Great news today as SpectreVision has announced its plans to back Richard Stanley's adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft's short story The Colour Out of Space. Stanley, whose Hardware is a certifiable DIY sci-fi classic, is just the kind of maverick director to tackle Lovecraft (see also Stuart Gordon). I'm far more interested in seeing his vision of HPL's universe than someone like del Toro (especially after learning of his plans for At the Mountains of Madness).
SpectreVision is the baby of Elijah "Maniac" Wood (a self professed horror freak) and Josh Waller (director of the Zoe Bell actioners Raze and the upcoming Camino), who envisioned it as a production company and distributor that specialises in quality indie horror/genre films. So far they've distributed some great flicks, including Ana Lily Amirpour's highly acclaimed A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night, and have some cool looking movies in development (The Greasy Strangler). They're the perfect backers for a Stanley joint.
The word is that Stanley's screenplay is excellent. In his own words:
"There needs to be a scary Lovecraft movie. I want to make a bad trip film, and The Colour Out of Space definitely has what it takes to be a very, very bad trip indeed."
The story (said to be Lovecraft's personal favourite) is about a farm that is blighted by a mysterious meteorite, poisoning and mutating the surrounding countryside before sending the farm's residents insane... and worse. It's almost certainly the precursor of any number of similar sci-fi/horror stories, from The Blob and The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill to Night of the Creeps and Slither. It was adapted in 2010 (on a shoestring) by German filmmaker Huan Vu under the title Die Farbe.
The story (said to be Lovecraft's personal favourite) is about a farm that is blighted by a mysterious meteorite, poisoning and mutating the surrounding countryside before sending the farm's residents insane... and worse. It's almost certainly the precursor of any number of similar sci-fi/horror stories, from The Blob and The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill to Night of the Creeps and Slither. It was adapted in 2010 (on a shoestring) by German filmmaker Huan Vu under the title Die Farbe.
Let's hope this one comes to fruition...
Oh, this is great news! Colour is one of my favourite Lovecraft stories. I remember seeing an adaptation a few years ago called Colour From The Dark. I think it was an Italian production and featured Debbie Rochon as Gardner's wife; it was very low budget but still quietly effective.
ReplyDeleteWhat were del Toro's plans for Mountains? I'm a big fan of his work and think he could produce a really decent HPL adaptation. I was quite bummed out when he said it would probably never happen though.
I was initially really excited for it, but I read (from people who had seen the script) that a lot of the story's creepiness had been abandoned in favour of big action and thrills. Not surprising I guess considering his plan for a 200 million budget with Tom Cruise starring. Truth be told I'm a bit hot and cold with GDT. When he's good though (Pan's Labyrinth etc), he's gold. I really didn't think much of Pacific Rim, but I'm hoping for a return to form this week with Crimson Peak.
ReplyDeleteAh, Crimson Peak. Don't get your hopes up, Aylmer. I saw it yesterday and was really rather disappointed by it. While it looks, sounds and feels absolutely gorgeous (GDT seems to be channelling Mario Bava in certain moments), it's all a bit overwrought (even by Gothic romance standards!) and predictable. The script is quite messy, but the three leads are great. It felt quite soulless to me. :(
ReplyDeletePS Tom Cruise???? Oh dear. Oh dear, oh dear.
ReplyDeleteNot too surprised to hear that about CP. I've been sceptical about it since the first trailer hit. As with latter-career Peter Jackson, GDT seems to have an inability to rein in his desire to get everything including the kitchen sink up on the screen. The result is indeed overwrought. As with PJ he's too reliant on CG too. I'd like to see both of them return to lower budget filmmaking, but maybe there's no going back?
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