A secluded farm is struck by a strange meteorite which has apocalyptic consequences for the family living there and possibly the world. A film by Richard Stanley, Nicolas Cage, Joely Richardson, Elliot Knight, Madeleine Arthur, Brendan Meyer, Q’orianka Kilcher and Tommy Chong.

A science fiction horror film based on The Colour Out of Space, a short story by American author H.P. Lovecraft; first published in September 1927 edition of Hugo Gernsback’s Amazing Stories, became one of Lovecraft’s most popular works, and remained his personal favorite of his short stories. Variations on the film adaptation of The Colour Out of Space include Die, Monster, Die! (1965), The Curse (1987), Colour from the Dark (2008), and Die Farbe (2010).

Amazing Stories, the pioneering science fiction magazine, was launched in April 1926 by visionary editor Hugo Gernsback. It was the first periodical dedicated solely to science fiction, which had previously made sporadic appearances in other publications, including some published by Gernsback himself. However, Amazing played a pivotal role in defining and launching the fledgling genre of pulp fiction. Despite its enduring popularity, Amazing Stories has struggled to maintain profitability throughout its 92-year history, changing hands on half a dozen occasions and cycling through numerous editors. In 1929, Gernsback suffered financial ruin and relinquished ownership of the publication.

Ward Phillips (Elliot Knight) surveys for the new reservoir, wandering through the hills and vales near Arkham, where the townspeople whisper of evil. He encounters a young woman performing a ritual by the river, who is disturbed by his trespassing on her family’s property and ruining her ceremony. Ward introduces himself, and the young woman tells him that her name is Lavinia Gardner, before she departs on a horse named Comet.

Nathan Gardner (Nicholas Cage), his wife Theresa (Joely Richardson), their daughter Lavinia (Madeleine Arthur), their son Benny (Brendan Meyer), and their youngest son Jack (Julian Hilliard) move from the city to his late father’s alpaca farm near the town of Arkham. Theresa is frustrated because the router frequently loses its internet connectivity, which causes her communication with her clients to be disrupted.

In the middle of the night, a brightly colored meteorite crashes into their front yard next to the well. Soon after this, unexpected events begins to occur, such as vegetables and crops growing in an abnormal manner, people acting in peculiar ways, and the appearance of animals that were previously unknown.

As strange plant growths and insects emerge around the well, Jack becomes obsessed, claiming to converse with a man who dwells within its depths. Ward observes the oily sheen that has formed on the groundwater and tests it. When his test strips glow brightly with the meteor’s hue, he warns the Gardners not to drink it, but it is already too late.

The cosmic horror film Color out of Space impresses with its close-up shots of mutated insects and other beings, which evoke visceral imagery in the viewer’s mind without resorting to gratuitous gore.

Notable and memorable scenes include the vegetable-cutting scene, the tap water scene, the alpaca mutation scene, and the television scene. The film’s use of color is unparalleled, creating a truly unique and visually stunning experience.

It was just a colour out of space—a frightful messenger from unformed realms of infinity beyond all Nature as we know it; from realms whose mere existence stuns the brain and numbs us with the black extra-cosmic gulfs it throws open before our frenzied eyes.

COLOR out of SPACE premiered at Toronto International Film Festival on 7 September 2019. The film was theatrically released in the United States on 24 January 2020.