Color Out of Space (2019)

[GrahamS. 803]

I have not seen this yet but it looks FUCKING BONKERS!!!

Here is the review from the Seattle alternative paper The Stranger:

FILM/TV

Is Color Out of Space Good-Bad or Bad-Bad?

by Leilani Polk • Jan 22, 2020 at 8:45 am

  

I didn’t go into Color Out of Spacethinking it would be great, or even very good. Starring Nicolas Cage and based on a story by HP Lovecraft about a weird alien presence/virus/organism/wtf that comes crashing in from space via meteorite, I figured it’d be entertaining at the very least. And that it was, but it was also tremendously, spectacularly bad, with some classic bad-acting Cage on tap. 

The set-up: The film's Gardner family has traded life in the city for a house in the country after they inherit a rural family estate located near Arkham, Massachusetts. They are very obviously city folk. Mom’s a commodities trader whose cancer is in remission, dad Cage is the patriarch who’s failed at his calling (he’s a painter who doesn’t seem to paint anymore and has turned to raising alpacas and gardening, where he’s also failing). The daughter is a Wicca-practicing witch who wears a cape, has purple streaks in her hair, and rides a horse earnestly, while her younger brothers are two-dimensional representations of younger brothers. The older is a smart-mouthed pothead (he gets his stash from the old hippie hermit who squats in a shack on their property, played by Tommy Chong), while the younger is barely a blip on a real-person radar, though he’s the first family member affected by the situation that arises after a meteorite crashes onto their front lawn.

Of course, shit gets weird from the get-go.

The thing in the yard has a strange purple glow before it cools, and then vanishes (or really, relocates). There’s a hydrologist / daughter love interest who seems to be the only one suspicious of the water being contaminated, and really, the only person who seems to give a fuck at all after the preliminary media buzz. It soon starts affecting the local flora (are the plants in the garden more bountiful or just plain bizarre?), fauna (which have disappeared or become skittish and/or vicious), and then, of course, the Gardner family, as matter seems to distort into a bizarre mutation.

Is it an alien? A virus? An extraterrestrial organism? All of the above? The question is never answered, nor does it need to be. And really, the plot isn’t important, either. You’re not here for the plot. You’re here for campy-as-fuck sci-fi horror and Nicolas Cage, of which Color Out of Space has both in spades. It has the potential to be the next great (terrible) cult classic, and will definitely find a sympathetic audience in both die-hard Cage fans and D-level horror film enthusiasts. Also, the colors are pretty.

IT ALSO HAS A CRITICAL APPROVAL RATING OF 90% ON ROTTEN TOMATOES!!!

Here’s the preview:

 

[GrahamS. 803]

I just saw this. Holy fucking shit, THIS IS THE MOST INSANE NIC CAGE MOVIE OF ALL TIME!!!! In a good way.

It’s the definition of  “bonkers.” Surefire HDTGM material.

My Amazon review is 5 stars. I love this film!!!!!

[VonFaunch 2]

You guys HAVE to. Its Nicholas Cage and it's not good

[VonFaunch 2]

On 1/26/2020 at 1:00 AM, GrahamS. said:

I just saw this. Holy fucking shit, THIS IS THE MOST INSANE NIC CAGE MOVIE OF ALL TIME!!!! In a good way.

It’s the definition of  “bonkers.” Surefire HDTGM material.

My Amazon review is 5 stars. I love this film!!!!!

 

[VonFaunch 2]

Hell yes Graham I had no idea how to feel after this one! I would love to hear the HDTGM take on this one. It's. Mental. 

[jjulius 16]

I have to disagree. It's pretty good, and though it has some classic Cage freak-out moments, they don't have the 'what was he thinking?'-quality because his character literally goes insane. Yeah, him angrily reminding his family that the own alpacas, or furiously dunking fruit in the garbage can is crazy and funny, and it's supposed to be.

[Omaxem 232]

6 hours ago, jjulius said:

I have to disagree. It's pretty good, and though it has some classic Cage freak-out moments, they don't have the 'what was he thinking?'-quality because his character literally goes insane. Yeah, him angrily reminding his family that the own alpacas, or furiously dunking fruit in the garbage can is crazy and funny, and it's supposed to be.

Yeah, i legit liked it  I think that's the trick with Nick Cage. Mom and Dad and Mandy are also good examples of this.

The plot is pretty close to the original story, updated in a believable, very plausible way, the fx aren't amazing, but the budget probably wasn't that big and they use them well, and the narrator being a POC is a really nice FU to H.P. Lovecraft. 

 

[GrahamS. 803]

11 hours ago, jjulius said:

I have to disagree. It's pretty good, and though it has some classic Cage freak-out moments, they don't have the 'what was he thinking?'-quality because his character literally goes insane. Yeah, him angrily reminding his family that the own alpacas, or furiously dunking fruit in the garbage can is crazy and funny, and it's supposed to be.

