In conversation with ‘Color Out of Space’ director Richard Stanley

H.P. Lovecraft fans are in for a treat as the much-awaited new film Color Out of Space, starring Nicolas Cage, finally opens in cinemas at the end of February. Shades of The Twilight Zone, Stephen King and even Cronenbergian body horror abound in director Richard Stanley’s adaptation of Lovecraft’s classic 1927 short story.

The film tells the sinister tale of Nathan Gardner (Cage) and his all-American nuclear family, who eke out a living on a farmstead in the fictional Arkham County, Massachusetts, when a meteorite smashes into their front yard one evening. Soon, the Gardners begin to fall victim to the meteorite’s mysterious effects, ranging from mutated insects to bizarre odours and even strange skin rashes. Meanwhile, young hydrologist Ward Phillips (Elliot Knight) arrives to investigate contaminated groundwater in the area; at the same time, local squatter Ezra (Tommy Chong) has been recording what he claims are creatures lurking underground. Events take an eerie turn and the Gardners’ teenage children, Lavinia and Benny (Madeleine Arthur and Brendan Meyer), end up struggling to escape the effects of the meteorite on both themselves and their increasingly deranged parents.

Stephen King and even Cronenbergian body horror abound in director Richard Stanley’s adaptation of Lovecraft’s classic 1927 short story

Strong stomachs are required for this film as Stanley employs some stunning visual effects to evoke the full horror of ‘the Color’ and its unearthly powers, which combine with solid performances from the cast to achieve a real sense of dread. Julian Hilliard gives a standout turn as Jack Gardner, the creepy little child in the family, while Madeleine Arthur contributes a terrific performance as the emotional heart of the piece. And of course, Nicolas Cage clearly relishes being back in Mandy mode, as everyman father turned unhinged aggressor.

The film has been something of a passion project for Stanley, who was introduced to H. P. Lovecraft at a very early age. “He was my mother’s favourite author and she indoctrinated me from about seven or eight years old,” he says. “By the time I was 12 or 13 I had devoured everything Lovecraft had written and was already fantasising about making ‘The Colour Out of Space’ (sic) into a student movie.”

Stanley was initially drawn to the story since it was the author’s own favourite from his canon. But the film also reflects the director’s experience living amongst the cabin-feverish community of British expats in his current home, the Pyrenees.

“Numerous British families would try to settle in the area and would usually buy an unworkable farm which they’d bought cheaply from the French,” he explains. “After two to three years most of these families developed severe alcohol related problems and there’d be marital violence. The local gendarmes are very used to the fact that there is an extremely high murder rate amongst British expats. I’ve seen this disaster unfold so many times that it provided some of the backbone for the movie.”

Color Out of Space has been something of a passion project for Stanley, who was introduced to H. P. Lovecraft at a very early age

The strange goings-on in the mountains around him also gave Stanley a source of inspiration. The stoner squatter character of Ezra, for example, is partly based on Uranie, a local bush shaman who might have taken Lovecraft’s Necronomicon a little too literally. Stanley recalls: “Uranie revered these deities in the book. Throughout the 30 years I knew him, I never actually had the heart to explain to him that they were fictional. It was actually one of his friends who started making analogue tape recordings of what they thought were aliens moving under the floor of their house. I imported the idea straight into the movie.”

In real life, the audio recordings were played on French national television in the late 1990s, which led to a full-on outbreak of mass hysteria in the area. Martial law was declared and one of the mountains even had to be cordoned off due to the panic: an appropriately Lovecraftian twist, you might think.

Indeed, Stanley strongly believes that Lovecraft’s work resonates with 21st-century anxieties in ways the writer could never have predicted in the 1920s. He explains: “There is clearly something going on with 21st-century culture which has caused Lovecraft to become relevant again. Almost 100 years after his death he has never been more popular, despite the fact that he isn’t a very likeable guy. Lovecraft as a writer is a pretty unsympathetic character, yet somehow despite his work not being heavily promoted, it spreads in contemporary society. Kids in Russia, Africa and even here in the Pyrenees all know who Cthulhu is. In 200 or 300 years I wouldn’t be surprised if Cthulhu was still doing well.”

Stanley strongly believes that Lovecraft’s work resonates with 21st-century anxieties in ways the writer could never have predicted in the 1920s

Perhaps Lovecraft’s nihilistic vision only makes sense in a world that has witnessed the horrors of mass genocide, the threat of nuclear war and the spectre of rampant xenophobia. “The only way out of a Lovecraft story is generally either death or madness,” Stanley adds.

The director’s screenplay for Color Out of Space had been gathering dust for years, but no actor was willing to take it on, precisely because it was such a faithful adaptation of the story and therefore antithetical to many Hollywood norms. “In terms of the conventional Hollywood structure, it doesn’t hit all the right beats so finding a leading man who was prepared to go all the way and portray a progression through degradation and death was a tall order,” explains Stanley.

That all changed when the producer of Mandy, Josh Waller, discovered that his lead actor Nicolas Cage was not only very well-read but a huge Lovecraft fan. Stanley picks up the tale: “And then remembering that this Lovecraft screenplay had been floating around, Josh wisely pressed the script into Nick’s hands. And the next thing I knew, I got a phone call at 4am here in France from some guy in a bar in Nevada claiming to be Nick Cage, saying he wanted to make my movie.” The rest of the casting process unravelled pretty quickly, as Cage only had a small window at the end of January 2019 when he would be available for shooting.

Stanley is now looking forward to his next project, The Dunwich Horror, which continues his journey into the Lovecraft canon

Especially challenging was the task of finding actresses for the roles of Theresa and Lavinia Gardner, who are Cage’s onscreen wife and daughter respectively. “Joely Richardson (who plays Theresa) was super brave in doing that,” Stanley says. “Her character’s dramatic arc is so dark and goes to such an insane place that trying to convince any actress to take on such a vertiginous journey was difficult. She had never played a part like that before, but this was her first time in a fully blown sci-fi horror movie and she had a great time.”

Stanley is now looking forward to his next project, The Dunwich Horror, which continues his journey into the Lovecraft canon. Part of a planned trilogy, the new film will be set in the hallowed Miskatonic University and revisit the character of Ward Phillips, played by Elliot Knight in Color Out of Space.

Stanley reveals: “I think it’s the first time anyone’s been on campus (in the Lovecraft universe) since the animated movies, so I’m pleased to be going to the rare manuscripts department of the library where the original copy of the Necronomicon is held.

“The Dunwich Horror will take us to the central mythology that binds the Lovecraft universe together. That’s where this whole thing is angling towards.”

Color Out of Space is in cinemas and on demand 28th February