Into the Eccentric – Color Out of Space

Opening night for a film in limited release isn’t quite as important to its long term success as it would be for a big-budget blockbuster but it is still a good indicator of excitement in the niche markets. As the lights went down on the small but semi-full theater, there was a palpable buzz among the two-dozen or so moviegoers. Clearly, we were all there for the same reason…to worship at the altar of B movie exceptionalism. This is the story of the ambitious and intentionally indelicate sci-fi/horror film Color Out of Space.

Based on the H.P. Lovecraft short story, the screenplay by director Richard Stanley and Scarlett Amaris sure isn’t built on subtlety. A particularly odd family living in relative isolation has their lives turned inside out when a meteor crashes on their land. That’s not an entirely unfamiliar set up but Stanley’s style painted the character portrayals all over the place. Some of that makes sense in context but even during the introductory period where the audience should be forming some of those subconscious bonds with the family, it’s more than a bit weird. 

We first meet the daughter who’s practicing witchcraft down by the river before encountering her cliche stoner brother who’s not taking care of his barn duties. Mom is a high powered stock trader who works out of the attic, despite the bad wi-fi signal, and makes sure to dress the part even though nobody is watching. Dad is the one who moved everyone back to his father’s land (after vowing never to return) and decided to bank his family’s futures on highly valuable…alpacas. That’s right! Alpacas…the relative of the llama. Ultimately you don’t need more than what you get but the bizarrely minimalist approach by Stanley and Amaris lacks depth between the characters and there’s no familial bond to cheer for as a result. Fortunately, that’s probably not what the audience came to see in the first place.

Believe it or not, there was a time when Nicolas Cage was the highest-paid actor in the business. While the mid-90s are long gone and his equity as an A-list star has fizzled over the years, his status as a cult icon has been elevated to almost godlike levels in the B-movie world. His particular brand of eccentricity is hard to come by and his name value actually allows projects such as this to get made in the first place. In turn, Indie projects like this provide Cage a vehicle to unleash his off-center stylings and further build his unique brand. As the family patriarch, Nathan Gardner, he sets the tone for just how far and bizarre things are going to get. From sipping on freshly squeezed alpaca milk to awkwardly feeling up his wife who’s battling cancer to slipping into Donald Trump-like rants as the effects of the meteor begin to manifest, there is no shortage of those signature Cage moments. He always provides that spark and even though he’s been in some bad movies, he’s not the reason those movies are bad. If you’re a fan, he already has another five projects on deck in 2020. 

There are plenty of times where a film doesn’t live up to the trailer. This was not one of those times. It’s just as weird as advertised and then some. Bringing this project to life required cohesive production design by Katie Byron and there is an undeniable dreaminess to the environment. Despite the obviously small budget, the world is enhanced by some excellent work from the visual effects and practical effects teams. Low-budget films tend to come up short in those areas quite often which really brings the whole project down a notch but that wasn’t the case here. I’m not saying this is going to win any awards for effects but it certainly added to the overall quality of the finished product. 

For some reason, a hydrologist becomes the primary intellectual of the story. Ward, played by Elliot Knight, is introduced at the very beginning when we meet the daughter, Lavinia, but he’s there to inspect the water table before a reservoir project gets approved. From there he becomes the go-to scientist providing any and all of the exposition that’s needed. It’s an unfortunate narrative crutch in a story that didn’t really need one. The “why” of the story is never established beyond the obvious and we have a pretty good grasp of what’s happening, strange as it may be, so he’s much more of a witness than a reliable narrator. Much of the character’s responsibility could have been shifted over to Tommy Chong’s hermit character, Ezra, who was criminally underutilized. This was a great role for him and it would have been great to see him stretch his legs with that character a bit more. 

The odd stoner trio to my right felt the need to provide incredibly poor editorial commentary until the gentleman in front of me sternly asked them to stop. That’s the kind of theater experience this was on opening night. Color Out of Space isn’t ever going to be that movie that crosses over into the mainstream but it was actually pretty well done and has a promising future as a cult classic. Definitely an early favorite for Weirdest Movie of 2020. 

Recommendation: Nicolas Cage fans will have a blast and any fans of indie sci-fi/horror films should appreciate it as well.