Here’s the thing: HDTGM actually does GOOD movies. I liked this film as well. A lot, for what it is. It got good reviews. I liked Face/Off. it got even BETTER reviews and they did a show on it.

I definitely think this film is bonkers enough for the HDTGM treatment. Plus, if the do an episode on it, itwill get more people to see it (and the film got a pretty limited release).

4 hours ago, Omaxem said:

Yeah, i legit liked it  I think that's the trick with Nick Cage. Mom and Dad and Mandy are also good examples of this.

The plot is pretty close to the original story, updated in a believable, very plausible way, the fx aren't amazing, but the budget probably wasn't that big and they use them well, and the narrator being a POC is a really nice FU to H.P. Lovecraft. 

 

same as above. I agree, but still could be an episode.

[jjulius 16]

On 3/21/2020 at 3:29 AM, GrahamS. said:

Here’s the thing: HDTGM actually does GOOD movies. I liked this film as well. A lot, for what it is. It got good reviews. I liked Face/Off. it got even BETTER reviews and they did a show on it.

I definitely think this film is bonkers enough for the HDTGM treatment. Plus, if the do an episode on it, itwill get more people to see it (and the film got a pretty limited release).

I know they've done good movies, like Face/Off and Con Air -- but they're also both very dumb and crazy. Color Out of Space is not dumb and only crazy some of the time. I don't know. I'm sure they could make it funny, but it doesn't scream HDTGM to me.

 

On 3/20/2020 at 11:15 PM, Omaxem said:

 the fx aren't amazing, but the budget probably wasn't that big and they use them well

 

Yeah, the budget was tiny and Nicolas Cage was the only reason it could get made. He's a Lovecraft fan and wanted to make (and I quote director Richard Stanley, whom I interviewed about this) "something like Ordinary People", which I guess it is.

[RyanSz 3140]

I'm near the end of this and in my opinion is really good, especially given that Lovecraft adaptations are more miss than hit. Stanley was the perfect choice for director and it makes me really want to see him make his version of The Island of Dr. Moreau because he shows he is really able to create dread and terror in a film. The color work in this film was amazing as it should have been, which further amplified the tone of the movie and its subject matter. Cage's Cage-isms in the early to mid part of the film seemed out of place at times but otherwise it was a solid performance, very much in line with the previously stated Mom and Dad and Mandy.

[jjulius 16]

On 4/4/2020 at 6:20 AM, RyanSz said:

I'm near the end of this and in my opinion is really good, especially given that Lovecraft adaptations are more miss than hit. Stanley was the perfect choice for director and it makes me really want to see him make his version of The Island of Dr. Moreau because he shows he is really able to create dread and terror in a film. The color work in this film was amazing as it should have been, which further amplified the tone of the movie and its subject matter. Cage's Cage-isms in the early to mid part of the film seemed out of place at times but otherwise it was a solid performance, very much in line with the previously stated Mom and Dad and Mandy.

I think those moments feeling 'out of place' is what made them work so well. He's under the incluence of something from another world. If his performance felt right, it would have been wrong.

[RyanSz 3140]

On 4/5/2020 at 9:06 AM, jjulius said:

I think those moments feeling 'out of place' is what made them work so well. He's under the incluence of something from another world. If his performance felt right, it would have been wrong.

Looking back I realize that it works, but it is quite a bit similar to how he was in Mom and Dad with some of his rants to his kids so I feel it could have been a bit different, although asking Nic Cage to choose a tempo other than subdued or coke-addled manic might be asking too much.

[GrahamS. 803]

14 hours ago, RyanSz said:

Looking back I realize that it works, but it is quite a bit similar to how he was in Mom and Dad with some of his rants to his kids so I feel it could have been a bit different, although asking Nic Cage to choose a tempo other than subdued or coke-addled manic might be asking too much.

Hahahaha!

By the way, this is streaming for free on Hoopla, if you have access to the library streaming service.

[jimkiler 84]

I watched this movie last night and despite liking it it is HDTGM worthy.  Although it is not the best example of Nic Cage doing his Nic Cage acting.  This is clearly a horror movie but FandangoNow said it was a drama.  Here you go mom and dad watch a nice drama with Nic Cage!

[GrahamS. 803]

3 hours ago, jimkiler said:

I watched this movie last night and despite liking it it is HDTGM worthy.  Although it is not the best example of Nic Cage doing his Nic Cage acting.  This is clearly a horror movie but FandangoNow said it was a drama.  Here you go mom and dad watch a nice drama with Nic Cage!

Haha. Make it a double-feature with Birdy.