Stanley proves himself to be up to the challenge, and hits upon a wild color scheme that honors Lovecraft’s intentions by bathing everything in a genuinely otherworldly tinge. According to IMDb, the seemingly inexhaustible Nicolas Cage has no fewer than six additional movies in various stages of production that are currently scheduled for release in 2020, ranging from high-profile studio outings to the kind of demented head-scratchers that he somehow manages to sniff out in the manner of a pig finding truffles. The chief problem with “Color Out of Space” is that, at nearly two full hours, it is a little too much of a good thing at times, with some plot elements—chiefly one involving potentially shady dealings by the town’s mayor (Q’orianka … Save A glowing meteorite transforms the homestead of Cage's alpaca farmer. That sort of non-description description can work on the page but isn’t especially helpful as a guide for someone who has to bring it to life. Color Out of Space marks writer and director Richard Stanley's return to filmmaking after 25 years, here adapting the short Movie Review - Color Out of Space (2020) Marvel Lovecraft, and was directed and co-written by Richard Stanley (making his first stab at narrative filmmaking since being fired from his remake of “The Island of Dr. Moreau” after only a few days of shooting), there was very little chance that it was every going to be just another run-of-the-mill project. The American author H.P. The site's critics consensus reads: "A welcome return for director Richard Stanley, Color Out of Space mixes tart B-movie pulp with visually alluring Lovecraftian horror and a dash of gonzo Nicolas Cage." • Color Out of Space is released in the UK on 28 February. In the original story, it is never properly described to us other than being of a shade never before seen on the typical color spectrum. But what is interesting is that, instead of making Nathan into a completely normal guy who does an immediate 180 as a result of the strange occurrences, he and Stanley instead see him as a guy who is already a bit off right from the start, albeit in endearingly oddball ways. The stories of H.P. In a very Cage-y moment he turns dreamy-eyed while milking: “You’ve got to warm the boob.”. But I’ve got to admit I was sucked in and genuinely scared, too. Color Out of Space review — stylised weirdness, but it ultimately feels rather empty. Color Out Of Space is a fantastic adaptation of Lovecraft's story with a fun performance from Nicolas Cage. In the tale, an unnamed narrator pieces together the story of an area known by the locals as the "blasted heath" in the wild hills west of the fictional town of Arkham, Massachusetts. When these requirements are missing, the results can be fairly dire, as anyone who saw “The Curse,” a dire low-budget 1987 adaptation of Color of Outer Space, can attest. With Nicolas Cage, Joely Richardson, Madeleine Arthur, Elliot Knight. Parents need to know that Color Out of Space is a sci-fi/horror movie based on a classic short story by H.P. And yet, none of these films may be able to top his latest effort, "Color Out of Space," in terms of sheer nuttiness. Lovecraft has proved incredibly difficult for many filmmakers over the years. Gorgeous, vibrant, and terrifying, Color Out of Space is packed with Lovecraftian creatures and cosmic infections galore. “It’s just a … That weirdness escalates one night when the sky turns an almost indescribable shade of fuchsia, and a meteorite crashes into their front yard. Color Out Of Space is full-strength stuff, even if it perhaps inevitably loses something in firming up the novelist’s abstract notions. ‘Color out of Space’ Review: Unrelenting Lovecraftian Horror | TIFF 2019 By Matt Goldberg Sep 08, 2019 If you want non-stop dread, body horror, and madness, Richard Stanley’s adaptation offers … However, the addition of Cage to the already heady cinematic brew definitively puts it over the top, making it the kind of cult movie nirvana that was its apparent destiny from the moment the cameras started rolling. Above all, Color Out of Space is solid. COLOR OUT OF SPACE Review — Walks the Line Between Arthouse Film & B Movie by Scott Feinblatt January 17, 2020, 10:30 am Starring: Nicholas Cage, Joely Richardson, Madeleine Arthur Not content to rest there, he builds upon that weirdness with an equally vivid soundscape, including a creepily