Color out of Space: Beautiful Madness

This film does a great job of adapting the often difficult to adapt storytelling of H.P. Lovecraft into an outstanding movie that is creepy and sometimes disturbing on multiple levels. Director Richard Stanly shows viewers some terrifying things in this film and still manages to make the things you don’t see even more horrifying.

The art direction and look of the film was perfect in all ways. The aesthetics of characters like Ezra (Tommy Chong), a hippy and hermit that spends most of his time with his cat in a cabin in the woods, and Lavinia Gardner (Madeleine Arthur), a modern day teen witch, felt very fleshed out and real based on their looks alone. Creature effects were very well done and diverse, ranging horrific and near lifelike body horror to a vibrant and beautiful mantid-like creature that looked like it crawled right out of an alien rain forest. On top of all this, the film brilliantly uses a color that does not exist in the color spectrum of visible light (magenta) to contrast the drab and foggy forests in which most of the film takes place.

The casting and acting in this film was spot-on for the characters and story. Not only did most of the characters feel natural but their changes in behavior as the plot progressed felt organic. The film starts a bit slow but once it gets going, the action and craziness are exponential.

I feel this was the perfect story choice for a film rumored to be the first in a trilogy based on Lovecraft’s works, it gives a good taste of the kind of otherworldly horror to expect but doesn’t get overwhelming deep into elder god lore. It works great as a standalone film while introducing a world of horrific possibilities.

A must see for fans of sci-fi and horror, this movie has a fresh feel while still feeling like a cult horror classic comparable to The Thing or an Evil Dead film.