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I've given this 2 chances and still hate it. The effects towards the end is fun and there's some cool visuals. That was about it. And Cage was criminally underutilized.
Different strokes whatever.
Different strokes whatever.
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"Ah! By god's balls what licentiousness!"
Marquis de Sade, The 120 Days of Sodom. -
Yeah, I watched this yesterday afternoon and really, really liked it. Not quite perfect - most of the CGI was good but some of it stood out to me - but other than that, this felt 'right' to me, it hit the right mix of weird body horror, rampant paranoia and otherworldly weirdness that I wanted from Stanley doing Lovecraft. Gorgeous visuals, amazing use of color and I thought the entire cast was pretty solid. Cage had some Cage moments but didn't go quite as bonkers as I thought he might (he still goes pretty bonkers a few times but it works in the context of the story being told). I'll admit, I went in with semi-low expectations, not sure if Stanley would still be able to deliver after all this time, but like Tom says, it is a more assured film and probably his most accomplished work.Originally posted by Matt H. View PostRock! Shock! Pop!Comment
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Recycling some comments I posted on my blog last week after watching 'Color Out of Space' at the cinema, I think it actually fits quite neatly into the tradition of the '60s Lovecraft adaptations, weirdly enough.
They were all basically attempts to make commercial horror films in the standard, gothic style of the era, but adding a slight twist of Lovecraft to the mix knocked them off balance, making them strange. Likewise, 'Color..' plays like a slick, contemporary American horror film that's been left out in the rain too long and gone a bit warped and peculiar (though admittedly, the strangeness in this case seems to come more from a combination of Stanley, Cage and too much weed than from Lovecraft).
Tonally, it's all over the place, but as a result I thought it captured that uneasy mixture of genuinely disturbing stuff and outright goofiness that characterises Lovecraft's writing quite well. Watching it with an audience, there were a lot of awkward "is this funny? Are we supposed to be laughing here?" kind of moments, which is probably to be encouraged.
Another commenter on the blog said it reminded him of '80s Italian horror, which I can also see in a sense. As well as the shameless/loveable borrowings from other films ('The Thing' & 'Poltergeist' in particular), I can imagine it generating a similar reaction to an Argento or Fulci film in terms of drawing a line in the sand between viewers who respond with, “what, why did that happen? Why did they go over there, why did that guy do that, what was that other thing about, I don't understand!â€, and those of us who prefer to just settle for, “that was fucking cool!â€
Whilst it's certainly no mind-blowing masterpiece, I found it a solid and enjoyable movie, rambling and flawed but well-made and rather charming - in fact, the more I think back on it, the more it feels like a movie I can see myself returning to a lot & considering fondly in years to come. Above all though, I'm just happy that it exists and is doing well.Comment
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It was an almost but not quite for me. It had an awesome nostalgic 80s vibe. I was digging Nic Cage doing Jack Torrance and I thought it was doing a really good job of mixxing the delirious insanity with the regular moments where the kids try to take stock.
Then they do the do the melding stuff, and Cage sticking a shotgun in his wifes crying face, and it's all just a bit too much. This film was fun and I was having a good time and now it's gone and gotten morbid on me. All the fun just goes right out of it.
Which is a shame because so much of it I like. It is fucking gorgeous."Never let the fact that they are doing it wrong stop you from doing it right." Hyman Mandell.Comment
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Finally able to watch this one today. Surprisingly enough, I enjoyed the hell out of it. Not the best horror movie ever made, but entertaining, a little creepy and gorgeous to look at.
Cage had his....moments. Sometimes he brings the right amount of bat shit crazy to make it justifiable. Then there are the extremely painful rectal exam acting moments that are hard to sit through. In this film he was borderline between the two. It didn't diminish my enjoyment of the movie."The popcorn you're eating has been pissed in. Film at 11".Comment
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Germany is getting a 7 disc special edition of this:
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That seems like too many discs. Wild packaging though.Rock! Shock! Pop!Comment
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I dig that they're including a reprint of the magazine that originally published Lovecraft's short story. That is really cool! Otherwise, yeah, it's overkill. 3 BDs are taken up by previous film adaptations of the same story: DIE, MONSTER, DIE (1965), THE CURSE (1987) and DIE FARBE (2010). Then there's the CD soundtrack, a regular BD, a 4K BD and a BD with unspecified bonus features.Comment
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Finally got a chance to see this and really enjoyed it. It's great to have Stanley back and I really hope he continues into The Dunwich Horror. I remember reading about the possibility of him doing a trilogy of Lovecraft films; does anyone remember what the third one is going to be?"His lives inside of his own heart. That's an awful big place to live in."
