color out of space

WHAT THE FUCK?!?!!

Insanity, madness, horror, beauty, and surreal existential dread thread it's way through this atmospheric nightmare! The movie opens with adapted text from the original work of Lovecraft, setting the mood with his rhythmic prose and a hauntingly atmospheric wilderness where shadows creep and what little light there is streams in on clear beams that catch the pollen and makes them sparkle like stars in the daylight. It is shortly after this that we are introduced to the Gardner family.

Having recently left the "City", the Gardners hope to adapt to their country living and use the rich farmland around them to raise alpacas. First we meet Lavinia (Madeleine Arthur), the earthy and somewhat new age teen daughter. Her older teen brother, Benny (Brendan Meyer) is a pot head sneaking tokes in the barn. Her youngest brother, Jack (Julian Hilliard) is an adorable scamp. Their parents are Nathan (Nicholas Cage) and Theresa (Joely RIchardson). The family has just experienced the prolonged death of Nathan's father by cancer while Theresa is still recovering from her own cancer treatments.

Also living on the property is an aged hippy, Ezra (played to brilliant effect by Tommy Chong). Ward Phillips (Elliot Knight) is a young researcher performing tests on the Water tables in the area for an upcoming project that will dam the surrounding region  and provide a major source of water to the surrounding area.

Into these lives comes a meteor that crashes in the back yard of the Gardner home, spreading an iridescent "Color" that defies description- at times seen in hues of purple, pink, hints of gold, and sometimes even blues- this color seeps into the soil, melts into the water, and slowly begins to transform everything it comes in contact with. And forget what you think you know about horror films- you won't see the quick jumps every ten minutes, you won't be beaten over the head with an explanation, and most of the film barely holds together with a constant thread that allows the viewer to fully understand everything that's happening. This is the real horror of Lovecraft- the inability to describe what the experience is but to know that you are experiencing it. And there's nothing you can do to stop it.

Color out of Space takes liberties with the story itself, but it hits on all the familiar points where the story goes. The vegetation grows quickly, lushly, and large- but it's foul and does not nourish. The animals are changed- at first only slightly, and then more dramatically- and horrifically. The almost slow and methodical burn finally explodes when something happens near the barn, and the film never lets go from there. Cage's performance, which could be over the top and ridiculous, works in a film like this- where his erratic behavior is part of the transformation the entire family is experiencing. The finale is breath-taking, beautiful, haunting, and terrifying.

10 out of 10