effective score by Colin Stetson. FILM REVIEW. He experienced a paperback revival in the 1960s and … The Sister Sacrifices Logic, Tension as Its Twists Unravel, Visions of Friendship: Michael Angelo Covino and Kyle Marvin on The Climb, The Lynchian Aspirations of Losing Alice Underwhelm Rather Than Intrigue, CW Reboots Walker but Forgets to Give Him a Personality. Friday February 28 2020, 12.01am, The Times. After the cult success of Mandy in 2018, Nicolas Cage’s distinctive brand of chaos found a new niche: cosmic horror. Color Out of Space takes the impossible and makes it gorgeous. Color Out of Space feels painfully long and, even more so than Mom & Dad, it loses more than it gains from Nic Cage’s unintentionally campy performance. Hopefully it will serve as just the first of many collaborations between Stanley and Cage, two decidedly kindred artistic spirits. Ed Potton. It’s not perfect but … The whole thing looks as if it was dreamed up under the influence of a quality batch of LSD. The phantasmagorical nature of his work is highly effective on paper but often less compelling once depicted on screen. To be fair, Cage holds it in for the first hour, giving us his version of liberal, caring dad. Color Out of Space review – Nicolas Cage goes cosmic in freaky sci-fi horror A repulsive alien organism is unleashed on Earth in Richard Stanley’s scary, hokey – and often funny – extravaganza The … Cage plays Nathan Gardner, an artist who moves with his wife (Joely Richardson) and three kids back to the farm where he grew up, to raise alpacas. Lush mutant flowers begin to grow in the garden; the dog won’t stop whimpering; everyone gets a bit shouty. This is not a “happy” film, regardless of the psychedelic color palette. Review: COLOR OUT OF SPACE by Patrick Bromley. Color Out of Space is an attack on the senses, at times thrilling and even scary, often gloriously grotesque and laugh-out-loud funny, but also overwhelmingly dull. Lovecraft have inspired, directly or otherwise, any number of films over the years but with very few exceptions (chiefly Stuart Gordon’s cult classics “Re-Animator” and “From Beyond”), most of them have not been especially good. (Howard Phillips) Lovecraft The Colour Out of Space is a science fiction/horror short story by American author H. P. Lovecraft, written in March 1927. “Color Out of Space,” apparently, is blindingly bright and magnificently malevolent. Depending on your mood, Color Out of Space will either be an entertaining yet manic escapade of fun or a disappointing adaptation of Lovecraft's source material… The Colour Out of Space, H.P. Directed by Richard Stanley. Adapted from a story by HP Lovecraft, this is a freaky-deaky, retro-cosmic science-fiction horror about a meteor that slams into Earth unleashing an extraterrestrial organism. Lovecraft and genre fans alike. Director Richard Stanley: 'A coven of witches was using my house.'. Lovecraft wrote intense, peculiar, visionary cosmic horror stories, mostly for pulp magazines – The Colour Out of Space first appeared in Amazing Stories in 1927 – but edged closer to mainstream consciousness after his death in 1937, thanks to the work of a circle of devotees who kept him in print. Love it or loathe it, Stanley is trying to do something distinctively his own after all those years in the cold. When a meteor lands in their front garden, the family witness flashes of a colour never before seen by the human eye (actually, purple). The Gardners themselves begin exhibiting signs of strange behavior as well: Nathan begins acting daffier than usual, flying off into rages at the drop of the hat; a seemingly dazed Theresa chops off the tops of a couple of her fingers while cutting carrots; Jack is constantly staring and whistling at a well that he claims contains a “friend.” Before long, everything in the area begins mutating in indescribable ways, and while Benny and Lavinia recognize what is happening around them, even they appear to be powerless to escape the grip of whatever is behind everything. Purple … Nicolas Cage in Color Out of Space. The Gardners are not crazy or hostile in any way, but it also becomes quickly obvious that their isolation has begun to drive them all a bit batty. Although the meteorite itself soon crumbles away, strange things begin happening in its wake. It pulls no punches in telling a compelling story filled with carnage and despair, all while looking quite beautiful. Lovecraft been born a lot later, and — you know — had a sense of humor. