Richard Stanley’s “COLOR OUT OF SPACE”
Movie review by Dennis D. McDonald
We come upon a young woman dissatisfied with the isolated life she leads with her parents and brothers in a secluded but palatial farmhouse in the woods. She is performing a Wiccan ritual.
A young hydrologist comes across her as she chants. Together they return to her home—she rides a white horse in her bare feet, he walks—and so we meet the family. It’s headed by a dad obsessed with raising alpacas and tomatoes. The mom, recovering from an operation, advises clients about investments but is finding that her poor Internet connection is losing her clients.
It’s an odd assembly of characters. Despite the daughter’s devotion to the mystical we understand how she is feeling displaced with a family that lives in such isolation.
And so the stage is set for that night’s event: a mysterious meteorite, glowing pink and purple, crashes into the front yard, showering the area with a cacophonous rainbow of sound and light. Upon examination the next morning by the family we see in the ground a small weirdly glowing and wrinkled orb that exudes a noxious odor.
Thus a strange sequence of events begins to unfold involving behavior changes, animal and plant mutations, and eventually, mutilations and body horror. Not even the alpacas are immune. It’s an odd movie and blends science fiction, horror, and weird family behavior in novel ways.
Nicolas Cage as the dad is fun to watch, of course. Even though he starts out the movie somewhat restrained, we know he’s eventually going to snap. Snap he does as events and his family’s welfare spiral out of control at the hands of the alien presence.
Special effects and photography are universally excellent as the movie focuses on the gradual dislocation of the family’s sanity and well-being as the influence on both animal and plant life grow from the mysterious alien presence.
It’s my understanding that this is an adaptation of a story by HP Lovecraft. I’m not familiar with his work. That did not detract from my enjoyment of this odd little film. I am glad it became available via Amazon prime as it snuck in and out of a few DC area theaters recently before I could see it. It would be fun to see it on a big screen, I think. The sets and colors are really quite detailed and at times striking. Plus, I always enjoy seeing Nicolas Cage in top form.
Recommended especially if your tastes like mine include the unusual.
Review copyright © 2020 by Dennis D. McDonald
