Color Out of Space (film)


Color Out of Space is a 2019 American science fiction cosmic horror film directed and co-written by Richard Stanley, based on the short story "The Colour Out of Space" by H. P. Lovecraft. It stars Nicolas Cage, Joely Richardson, Madeleine Arthur, Q'orianka Kilcher and Tommy Chong. This is Stanley's first feature film directed since his firing from The Island of Dr. Moreau. According to Stanley, it is the first film in a trilogy of Lovecraft adaptations, which he hopes to follow up with an adaptation of "The Dunwich Horror".

Plot

In the wake of his wife Theresa's mastectomy, Nathan Gardner moves his family, including children Lavinia, Benny, and Jack, to his late father's farm where he attempts to grow tomatoes and raise alpacas. One night, a brilliantly glowing meteor crash-lands in their front yard, which emits an unearthly color. The next morning, Hydrologist Ward Phillips, who is surveying the area for a dam development, along with the mayor and the Sheriff of the nearby town of Arkham, arrive to see the meteor. That night, Nathan and Lavinia witness the meteor being struck by several bolts of lightning.
Ward notices that the groundwater has taken on an oily sheen and tests it. When his test strips begin to glow brightly with the Color, he advises the Gardners not to drink it, but he cannot persuade the mayor to do anything.
Jack becomes obsessed with a well which stands a few feet from where the meteor landed. Strange, brightly colored vegetation begins growing around it, mutated insects fly out of it, and Jack insists he can hear a man in there. Ward visits another resident on the farmland, Ezra, who plays him a tape recording of what he says are people moving around underground. A news crew arrives to interview Nathan about the meteor, but it has mysteriously vanished.
Later, while Theresa is preparing dinner, she absentmindedly cuts off two of her fingers. While Nathan rushes her to the hospital, he leaves Benny in charge. Things quickly get out of hand as Benny finds the alpacas uncontrollable, his dog Sam runs away, and Jack is traumatized by something he saw in the well. Upon the parents' return, Nathan lashes out at Benny and Lavinia with uncharacteristic rage. The next day, after Nathan tries to harvest his tomatoes - which have all turned out misshapen and inedible - he and Theresa get into a fight when the internet goes out again and she loses a client.
That night, Lavinia tries to perform a Wiccan ceremony to save her family, mutilating herself in the process. Theresa hears Jack and Benny screaming in the barn - something terrible has happened to the alpacas - and rushes to their aid. While fleeing back to the house Theresa and Jack are struck by several bolts of Color lightning, which fuses them together into a single, deranged mass. Unable to start the car or call for help as all electronic devices have stopped functioning, Nathan and the other children carry the monster into the attic. Nathan then gets out a shotgun and enters the barn, where he finds all of his alpacas mutated and fused together. Nathan destroys the creature. He then returns to the attic, orders his children to leave, and prepares to put down his mutated wife and son, but cannot go through with it.
Lavinia and Benny conspire to escape the farm on their horse, which bolts. Benny then believes he hears Sam whining down in the well and insists on going down for him. The Color bursts from the water and disintegrates Benny. Losing his grip on sanity, Nathan locks Lavinia in the attic with the monster, which has now grown aggressive and attacks her. Ward and the sheriff arrive and break into the attic, and Nathan kills the creature, saying that he could no longer recognize it as his family. As they exit the house, the Color erupts out of the well and drives Nathan insane. He tries to shoot the Color, but the sheriff mistakes Nathan's aim for Ward and shoots Nathan, who dies in Lavinia's arms. Lavinia declares she will not leave, and neither will anyone else, because the Color will not allow it.
Ward and the sheriff go to pick up Ezra, but only find his desiccated corpse and a recording he left behind, where he surmises that the Color is attempting to remake Earth into "something it knows." Heading back towards the farmhouse, a sentient tree kills Sheriff Pierce.
Ward attempts to rescue Lavinia, but the Color explodes from the well and roars into the sky in a towering funnel. Lavinia touches him and shares with him her vision of where the Color hails from – a horrific sector of outer space inhabited by disturbing, tentacled alien entities – she then disintegrates. As space and time begin to unravel around him, Ward is pursued in the farmhouse by a murderous apparition of Nathan, and hides in the wine cellar as the Color vanishes into the sky, tearing down the house and leaving the surrounding farmland a "blasted heath" of ash and ruin.
In an epilogue, a traumatized Ward stands on top of the finished dam, and says that knowing what he knows about this place, he will never drink its water.

Cast

's mother, Penny Miller, was a huge fan of H. P. Lovecraft. She read Lovecraft's works to Stanley when he was young. At the age of 12 or 13, he read "The Colour Out of Space", which has "always been a part of psychological makeup". When his mother suffered from cancer, Stanley read Lovecraft's works to her in her declining years.
Stanley initially announced the project in 2013, showcasing a proof of concept trailer online. In September 2015, it was announced that Spectrevision would be producing the film with a projected start date of early 2016.
After many delays, it was announced in December 2018 that Nicolas Cage had signed to play the lead role and that filming would begin in early 2019 with co-producers SpectreVision and ACE Pictures. In January 2019, the production announced additional cast members including stars Joely Richardson, Tommy Chong, Elliot Knight, Julian Hilliard and Q'Orianka Kilcher. Filming took place in Portugal in February 2019.

Release

Color Out of Space premiered on September 7, 2019 in the Midnight Madness portion of the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival. On September 6, 2019, it was announced that RLJE Films acquired U.S. rights in a low-mid seven figure deal. “Color Out of Space” was financed by Ace Pictures and XYZ Films handled international sales on the film.
Following select preview screenings on January 22, the film was released in 81 theaters in the United States on January 24, 2020. With previews and the first weekend box office, the film grossed $358,154 over the four days.

Critical response

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. 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." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 70 out of 100, based on 28 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews."
Chris Bumbray from Arrow in the Head rated the film a score of 7/10, praising the film's performances, visual style and effects while noting the film's length. Bumbray summarized his review by writing, "While it's maybe a touch slow and arty for hardcore horror fans, Color Out of Space is still a handy comeback for Richard Stanley, who hasn't lost a beat." Mary Beth Andrews from Daily Grindhouse gave the film a positive review, writing, "His film successfully captures the madness of Lovecraft's work and is a dazzling modern interpretation. Lovecraft is notoriously hard to adapt, but Stanley walks the fine line between horror and existential dread to create a successful adaptation". Deborah Young from The Hollywood Reporter offered the film similar praise, writing, "Hitting the main plot points with well-designed SFX and some impressive night photography, Stanley's film manages to be frightening indeed, even with star Nicolas Cage's semi-farcical leavening adding some nutty laughs." Jonathan Barkan of Dread Central awarded the film 3.5 out of 5 stars, praising the film's visual style, special effects, and soundtrack, while criticizing the film's first and third act. Nevertheless, Barken summarized his review by stating, "Gorgeous, vibrant, and terrifying, Color Out of Space is packed with Lovecraftian creatures and cosmic infections galore. It's not perfect but goddamn is it a wild ride."
Dennis Harvey from Variety gave the film a mostly positive review, noting the film's uneven tone, "full-bore" climax, and Cage's "arbitrarily oddball" performance; while praising the film's otherworldly imagery, cinematography, and direction.
The Skinnys Katie Goh gave to the film a rating of 3 on 5, stating that: "Colour Out of Space is at its best when Stanley goes for this subtle and intelligent filmmaking, gesturing at the horror rather than pushing it in our faces".
Howard Gorman from NME praised Stanley's welcome return, underlining the core "intense, unpredictable and harrowing moral tale," and Cage putting in his "most nuanced" turn in the last decade.

Accolades