Tuesday, August 25, 2020

Spaced Out Colors

Speaking of cthulhoids, when I heard that they were making a new movie out of Colo(u)r Out of Space (2020), I got pretty excited. When I heard Nicholas Cage was starring, I was still intrigued. When I realizes that it was out and available, I queued it right up.

It is set in the weird, spooky woods west of Arkham. A young black man in a Miskatonic U. sweatshirt (Elliot Knight) comes across a young woman (Madeleine Arthur) performing a magic ritual by a lake, to cleanse the cancer from her mother's body. He is a hydrologist studying the water table, she is the daughter of a local family.

We follow her to her house, a secluded mansion. Her family includes Nicholas Cage, a somewhat feckless man whose abusive father raised him in this house. His wife, Joely Richardson, is a somewhat frazzled stockbroker whose money allowed them to buy and live in the house, while she works online. As well as the young wiccan, they have two sons. The oldest, Brendan Meyer, tries to be a responsible son, although he also sneaks away to smoke dope in the alpaca barn. The youngest, Julian Hilliard, is a sensitive grade schooler. 

One night, a meteor crashes to earth in their garden, glowing a weird magenta color. The next day, along with Knight, they all poke at it, except Cage, who thinks it smells overpoweringly bad, although no one else notices. When the TV gets there, it has disappeared into the earth - but not its malign influence.

I guess this gives you a pretty good idea of the setup. I left out Tommy Chong as the crazy old dude who lives in a shack in the woods surrounded by junk talismans. I only vaguely mentioned the alpacas and left out the dog (does not survive). I liked that there is no real romance between Knight and Arthur. I especially like that Knight is a black man, which would outrage violently racist H.P. Lovecraft. His character is even named Ward (but not Charles Dexter). 

Anyway, it's pretty obvious early on that the Real Monster is "family". Actually, the kids seem all right, but the parents are the worst. 

Anyway, I would write more but (snicker) I'm out of space.

No comments: