Color Out of Space

Richard Stanley – 2019 – USA 

Less significant as the latest adaptation of the oft-filmed horror story by H.P. Lovecraft, The Colour Out of Space, than as the long-awaited return to the director’s chair of Mr. Richard Stanley, the legendary mystic intellectual South African filmmaker behind the cult classics Hardware (1990) and Dust Devil (1992). The ill-fated Island of Dr. Moreau (1996) produced a mutual contempt between Stanley and the film industry, and while he’s made a few shorts and documentaries over the years, even he was never certain if he’d ever direct a feature again. A meteor hurtles from the sky and lands on a farm in the countryside town of Arkham, Massachusetts, surrounded by a violet glow and gaseous tendrils that immediately begin to affect the flora and fauna in mysterious ways. The farm belongs to a likable and fairly close-knit family, led by parents Nicolas Cage and Joely Richardson, recently moved from the big city. One of the best things about the film is Stanley’s treatment of the family; they are neither absurdly wholesome, nor offputtingly dysfunctional, nor dully average. They have unique personalities, quirks and interests, and most of all an ironic sense of humor. Each of them could have easily been treated like stereotypes – disposable, unlikable cannon fodder – but the film always takes the less obvious turn, making the characters all the more sympathetic when the malevolent alien phenomenon begins to take its toll. First, a purplish mist coats the ground and hovers in the air, and soon entirely unknown flowers bloom and strange insects appear. Meanwhile, the farm’s water supply and vegetable crops are contaminated, and the livestock start behaving violently too. The extra-terrestrial essence exacerbates some of the emotional problems in each family member, and creates new ones, both mental and physical; leading to quite a few moments of genuine horror. Whether consciously or simply due to the fact that he hadn’t directed for about 25 years, Stanley’s film often feels like an 80s production – such as The Thing or The Fly – (but without nostalgia), thanks to the use of practical make-up effects, measured pacing, and mounting dread. Stanley also manages to pepper the film with his known interests in tribal magic and anthropology. One can only hope that Color Out of Space marks the beginning of a new phase for Stanley. As with Terrence Malick, perhaps his long period of exile and gestation will be followed by an equally long period of making films.