The Colour Out of Space by H.P. Lovecraft Is The Zenith of Cosmic Body Horror (Book & Movie Review)

Mike takes a look at the original H.P. Lovecraft short story The Colour Out of Space and compares it with the 2019 movie version The Color Out of Space starring Nicolas Cage and directed by Richard Stanley. There are no spoilers in this review for the book or the movie.
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[@mikesbookreviews]

Hey guys! I've been looking for an excuse to do some Lovecraft for awhile. A new movie was the perfect time. Hope you enjoy!

[@Nephilim12340]

You never need an excuse for Lovecraft!

[@lbds9555]

Cosmic horror, and Lovecraft especially, has the potential to be truly fantastic on screen. I think Color out of Space, along with The Void, have shown us that recently. It's just a hard balance to nail. I haven't read The Dunwich Horror yet but I certainly will before the movie comes out!

[@mikesbookreviews]

If a director and studio really put some care into it, I think it would be an incredible movie universe.

[@martenwahlstrom2001]

Saw the movie yesterday and I loved it. I think that it’s probably as good as it could have been. It managed to capture the the Lovecraftian felling and they were fairly loyal to the story. I didn’t love the characters that much though, but they worked fine enough. Cage was a great choice for this movie though since his insanity actually worked. Overall I feel like this “Lovecraft-shared-universe” is in good hands, and I couldn’t be more excited for Dunwich.

[@mikesbookreviews]

Agree on Cage. Dude is already batshit so he was kind of brilliant casting. I can agree about the family. Some more time could have been used to make us care about them. I thought Lavinia's necromancy added almost nothing to the story other than Easter eggs. But I pretty loved everything else. Really excited to see what Stanley can do with Dunwich Horror.

[@CommadoreGothnogDragonheart]

I absolutely love the story and the movie. The use of magenta for the color in the movie was brilliant because it actually doesn't appear on the visible light spectrum. It's a combination of red and violet which are at opposite ends of the spectrum. Of course in the movie, they also had the color shift and refract other light which was great in creating a very alien feel. In Lovecraft's time, it's doubtful that anyone would have seen that color, so in terms of the book, it would literally be indescribable, at least in the 1920s.

[@matthewbartke4424]

I remember in Creepshow there was a story called "Weeds" that I kept thinking of when I saw this movie. Turns out it was also an adaptation of The Colour Out of Space.

[@happymaskedguy1943]

Not an adaptation, but rather a thinly veiled parody. Stephen King is a big fan of Lovecraft. He played the main character in the Creepshow segment too.

[@matthewbartke4424]

@@happymaskedguy1943 I'd argue that a parody is a type of adaptation.

[@douglasswicegood4420]

Of course the short story is really what chilled be to the bone! I will have to check out the recent film. Thanks guys. I love writing my own short stories. Stuided writing and Horace Walpoe, Edgar Allen Poe, H. P. Lovecraft, Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, even William Shakespeare and a bit of Steven King. I stuided these but my faves in depth, took some classes. My fave online with Neil Gaiman. Still honing my craft towards cosmic, gothic, horror. I found studying these people gave me a lot of insight to the human pysyche.

[@annarien4333]

I saw the Color out of Space 2019 movie yesterday and it really stuck with me, so much so that I finally read my first HP Lovecraft story. And then another, and another and now I'm both creeped out and hyped in the extreme. And glad to see this video, anytime I want a review of something and youtube brings me to your videos is a good day.

[@douglasswicegood4420]

I really liked the 2010 German version filmed in black and white except for the alien color. It is updated during the close of WWII and a young son going back after the war to find his father only to hear an horrific story of the poisoned farm and its surrounding area.. I think the plot is pretty much intact and may be the best filmed of this story. It is horrific but, like H.P.L. doesn't throw it in your face but does show the results so you're definitely frightened for anyone to go near the blasted heath. Scary stuff. At least give this great independent film a chance sometimes they're better than the big budgeted films. Also the updated and changed 1966 English version with Nick Addams called "Die Monster Die" (title doesn't live up to the film) is not near as bad as I thought. Streamed it recently and for what it was thought it well done and effective.

[@RealHumanBean4U]

I was so happy to go to the West Coast premiere of this!

[@neonorange6545]

Amazing review.... I always imagined the color as white with tornasol like a pearl or something

[@thomaskittock2866]

How did I just discover your channel? I love it!

[@mikesbookreviews]

I'm still small potatoes in this whole "booktube" thing. Glad you're here though.

