Color Out of Space – A Purple Tinged Lovecraftian Nightmare

Color Out of Space is the newest gonzo Nick Cage movie based on HP Lovecraft’s short story of the same name. Witchcraft and familial tensions are brewing as Nathan Gardner (Cage) and his granola family begin to settle into their ordinary country lives. The first act is admittedly quite the slog to sit through, but when Nathan and his wife Theresa (Richardson) are about to break their months long dry spell, a purple meteorite crashes into their backyard and mayhem erupts.  

It takes a while, but once Color Out of Space slowly descends into a violet hazed Lovecraftian fever dream, featuring an insane Cage going full “Rage Cage,”a pack of feral alpacas, and inventive body horror echoing Lovecraft’s palpable style. The purple tinge of the hallucinatory supernatural entity is the ideal way for director Richard Stanley to impose his metaphor of familial decay in action, creating an unhinged look at the lengths one man would go to protect his family from sickness and disease. 

One-by-one the Gardner family becomes infected with hallucinogens sprouting from the water and leaking into their vegetation, making each family member go through the trials and tribulations of hell on earth. Theresa unknowingly chops off her own fingers, Lavinia (Arthur) discovers the full extent of what witchcraft can do, and Cage evokes a bizarre Trump accent allowing his insanity to be put on full display. The biggest surprise from Color Out of Space, however, was the emotional depth it pursues. Whether it’s the breaking of familial bonds, or Cage crying over a herd of alpacas, the film never wavers in its emotional arcs, bringing everything together for a deceptively satisfying yet nihilistic ending. 

The increasingly sophisticated Lovecraftian creature design meshes with the surreal landscape of the Gardner’s yard to a tee, making the contained location feel more dynamic than it should. The only real faults that can be found within Color Out of Space are its over reliance on hammy dialogue, and the boring performances from any member of the cast not named Nicholas Cage and Tommy Chong (from Cheech and Chong fame). Even running with a respectable running time of 111 minutes, the film still feels 20 minutes too long. Yes, the filmmakers have to set up the family dynamics, but the lack of absorbing characters and out-of-place normalcy in the first act was a dull way to set up the bonkers story that runs through the rest of the film. 

At the end of the day, that’s not what most audiences want to see when going for this type of Nicholas Cage movie. Most want a technicolor spectacle that delivers on an insanity-fueled experience. In most cases, it is actually difficult to replicate this style without occasionally veering into unwatchable B-movie territory, but with Mandy, and now Color Out of Space, it very well seems as though Nicholas Cage has truly found his sublime niche. 

*still courtesy of VVS Films*

Please follow me on Twitter or Letterboxd.

If you liked this, please read our other reviews here and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter or Instagram or like us on Facebook.

Corbin Stewart

Big Star Wars Nerd. Love all kinds of movies, but my favorites are sci-fi, indies, and superhero films. I created SplittingEdge Reviews with my friend Dakota, because we love expressing our views on the different kind of music and films that are out there. You can give me a follow on Twitter: @CorbinStewart12 or Instagram: corbin_stewart
Hope you guys enjoy our reviews!