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, Color Out of Space holds an approval rating of 86% based on 176 reviews, and an average rating of 6.71/10. Color Out of Space walks an impressive tonal tightrope, deftly drifting between moments of real tension and a bizarre sense of humor that persists even through some of the film’s scarier moments. Then things get gobsmackingly, gaggingly repulsive. It's a clever adaptation, with fine use of visual effects and humor, but it also has some truly disturbing and unsettling images. If you thought that was trippy, wait till you see Color Out of Space, in which Cage’s mug is once again sprayed with blood ... alpaca blood. My favorite movie of the year so far. And from someone like Richard Stanley, who can be a bit of an odd figure at best, it’s an incredibly human story. In most cases, the problem is that Lovecraft’s stories tended to focus on indescribable horrors and much of the impact for the reader came from taking the vague hints that he did parcel out and then picturing it in their own minds, where their imaginations had no limitations or budgetary restrictions. For fans of oddball cinema, a Cage-Stanley collaboration is the stuff dreams are made of. For the more adventurous viewers, Colour Out of Space is a visually spectacular, insanely exhilarating, and unfathomable piece of work that could only have come from the minds of … The most mysterious aspect of Lovecraft's The Color Out of Space is admittedly difficult to put onto screen. The chief problem with “Color Out of Space” is that, at nearly two full hours, it is a little too much of a good thing at times, with some plot elements—chiefly one involving potentially shady dealings by the town’s mayor (Q’orianka Kilcher)—that could have easily been jettisoned. While father Nathan (Cage) is gung-ho about becoming a farmer and raising alpacas (“the animal of the future”) despite no discernible talent for either, wife Theresa (Joely Richardson) is preoccupied with recovering from a recent mastectomy, eldest son Benny (Brendan Meyer) is off getting stoned most of the time, teen daughter Lavinia (Madeline Arthur) vents her annoyance at the move by dabbling in the black arts with her paperback copy of “The Necronomicon” and young son Jack (Julian Hilliard) more often than not simply gets lost in the shuffle. ‘Color Out Of Space’ review: Nicolas Cage cracks up in an all-out assault on the senses Richard Stanley's gore-filled adaptation of an H. P. Lovecraft horror classic 4 It wobbles a bit in certain areas, but is satisfactorily executed and presented. Take the titular color, for example. 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’ Review: A Combination of Glorious Visuals and Poor Plot Progression Adapting the work of H.P. The particular type of energy the actor brings to the screen often goes under-utilised, but with the release of Color Out of Space, it seems like it has a home.This time the film is not just Lovecraftian, but a straight-up adaptation of one of H. P. … In this case, the film works because it is clear that Stanley is not only working on the same wavelength as Lovecraft was when he wrote the original story, but has managed to transform the author’s decidedly purple prose into cinematic terms. Considering that the film takes its inspiration from one of the most famous short stories by the legendarily weird H.P. When he does finally does let rip, he doesn’t go all-out ragey-Cagey, but does something creepier: rambling in a Trumpishly high-pitched, peevish voice. After the meteor comes the terror. Both as an effective cinematic translation of Lovecraft’s particular literary skills, and as a freakout of the first order with sights and sounds that will not be easily forgotten, this is one of those films that I suspect is going to grow in significance and popularity in due time. In the bonkers 2018 thriller Mandy, Nicolas Cage gave one of his Cage-iest performances yet, face splattered in blood as he pursued a cult leader who’d tortured his girlfriend. In that respect, it does not disappoint. The director is Richard Stanley, who hasn’t made a feature film since he got fired from The Island of Dr Moreau (1996). His movie perhaps has the makings of a cult classic. 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