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"Now all my tales are based on the fundamental premise that common human laws and interests and emotions have no validity or significance in the vast cosmos-at-large. To me there is nothing but puerility in a tale in which the human form – and the local human passions and conditions and standards – are depicted as native to other worlds or other universes. To achieve the essence of real externality, whether of time or space or dimension, one must forget that such things as organic life, good and evil, love and hate, and all such local attributes of a negligible and temporary race called mankind, have any existence at all.
Only the human scenes and characters must have human qualities. These must be handled with unsparing realism, (not catch-penny romanticism) but when we cross the line to the boundless and hideous unknown – the shadow-haunted Outside – we must remember to leave our humanity and terrestrialism at the threshold."
- H.P. Lovecraft
So the storyline is as such, a meteor falls into the yard on a farm belonging to the Gardener family. As the story progresses it becomes known that a living, cognizant threat dwells in the well on the farm and begins changing the local flora and fauna. The residents become psychologically and physically affected by the presence as well…
I have to say I absolutely love this film! It is one of the more faithful film adaptations, if not THE most faithful, I have seen of Lovecraft’s work. I had read the story, “The Colour Out of Space” a week before seeing the film and both left me with the same helpless and haunted feelings. Now the film, being a modernization of the tale, does take liberties with the material, however, it is all well within the spirit and (to some) sanctity of the story. Example? The Gardener family has been living on a farm for a year when the meteorite impacts and things get strange pretty fast (when you think about it, it would have to be an accelerated process in this digital day and age) rather than the changes taking a year to reach full swing as they do in the original story. And that's just one of many changes made... But don't worry, the literary framework is all very much in tact regardless.
Director Richard Stanley digs right in making the viewer at home with the Gardener family in a down-to-earth way that makes you care about them, especially once the Shit hits the fan... And it hits hard! The family, at the point in time that we encounter them, is strained emotionally from the mother having battled with cancer and prevailed. That was a personal touch given to the film as the director’s mother had passed away from that. As in the story there are three children; Benny is the oldest who escapes by smoking weed with the local squatter Ezra (beautifully performed by Tommy Chong), Lavinia who is the middle child who wants nothing more than to escape and then there’s the youngest, Jack who is caught in the middle of it all. The family interactions and dialogue in the beginning of the film set the stage as to who these people are and for what is to happen to them.
I do not dislike Nicholas Cage as an actor, for me it's hit or miss depending on what project it is that he's in. For this film, once the weird sets in, Cage fluctuates between a father doing his best to hold his family together following an emotionally trying ordeal with his wife and the persona of his abusive father in a way that seemed slightly cartoonish to me at first, but the crazy is appropriate for what happens to this family during the course of the film. For me Cage controlled the fluctuation well... And the remaining cast members react to him recognizing his behavior which is heart breaking for them as the family falls to ruin. It's convincing... Or at least convincing enough. I read that the enthusiasm and energy he brought to the project helped make the film and make it what it is... You'll hear no complaints from me. Madeleine Arthur who portrays Lavinia Gardner was definitely a standout in this film though not in a way that would detract from the other characters/performances. The family chemistry really works in the film.
The meteor impact was not your usual rock falling from the sky bit either. This is definitely stranger and more disturbing. Those two words describe this film perfectly. Now once the changes begin some of it is subtle and some of it is anything but! So, subtle... The glistening of the "color" in the ice cubes from the well water in Nathan Gardener's drinks. Not so subtle... Let's just say you won't ever look at Alpacas the same way. The practical creature fx and the digital visual fx combined are used beautifully in this film. It's a good thing Stanley is so well read in this type of fiction because he and his team nailed it. The color, the strange and mutated flora and fauna... It is clear this property and family are being invaded by an otherworldly presence that the director leaves as much to ambiguity as Lovecraft did on paper.
The threat cannot be understood or quantified or explained by any knowledge or science we possess. THAT is the essence of Lovecraft's story and that is how Stanley presented the film. And there is some pretty harrowing stuff in this film and while jarring and even heartbreaking... The threat never wavers... It is what it is and it does what it does... It takes what it needs and it leaves ruin in its wake. Even if you haven't seen the film yet, if you've read the story that should come as no surprise.