-Billy Bob Thornton, 'Sling Blade' (1996)
"Some roads you shouldn't go down."
-Billy Bob Thornton, 'Fargo' (2014)Comment
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He's said in interviews that he's keeping the third one a secret.Comment
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It did somewhat affect my enjoyment. I had hope early on, Cage seemed to have himself under control but by the end he went full-on Golden Corral buffet massacre on the scenery. Gorgeous looking film and I did somewhat like it but his casting is damn near a fatal flaw for me. Some genuinely eerie moments though.Originally posted by Gary Banks View PostI don't go to church. Kneeling bags my nylons.Comment
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There have been several films adapted from Lovecraft's story, the most famous being Daniel Haller's 1965 Boris Karloff starring DIE MONSTER DIE!* Director Richard Stanley's modern take does have a decent build up. With co-writer Scarlett Amaris, the script shows a family on an isolated farm in New England (but shot in Portugal!) who's fairly tranquil (if oh so quirky - hey, the Dad is played by Nicolas Cage!) lives are disrupted by a meteor crashing on their front lawn. Strange pinkish purple colors flash all around them with swirling bursts of light.
Not surprisingly, all kinds of strange sights, sounds and physical manifestations soon follow. A young hydrologist Ward (Elliot King) happens to be taking a water survey in the area, and since he's the only scientist around, he's called upon to explain all the cosmological and biological happenings. The Mom (Joely Richardson) is already sporting an illness and becomes increasing skittish. The Daughter Lavinia (Madeline Arthur) is a Wiccen who tries to ward off the weirdness with her powers. The older son Benny (Brendan Meyer) is a stoner, while the younger boy Jack (Julien Hilliard) seems mesmerized and possessed by the force. Oh, and there's a very old hippie (Tommy Chong - who else?) squatting in a shack on the property. Oh, the family is raising Alpacas.
The first half is admirable in taking the time to set up the situation and the budget production design and effects are effective and quite...uh...colorful. There are a few misteps with some phoney scares via inanimate objects as opposed to the more explicable organic ones, but, still palpable enough. Unfortunately, it seems as if Stanley had his eye on his stopwatch, for almost exactly at that halfway point he realized...Nic Cage hasn't gone over the top yet! And, then BAM!!! Full on Cage Craziness ensues. Some of it, as always, is fun, but the film's tone never recovers. All the careful accumulation of suspense goes out the window in favor of over-acting, dopey dialogue and as much CGI and mechanical creature effects as they can afford (parts of resemble an ad hoc remake of Carpenter's THE THING). Cage's transformation into Crazed Cage is somewhat explained by the plot, but, it still doesn't work to the film's benefit.
COLOR OUT OF SPACE has some interesting visuals along the lines of the superioir ANNIHILATION. The concept of the force being able to bend time is a good one, if never fully explored. Cage is good in the first half and Richardson is affecting even when smothered in makeup. The rest of cast is okay within the confines of the screenplay.
Richard Stanley's comeback after the ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU debacle in the 90s has it's merits, but, the second half of the picture doesn't fulfill the promise of the first - tonally or substantively. It would have been preferable for it to have all have been of one piece - either the fairly sober one of the first half, or the gonzo second. Half-Crazy Cage is a compromise.
* I got to see DIE MONSTER DIE! on the big screen in 35mm this February. It's pretty much as I remembered it from the old Creature Feature days - a slow moving film styled after AIP's Poe films. Only the ending really evokes even a bit of Lovecraft. I also saw 1985's THE CURSE, which until I was just reminded of, is also based on the same story. That film was so unmemorable that I had completely forgotten it was based on Color Out Of Space!Comment
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I thought the first half sucked and the second half was at least interesting. Still not great though."Ah! By god's balls what licentiousness!"
Marquis de Sade, The 120 Days of Sodom.Comment
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Watching this with a strong glass of whisky to hand.
If I can just get past my aversion to Nic Cage...'You know, I'd almost forgotten what your eyes looked like. Still the same. Pissholes in the snow'
http://www.paul-a-j-lewis.com (my photography website)
'All explaining in movies can be thrown out, I think': Elmore LeonardComment
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