to give the film credit on its editing. The film runs 92 minutes and it really does move through things. I actually think it might move a bit too fast for my liking to be honest. The changes that happen are done at perfect intervals though, so I did enjoy that. This film is actually pretty bleak, which is something I do tend to enjoy in my films. I also like the implications that it expanding out and there's nothing that can stop it. This can also harkens back to the allegory of fascism as well.

Acting for this film I thought was also fine. Rochon was interesting as Lucia. She doesn't have any ailments, but we see that she's been motherly to take care of his sister who can't for herself. I did like that when things change, she becomes sexualized. It is great because of her religion and I'm a sucker for films that use the perversion of things that are supposed to be absolutely good. Segal I thought was solid as well. He is a rock that continues to be broken down. Kay was solid as well. I like how child-like she pretends and as things change, she sees the dangers of what is happening. The rest of the cast rounded out the film for what it needed as well.

Something I had a lot of issues with was the effects. There are some practical effects in the film and they are actually really good. There was one scene that even made me cringe, which is what I like to see. Blood for the film was a solid color and consistency. The problem though was in the CGI. There was very little that was good from it. The rest was just cheap looking. They also did a lot with a green screen that just was bad. That really took me out of it, because I could tell.

Now with that said, this film has some really solid aspects and some that aren't so much. I'm a sucker for films that adapt the works of Lovecraft. I do just wish this would have explored more of what it is and kind of establish a bit there. I do like the concept of this being a possible metaphor for fascism as well as the perversion of religion. I thought the pacing was good. The acting was solid. The practical effects were good, but most of the CGI was just bad. Score for the film really didn't stand out to me, but it also didn't hurt the film. I did think that this film does do some good things and it also did some not so good things. I think I have to give this one an average score for that reason.