I don't want to spoil anything so I'll stop there and recap: The cast is great, it is truly a nightmare watching this family endure what it does. It is frightening, disturbing and relentless. The film is true to the story despite changes made and devoutly faithful to the spirit of the writing. I was honestly shocked at how spot on this film is... Not because I had any doubt in Richard Stanley's abilities, but because I never thought anyone would get it this close!
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Manic Nic Cage meets the alluring madness of HP Lovecraft (done right for a change!)
Do you like Lovecraft? Have you been asking when they’ll finally get his work right on film. Well, this is about as close as you’re gonna’ get (this decade). Outstanding film; equal parts weird Sci-Fantasy and Horror.Gorgeous shots of a darkly mystical forest introduce the seclusion of the Gardner family estate. From minute one, I love the atmosphere captured by this film. It’s one of equally wondrous nature and the wondrous unknown betwixt its shadows.Having recently departed the city for a quiet and secluded lifestyle, Nathan (Nicolas Cage; Mom and Dad, Mandy) and Theresa Gardner (Joely Richardson; Maggie, The Turning, Red Lights, Event Horizon) have a lovely family with endearingly normal quirks. Together they have survived Theresa’ cancer with their kind-hearted yet cynical good witch-in-training Lavinia (Madeleine Arthur) who communes in hopes of ridding her mother of her illness; a spacy teenage son Benny (Brendan Meyer); and the imaginative youngest son Jack (Julian Hilliard). Among the players is an unwary passerby to their property (Elliot Knight; American Gothic) and the Gardners forest shack squatter (Tommy Chong; Evil Bong).After a pink glowing meteorite strikes their property, peculiarly mutated nature begins to turn on the Gardners. Having seen what happened in The Curse (1987) and The Blob (1988), I have an idea of the gooiness to come. But it begins innocuously with pink flowers appearing on their lawn, an otherworldly mantis-like creature emerging from their well, and the well itself emitting sounds.What starts out as chopping vegetables along with fingertips, a boy playing with his invisible friends in the well, manic Cage-typical emotional outbursts and alarming skin rashes eventually develops into bright pink forests, scenes reminiscent of The Thing (1982) and Society (1989), and bloody creature mayhem.A mixture of CGI and practical effects, the monstrous gore and creature work are quite satisfying. Even if some of the CGI (e.g., the roadkill scene) isn’t so great, it doesn’t harm my enjoyment of the film. But what happens to the mother… that’s the real gem (and a shocker).Director Richard Stanley (Hardware, The Theater Bizarre) is no stranger to weird films, and he really aced this one with the scintillating admixture of moods. Few films have captured that Lovecraftian feeling of awestruck dread, obsessive mania and unsightly terror. So this came as a most welcome addition to my Lovecraft-adaptation movie collection. There is allure to that which dwells in the purple ectoplasms, and it will have you!
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- Reviewed in the United States on April 10, 2020
- Reviewed in the United States on March 24, 2020
Top reviews from other countries
- Rolf KANTReviewed in the United Kingdom on February 7, 2025
One of Lovecraft's best short stories.
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Louis VibertReviewed in Canada on August 8, 2024
Un chef-d'œuvre Lovecraftien avec Nicolas Cage
Excellent film en Blu-ray, 'La couleur tombée du ciel' est une adaptation remarquable de l'univers d'horreur cosmique de H.P. Lovecraft. Nicolas Cage livre une performance intense et mémorable, parfaitement adaptée au thème de Cthulhu et des horreurs indicibles. La qualité visuelle du Blu-ray accentue encore l'ambiance oppressante et mystérieuse du film. Pour les fans de Lovecraft et de cinéma d'horreur, c'est un incontournable.Louis VibertUn chef-d'œuvre Lovecraftien avec Nicolas Cage
Reviewed in Canada on August 8, 2024
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