Richard Stanley directing a movie starring Nicolas Cage? That would have one thinking of a movie with the craziness factor squared. Add in that it’s an adaptation of an H.P. Lovecraft story, and you get crazy cubed. That’s exactly what Color Out of Space turns out to be, and I was all the happier for it.

Cage stars as Nathan Gardner. He and his wife and two kids have left the city life behind and now live in a beautiful house in the woods. Nathan raises alpacas, the animal of the future as he claims, while his wife works remotely from home, in finance. Their daughter is a Wiccan and their oldest son a stoner. Talk about the perfect family! One night, a meteor crash lands in their yard and it begins to wreak havoc on their lives almost immediately. It possesses mysterious properties that will soon affect everyone’s lives for the worse. Contaminating the groundwater that they all drink, the family quickly disintegrates, and it will be a wonder if any of them live to survive the fallout of this outer space detritus that has invaded their home.

Cage is at his Cage-iest, as the film progresses. He starts out fine enough but is eventually let loose by Stanley to give the typical unhinged performance we’ve come to expect from him these days. Apparently, channeling his father in the role, he adopts an odd voice and his line delivery gets to be quite chuckle-worthy towards the film’s end.

Joely Richardson plays his wife Theresa and what happens to her character ends up being quite heart-rending. Her fate is intertwined with that of their youngest son Jack (Julian Hilliard), and it makes for a challenging watch. Try not to squirm in your seat when you see what happens to them.

Madeline Arthur, as their daughter Lavinia, is quite the discovery in this film. Looking like a young Marion Cotillard, she stands out as an emotionally turbulent youth who gives as good as she gets to her sometimes judgmental parents.

Tommy Chong even has a cameo in the film as a squatter on the family property who, no surprise, has a fondness for weed. Having a touch of the mystic prophecy propounder in him, his character makes a good deal of hay out of not a lot of screen time.

ALSO SEE: Jojo Rabbit Lives Up To The Festival Hype | Review

The big takeaway from Color Out of Space is that director Richard Stanley is back and in a big way. For his first feature film in over 25 years, he was empowered by his producers to go all out in his efforts. Fans of his from his early cult films, they gave him a reasonable budget, a lot of which goes towards mind-bending special effects, and a starry cast to attempt to get back into the game. Stanley uses all of this placed before him to make a crack sci-fi horror movie with extreme midnight movie potential. Of particular note, and in contrast to all of the trippy CGI, is the great use of practical effects and makeup in the movie. Very much recalling those effects seen in From Beyond and The Thing, the horrific is achieved through nothing more than the expert crafting and use of latex, prosthetics and my particular favorite, shiny goo!

A big H.P. Lovecraft fan himself, Stanley adapts the author’s work to the screen as well as it’s been done since Stuart Gordon did it back in the 80s. This film leaves one wondering what Guillermo Del Toro could have done with Lovecraft’s words had the plug not been so unceremoniously pulled on his adaptation of At the Mountains of Madness years ago.

Color Out of Space is a triumphant return to the big screen for Richard Stanley. It’s unfortunate it took so many years for him to make another feature film, but what he has crafted and put up on the screen is well worth the wait.

Recommended if you liked: From Beyond, Mandy, The Thing

FINAL GRADE: A-

Don’t forget to share this post on your Facebook wall and with your Twitter followers! Just hit the buttons on the top of this page.

—–

Have you checked out LRM Online’s official podcast feed yet The LRM Online Podcast Network, which includes our flagship podcast Los Fanboys, our premiere podcast Breaking Geek Radio: The Podcast, and our morning show LRMornings? Check it out by listening below. It’s also available on all your favorite podcast apps!

Subscribe on: Apple Podcasts |  Spotify  |  SoundCloud | Stitcher | Google Play

  FOR FANBOYS, BY FANBOYS Have you checked out LRM Online’s official podcasts and videos on The Genreverse Podcast Network? Available on YouTube and all your favorite podcast apps, This multimedia empire includes The Daily CoG, Breaking Geek Radio: The Podcast, GeekScholars Movie News, Anime-Versal Review Podcast, and our Star Wars dedicated podcast The Cantina. Check it out by listening on all your favorite podcast apps, or watching on YouTube! Subscribe on: Apple Podcasts |  Spotify |  SoundCloud | Stitcher | Google Play