[@MrTofy1974]

I saw the trailer for the 2019 movie and thought they should have not modernized it and filmed it in the era (1885), it took place..... I think this makes it more intriguing because in that time era this was unheard of and freaked people out.....sort of like H.G Well's War of the World...... the fact Tommy Chong is in it makes me laugh..... as for the book, I thought it was pretty good... I love HP Lovecraft's way of telling a story around the weird and unexplainable and how he makes it crazy where all you can think is "OMG, could this really happen ?!".... I hope to see more of your reviews on Lovecraft's work 👍📚

[@mikesbookreviews]

Chong could have been scrubbed from the movie and not much would have changed. I like my horror movies to take place pre-internet and smartphones. I don't see why it's so hard. With this I think they might have been afraid of comparisons to "The Witch" that came out a couple years ago.

[@gjkerkman]

I’ve read and love the original story, though it has been a long time since I read it. Have not seen the movie yet, but want to. I did see the old version with Boris Karloff. Not great but Boris Karloff is one of my favorites and it was low budget, so I am okay with it. But there are so few really good Lovecraft adaptations, I hope we see some good ones from now on.

[@mariaberovic356]

I just watched the movie. The new take was interesting and I was surprised that I very much like it! Thanks for your review, quite accurate and solid!

[@mikesbookreviews]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@matthewbartke4424]

It was funny because I had that exact copy of the Necronomicon long ago that was in the movie. It was in the "New Age" section of the book store I bought it at. It went on about the Mad Arab and had spells and spell components. This part can never touch light, this part can never touch darkness, etc.

[@admiralhowdy]

I rented the movie on Amazon this past weekend, and I'm thinking about going back and buying it. I really enjoyed it (soooo much better than most of what we have gotten in the past as far as HPL adaptations). Haven't read the story in decades but I think I will before going to bed now.

[@mikesbookreviews]

It’s a fun little read.

[@MrVenom626]

Saw the film last week, i loved it from the cinematography to the film filters to the music. Only Richard Stanley could have directed this film and infuse this much of cosmic horror. I have read a good chunk of Lovecraft's stories, but the next film.... The Dunwich Horror.

[@mikesbookreviews]

The soundtrack was as if from one of the Great Old Ones itself. So immersive. Stanley seems to be the perfect guy to architect this shared universe. It seems like he can really stretch a dollar on screen. Dunwich Horror could be amazing if done right.

[@Peepholecircus]

Watched it last night, wow. Loved it.

[@egggnome6266]

I saw Color last night and the only real problem I had was it didn't take enough time to build up the crazy; although I realize they were constrained by the cinema format. I feel Lovecraft would be better suited presented in a like form of the British television series, where each series/season takes as many episode as required to tell the story. Such as LOVECRAFT: Series One: The Colour Out Of Space, four episodes. Series Two: The Dunwich Horror, 5 episodes, and so forth.

[@mikesbookreviews]

I absolutely agree that Lovecraft would be great in limited series TV adaptations.

[@Chestbridge]

I was lucky to see the movie on the big screen at a film festival and I really liked it. And I don't mind the modernization, to be honest. I think it helps for a modern audience to connect to the story and a period piece is probably more expensive to create. I think it was a good choice to put the money into the effects budget instead. It looked really great, considering it wasn`t a mainstream Hollywood production!

[@mikesbookreviews]

I’ll bet it looked great on the big screen.

[@novasite7795]

Great review Mike! Definitely going to check out the story and movie now!

[@robpaul7544]

Love me some Cthulhu mythos, and I usually really like Nicholas Cage, so will check this movie out 👍 Recently started a Call of Cthulhu game, so some visual aids might come in handy 😅

[@mikesbookreviews]

Cage is a natural in this role.

[@Merrick]

one of my fav Lovecrafts, didn't realize a movie was in the works. This seems like one of the most unadaptable stories though. Even with wicked FX that managed to catch the "colour" perfectly, that's not enough to make a movie around. So shift to family dynamics? politics? there's not much of that as i remember in the source material. Have the alien influenced flora and fauna become monsters they have to fight? Added to list Thanks Mike!

[@mikesbookreviews]

I think that's why it was more of showing the descent into madness and how long before you lose your humanity. Most Lovecraft is damn near unadaptable, so I'm surprised they were able to do so well with this one.

[@ncspacemonkey]

If you’re not already, I highly recommend you become a member of the H. P. Lovecraft Historical Society. I just discovered your videos and I’d love discussing Lovecraft and horror with you, and there are plenty of members of the HPLHS who would enjoy the same.

[@mikesbookreviews]

Sounds awesome. I’ll look into it.

[@amandaofhouserobinson6707]

Yes !! I loved the story! Have to see this movie! Thanks

[@mikesbookreviews]

I'd recommend it, for sure.

