I watched Color Out of Space and I liked it. 3/5
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Color Out of Space (2019) is an ambitious, visually captivating adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft’s story, helmed by Richard Stanley and starring none other than the king of unpredictable performances, Nicolas Cage. On the surface, this movie has all the ingredients for a memorable cosmic horror experience: a classic Lovecraftian tale of otherworldly terror, a mind-bending visual palette, and a lead actor who can go from zero to unhinged in the blink of an eye. And, in many ways, Color Out of Space delivers on its promise. But it also stumbles in key areas, making it feel like a mixed bag rather than a genre-defining horror film. Ultimately, I’d give it a 3 out of 5—a movie that has flashes of brilliance but doesn’t quite sustain them across its runtime.
The story revolves around the Gardner family, who are living on an isolated farm in rural New England. Everything starts to unravel after a meteorite crashes in their front yard, bringing with it a strange and vivid color that begins to infect everything around it. From the water they drink to the plants in their garden, this alien “color” seems to warp and twist reality in grotesque ways, slowly eating away at the family’s sanity and turning their idyllic farmhouse into a hallucinatory nightmare. As events escalate, the Gardners find themselves trapped in a waking horror that no one else can seem to see or understand.
Visually, Color Out of Space is striking. Stanley makes the most of his limited budget, crafting a movie that feels drenched in neon and otherworldly hues. The titular “color” isn’t simply a shade, but an entire atmosphere that pervades the screen. This constant, eerie glow does a lot of the film’s heavy lifting, creating a sense of unease that lingers from scene to scene. There’s a mesmerizing quality to Stanley’s vision, like an acid trip through Lovecraftian horror, with every frame looking like it’s soaked in some strange, alien hue. The color itself—meant to represent something beyond human comprehension—is one of the film’s greatest successes. You can feel the wrongness of it, and it genuinely adds to the sense of something ancient and unknowable lurking just beneath the surface.
Then there’s Nicolas Cage, who leans all the way into his role as Nathan Gardner. This is Cage at his most “Cage”—wild, unpredictable, and occasionally hilarious in ways that aren’t always intentional. His performance is both a blessing and a curse for the film. At his best, Cage embodies a father descending into madness with a manic energy that feels genuinely unsettling. But there are also moments where his eccentricity undercuts the horror, making scenes feel unintentionally comedic. It’s that fine line that Cage often walks, and here, it sometimes works and sometimes doesn’t. While Cage fans will undoubtedly enjoy his offbeat moments, his intensity might be jarring for those looking for a more straightforward horror experience.
Where Color Out of Space falters is in its pacing and storytelling. The movie has a slow, simmering buildup, which works initially but eventually feels like it’s dragging. Lovecraft’s original story is relatively short, so stretching it out into a full-length feature means there are a lot of added scenes that don’t always serve the narrative. Some of the family dynamics feel underdeveloped, and there are side characters that feel more like distractions than meaningful additions to the story. By the time the horror truly ramps up, the movie feels like it’s spinning its wheels rather than diving deeper into the nightmarish potential of the “color.”
Additionally, while the practical effects and body horror are genuinely disturbing, they sometimes feel at odds with the film’s surreal, cosmic horror vibe. Lovecraft’s horror is often about suggestion and unseen terror, but Color Out of Space goes for a more visceral approach, which works in some ways but dilutes the cosmic dread. The result is a movie that’s visually bold but tonally inconsistent.
In the end, Color Out of Space is a film worth watching for fans of Lovecraft, horror, and Nicolas Cage’s unique brand of acting. It’s a visually unique take on a classic horror story, with moments that linger long after the credits roll. But its flaws—uneven pacing, inconsistent tone, and a tendency to undercut its own horror—hold it back from being a truly great film. It’s an intriguing, colorful experiment that doesn’t fully coalesce, but it’s still a fun ride through a neon-lit nightmare.