Decked out in his trademark cowboy hat – combined with the woolly jumper he’s employed to shield himself from the harsh London winter – veteran director Richard Stanley sits in the front row of the Studio Canal screening room, patiently listening to HeyUGuys, as we strive to get to the bottom of his latest, and arguably most high-profile release to date – Color Out Of Space.
Until we realise, he’s not being patient with us at all, in fact, he seems to be rather enjoying himself.
It’s often the way when we’re fortunate enough to speak to the people who drive a production. Stanley isn’t here, like so many hired actors, to sell whatever he’s being told to sell. Stanley is here because he wants to make three adaptations of HP Lovecraft’s material, so helping us understand what in the actual fuck happened in Color is as important to him as it is to us.
“It starts out looking like it might want to go down a Poltergeist or ET route,” he explains, eyes lighting up as he considers quite how far from reality that assumption becomes. “Of course you realise this isn’t the 70s or 80s anymore, and the family’s survival chances are pretty much zero in Colour!”
We’re happy to confess that, having written a first draft of our review, this conversation with Stanley was eye-opening and forced us to reconsider our initial reaction. Even if the film makes little sense, and even if you balk at the destiny of some of the characters, Stanley is clear – he has made the film precisely as he intended. And it’s fascinating to hear…
Color Out Of Space is out now.
