Color Out of Space might not have been completely my cup of tea as I prefer a more traditional horror, but I can acknowledge some of the creativity and there were a few great moments that presumably Lovecraft fans will appreciate.
Color Out of Space
(2019)
Genre(s): Horror, Science Fiction
RLJ Entertainment | NR – 110 min. – $35.97 | February 25, 2020
Date Published: 02/17/2020 | Author: The Movieman
|
|
|||||||||||
RLJ Entertainment provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray I reviewed in this Blog Post.
The opinions I share are my own.
THE MOVIE — 3.25/5 |
|
Plot Synopsis: After a meteorite lands in the front yard of their farm, Nathan Gardner (NICOLAS CAGE) and his family — wife Theresa (JOELY RICHARDSON), daughter Lavinia (MADELEINE ARTHUR), older son Benny (BRENDAN MEYER) and younger son Jack (JULIAN HILLIARD) — find themselves battling a mutant extraterrestrial organism as it infects their minds and bodies, transforming their quiet rural life into a living nightmare. Review: First things first, while I know the name H.P. Lovecraft, mostly through others talking about the author but also other story-to-film adaptations, namely the Re-Animator series and From Beyond. So, one should know, I have never read any of his writings and only know the basics, and considering the short time he wrote, passing away of intestinal cancer at the young age of 46, certainly seemed like a visionary writer, one who inspired many others including Stephen King whose own writings have been adapted numerous times, some would argue too many… Now, besides the fact Lovecraft was visionary, his works (in the cosmic horror realm) are incredibly difficult to adapt. Watching Color Out of Space, I can certainly understand why. But as I said, I can’t really compare how well Richard Stanley, who also co-scripted with Scarlett Amaris, did in their adaptation, but I will say, as confused as I was from time to time, and as much as I can’t say I ‘loved’ (no pun intended) the movie, admittedly I could never take my eyes off the screen. There were numerous creepy, unsettling and ominous moments, that I assume would delight any fan of horror, whether you’re a Lovecraft fan or not. In regards to the cast, say what you will about Nicolas Cage, unlike his counterpart in direct-to-video hell, Bruce Willis, Cage at least seems to from time to time take chances, though he still has his ‘paycheck’ movies (Left Behind comes to mind), and here you can’t get more outside the typical with Color Out of Space. In terms of his performance… he definitely has his scenes that were very well acted, and then there’s a scene where he’s yelling at overripe fruit. The rest of the cast were fine. I did like the young and relatively unknown Madeleine Arthur whose character grew on me, as I feared her Wiccan/new age-y character would irritate, instead kind of started caring for her well-being and she shared some nice chemistry, in their brief time on-screen together, with Elliot Knight. Tommy Chong and Q’orianka Kilcher (Academy Award winner for Whale Rider if you forgot) have small roles, neither really necessary, though Chong was a hoot. Joely Richardson as the matriarch of the family shares some… interesting scenes with Cage, particularly towards the end. As mentioned, Color Out of Space was helmed by Richard Stanley, a name that sounded familiar and when I looked at his IMDb profile, remembered after putting in years on The Island of Dr. Moreau, was unceremoniously fired after only 4 days into production, replaced by John Frankenheimer, a project riddled with problems, even “cursed” according to Marlon Brando. Color Out of Space marks Stanley’s first feature-length film in 25 years, but would appear perhaps he was the right person to bring Lovecraft’s difficult vision, from my reading, to life. |
SPECIAL FEATURES – 2.5/5 |
|
This release comes with a cool, glossy and reflective slip cover. The features are available on both the 4K UHD and Blu-ray discs; wish other studios would follow suit… The Making of Color Out of Space (20:12) — Featurette with behind-the-scenes footage with on-set interviews by members of the cast and crew (including producer Elijah Wood) discussing the project, characters and source material. Deleted Scenes (12:57) — There are eight scenes here, either trimmed or completely cut. Photo Gallery |
4K VIDEO – 5.0/5, BD VIDEO – 4.75/5 |
| Color Out of Space arrives on 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray, presented with a 2.35 widescreen aspect ratio and 2160p and 1080p high-definition transfers respectfully. Doing a comparison, the 4K, even though it did not include either HDR or DV, still was incredibly sharp and very well defined, with some fine grain/noise present giving it a nice texture, which was missing on the Blu-ray, however that picture was still really good looking in its own right. On both, colors are vivid and the pinkish tones really pop off the screen, growing even stronger nearing the finale. There were no major or noticeable instances of artifacts, aliasing, etc so it is a clean looking picture. |
AUDIO – 4.75/5 |
| Both the 4K and Blu-ray discs come with a standard but still incredibly effective DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 tracks which really showcase the oddities going on once the meteor crashes. Dialogue levels are clear coming from the center channel, but the fronts and rears aren’t left out, with fantastic depth with the ambient noises as well as the sounds of the organisms wreaking havoc all around the forest. |
OVERALL – 4.0/5 |
|
Color Out of Space might not have been completely my cup of tea as I prefer a more traditional horror (Halloween ’78, Scream, even Alien for sci-fi horror), but I can acknowledge some of the creativity and there were a few great moments that presumably Lovecraft fans will appreciate. The 4K/Blu-ray combo pack released by RLJ Entertainment offers up great video and audio transfers and a few fine bonus material. |