by Daniel O’Connell The works of Howard Phillip Lovecraft are elusive when it comes to adapting them to the silver screen. His works are incredibly influential when it comes to popular culture, since they serve as the basis for the popular Cthulhu Mythos and created the subgenre of cosmic horror. However, film adaptations of his work are incredibly rare. Guillermo del Toro tried to make a big-screen adaptation of At the Mountains of Madness back in 2006, but it quickly fell apart because of his refusal to give the movie a PG-13 rating. The closest things to proper adaptations are either movies that adapt Lovecraft’s stories in spirit, such as In the Mouth of Madness or Annihilation, or movies that perfectly capture the tone of his work, like last year’s The Lighthouse. However, that is no longer the case, as the first proper adaptation of Lovecraft’s work has arrived with Color Out of Space, adapted from the short story of the same name. It is also the triumphant return of writer-director Richard Stanley, being his first feature film in over 20 years, after being fired from 1996’s The Island of Dr. Moreau (a movie that’s infamous for its heavily troubled production). Stanley not only brings the first proper Lovecraft adaptation, but also the first great horror movie of 2020. The film follows the Gardner family, consisting of Nathan (Nicholas Cage), Theresa (Joely Richardson), and their three children Lavinia (Madeleine Arthur), Benny (Brendan Meyer), and Jack (Julian Hillard), who have recently moved to the countryside after inheriting a family estate near Arkham, Massachusetts. Their mundane existence comes to an end when a meteorite lands in their backyard and begins to alter everything around them, marked by a mysterious, indescribable color.
Performances that capture a descent into insanity
Enticing, haunting horror
Hereditary
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