Color Out of Space (2019) – Movie Review
6th May 2020 Written by Peter Walkden
Based on a short story written by the famous H.P. Lovecraft. Color Out of Space follows the Gardner family. The family live on an isolated farm living a quiet life since leaving the noisy city lifestyle.
Soon, a large meteorite landed right in front of their home. At 1st, the meteorite seems exciting and somewhat odd, but little do they know that this meteorite is something to be concerned about. Soon the family begin to suffer life-changing and horrific consequences. Surrounding the home shows unusual activity. Such colour shines bright in the sky, bright, colourful plants begin to appear, and the list goes on.
I must advise fans before continuing that I’m personally not familiar with H.P Lovecraft novels/stories nor have I ever read the books. Going into this film, I was pretty blind without any understanding of what I was getting myself into.
Color Out of Space is a horror movie, but it’s also so much more than that. The film is filled with uncomfortable moments and added horrific elements along the way. As a film, I found it to be genuinely unsettling as we witness an innocent family beginning to fall into complete madness and horror.
The visuals of this film are incredible to the point I would state some shots are truly a work of art when it comes to filmmaking. The film audio track is also brilliant as we hear an 80’s type of synth track during the unusual activity surround the family. Performance was also solid. I’m particularly surprised to see the actor Nicolas Cage provide an applaud worthy performance and it feels like this is a performance fan have been missing for some time now. The actor seems hugely passionate about this film. Another exciting face is the man behind the camera. The director of this film is Richard Stanley who hasn’t directed a movie since he was fired while working on “The Island of Dr Moreau” (1996).
As a plot I overall enjoyed it, but there are some issues I had with the film, and most of my problems are more than likely because I’m not familiar with H.P Lovecraft or the books. Some of these issues relate to the film ending, which I had to research to gain a greater understanding of. Other factors are just elements within the family. The parents seem rather careless when it comes to their own children. One child smokes drugs on the farm while the other is out on the lake practising evil rituals. Both of these topics are evident, but neither parent seems to care about the situation. Elements like these just seem a little unlikely to me and are skipped over.
Overall, Colour Out of Space has left me speechless. Because I enjoyed many elements in the film, but I’m also seriously disturbed by it all too. It’s an unsettling horror film with artwork filming style and a stand out soundtrack. I only wished the movie had a slightly better explanation for those viewers (like me) who are unfamiliar with the story this film is based on. In the end, I was left with so many questions that I felt incomplete in understanding this entire film.
6.3/10
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Love me a good “uncomfortable” movie!