First of all; it’s stunning.
Color Out of Space, the big-screen return for Richard Stanley starring, of course, Nicolas Cage, blends shades and hues we’re rarely accustomed to in natural environments once that meteorite falls to earth; rendering the surrounds and events which transpire, however disconcerting, a visual delight.
Based on a H.P. Lovecraft short and too starring Joely Richardson, it is the saturations of that recurring and that surreal which excels beyond all else (save Cage); the traditional family drama meant as an emotional backbone paling in comparison and relevance for that here realised with adroit special effects, creative flair and a large dose of cosmic imagination.
From the Producers of Mandy, this time around those responsible have thankfully pared-down many of the theatrics so there is less an emphasis on that gif-ready than segments which will emotionally resonate. Cage, exhibiting much of the outlandish outward-ness and outrageousness for which he has become a well-known internet sensation, in a few select sequences where he properly unleashes himself is nonetheless as viscerally involving a fixation as he has been in the heights of decades past. It is too a special joy to hear Cage say, repeatedly and bearing different intonations, ‘Alpaca.’
The closing flick meriting considered contemplation for its relatively inscrutable themes amid consuming yet never overwhelming graphic content, Color Out of Space enjoyed it’s Australian premiere as part of Monster Fest 2019. The Festival too featured State premieres of Megan Riakos’ horror anthology Dark Whispers Volume 1 which played to a lively Q&A in Sydney as individual flicks were unpacked by the filmmakers.
Ant Timpson’s Come To Daddy starring Elijah Wood too got a showing over the Halloween weekend, as did Porno, which also screened at the Sydney Underground Film Festival; chronicling a group of teen movie ushers who stumble across a demonic reel.
Color Out of Space is in cinemas from February 6
on FalkenScreen