[@EndlessLaymon]

The Colour out of Space was my second Lovecraft and boy did it scare the hell out of me.

[@DragonKing987]

Die Monster Die, The Curse, Annihilation, these are movies adapted from the book of color from outer space....

[@mikesbookreviews]

I thought that when watching Annihilation. Which I was severely disappointed with.

[@BeautifulEarthJa]

I think it works well in modern times...if it was set in the 1920s I'd probably be less scared personally

[@mikesbookreviews]

I get that. Always having to explain away technology annoys me with modern horror. So it's a personal gripe.

[@BeautifulEarthJa]

@@mikesbookreviews I understand but having something that's 'now' makes the horror 'real' for me...so if they have to do lil things to remove the technology element then that's fine lol. As long as they explain WHY the phone is suddenly not working...

[@ShootMeMovieReviews]

I would like to have seen a more literal adaptation, as I think the story is excellent, but I did enjoy Stanley's movie. Here's a link to my review: kzbin.info/www/bejne/rYHZZYtoirqkn6M

[@cr33pycrawlspace]

Is that your narration in the beginning?

[@SpencerDragonMonster]

Dude, have you ever considered getting into doing audiobook readings?

[@mikesbookreviews]

Ha ha, unfortunately no one is calling and asking me to record their books. Also, those reading excerpts I do take about 100 takes.

[@restagner99]

I would also suggest a viewing of Annihilation (2018), a movie directed by Alex Garland (Ex Machina). The story is inspired by The Colour out of Space

[@happymaskedguy1943]

I thought the movie was crap, tbh. The source material deserves much better.

[@RSEFX]

Lovecraft---setting aside his subject matter---isn't really any harder to read or understand Melville, Hawthorne, or Poe. COLOUR is one of his more straightforward tales. Btw, I feel the film would've been more effective in a period setting. The look of the farm, the land, the well etc seemed wrong to me. Didn't care for the daughter being sort of "sorcery"...but I liked the film nonetheless. Thanks.

[@mikesbookreviews]

I hate that they modernized it. I feel like this was to avoid comparisons to "The Witch" that came out a couple years back.

[@RSEFX]

@@mikesbookreviews That does make sense if THE WITCH is close to the HPL story. I guess I need to check that one out. Just one thought more about reading Lovecraft: As I opined earlier ("opined"?!--now there's a word for ya! ha)---it may be that people are put off by the older more "flowery" language of his era in general. That PLUS the strangeness of his concepts that he often only suggests with odd word groupings. Things, frankly, that are among the very reasons i was pulled into the whole Lovecraft thing so many decades ago. Anyway, blabbing away. Thanks! Glad someone else also thinks that modernizing the story was not a good idea.

[@mikesbookreviews]

@@RSEFX I appreciate it when my viewers opine in the comments. Especially about Lovecraft. Seems most booktubers are content with burying him because of his personal beliefs but I'm just here to respect the man's work as one of the trailblazers of cosmic horror.

[@williammurray9055]

Where are these intros from? There great.

[@mikesbookreviews]

Just me reciting from quotes I liked while reading the story.

[@alexandresobreiramartins9461]

The fate of the Gardner family is what happens to you when you become a snack for one of Nya-chan's couriers who stopped for dinner. On a more serious note, the movie was painful to sit through. The ridiculous and totally unnecessary changes (stop thinking "modernizing" stories will bring in more audience and more money, stupid studios; it won't!) totally ruined the mood of the story for me, which should be filmed AS IS, background voiceover narration and all. If you want a good adaptation, watch the German movie Die Farbe (from which this new abomination stole the idea for the color). As for the movie... "No! Not the bees! Not the bees!!!!" is my one comment, even though Nick Cage is the best thing about the movie, apart from good effects that, except for one moment, would be more in place in the Reanimator movie.

[@mikesbookreviews]

I hate that every horror adaptation has to modernize so we can see people with smartphones. So stupid.

[@fburton8]

Ah yes, Die Farbe... a VERY different film.

[@RSEFX]

Uh, but be mindful of the use of "went to" v. "gone to". Just trying to be helpful

[@turtleanton6539]

Real goodstory have the same book❤👍

[@mikesbookreviews]

It's such a handsome collection.

[@Peridolin]

Pinkish - purple is magenta. A color that doesn't exist. biotele.com/magenta.html

[@mikesbookreviews]

Bravo.

[@SomeUnsoberIdiot]

No fan of Lovecraft has seen the movie, I guarantee it. If you want a Lovecraft movie, a good one would be.. a movie that has nothing to do with Lovecraft or his works; Pi from 1998. Ironically enough, it is a VERY jewish film.