"Die Farbe" or "The Colour Out of Space" is a German, (mostly) German-language film from 2010 and so far the most recent work by Vietnamese writer and director Huan Vu, his second full feature film. "Writer" is of course only partially correct here as the base material comes from the fairly famous American writer H.P. Lovecraftand Vu adapted his work for the screen here. I have not read Lovecraft's work, but I am sure that his involvement with the project is the main reason why this film is actually somewhat known still. It is not too long, only runs for 80 minutes (without credits) and is almost exclusively in black-and-white. It is the story of a man looking for his father and the strange occurrences he meets on the way. The film does not really deliver through great story-telling, but in my opinion it is all about the haunting atmosphere in here. There were some scenes that were okay to watch, but overall I was not too impressed. The scene with the huge insect gave me the chills though, now that was some scary stuff for sure. But it is just not enough for a film of this runtime and maybe half the runtime could have been a better choice. Anyway, after seeing this one I cannot say I am particularly sad about Vu's lack of filmmaking in the last six years as the movie did not get me curious about other works from him. The ending wasn't that great either and the sudden inclusion of color into black-and-white films has been done better on many occasions. This film came out shortly after the very successful "Das weiße Band" (Haneke), another black-and-white movie, and I wonder if this inspired Vu perhaps to make this creative choice as well. Anyway, the outcome here is underwhelming. I give it a thumbs-down and do not recommend checking it out.

I came across this flick at a German horror convention were the director was selling this flick. Supporting independent flicks I gave it a try but somehow it took me 5 years to plug it in. Why now, because nowadays it's available in the US and it got some great reviews in magazines so it was time to watch it.Shot in B/W it did add something towards this Lovecraftian story. It's a low budget flick but it's well done i must say. They went for the story and not for too much effects so the B/W did add towards the atmosphere. It's slow, that's a fact but once the weirdness enters the story it's okay. People who love Lovecraft should pick this up because it do stays really close to the story. But not only that, the editing and filming is above mediocre. The only thing that I had problems with is with the CGI used. It was rather cheapie and it shows. So on part of story it's excellent but towards the end the CGI makes it a bit lame. Gore 0/5 Nudity 0/5 Effects 1/5 Story 3/5 Comedy 0/5

Very spooky, slow. Based on a Lovecraft story.The trigger event has a meteorite landing and exhibiting inscrutable properties, diffusing into the air. It is the remnants of a craft. German scientists from the 30s — one of our most enduring stereotypes — cannot figure it out, but before it disappears, they make the mistake of breaking the sphere embedded within. A colored goo is released and joins the water.A nearby farm family with three boys come under the influence of this 'color,' and it is this deterioration that we see in our spooky parts. The film is in black and white, effectively using devices that evoke the silent era. The goo is rendered in color when we see it and that worked less well for me.The narrative structure is what sets this apart. It has story in three periods. The focus is the appearance of the goo and over a year the deterioration of the family as witnessed by a neighbor. A later period has this neighbor returning from WWII and encountering a group of occupying US GIs. Though they have no reason, and are warned, the leader decides to investigate the cursed farm. They provoke the goo in the farm's well and see it assemble and fly away from the planet. Decades later, the head GI has returned and we follow his adult son as he seeks him, encounters the now aged witness and hears everything we have seen. Meanwhile, a dam has newly been built over the infected farm and the water is rising. The son finds and gathers his now crazed father at the edge of the water.What works is having the elderly witness tell us the story from the 30s and see it in terms of films from that era. Watching the sons through this period was tough and touching. We could have had more of this and less of the brooding wife.What did not work for me:— the extra level of the soldier after WWII. This seems to be there only to tell us that the goo is still alive and to give us someone to later tell the story to. — But in this segment, we see what could be all the goo assemble into something like a spacecraft and leave. But then are we to think that some remains. The oft-murmered question of whether "it is over" is not powerful enough to affect me.— The finding of the lost father could tell us the answer to that question. He seems altered by some remaining force, or was he just suffering from what came before. We don't need answers to every question; this kind of story is better off with mysteries. But the filmmaker owes it to us to not raise unnecessary questions.

This is a well-done adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft's "The Colour out of Space". The biggest disappointments come from some poor production choices, but if you set these aside there isn't much to complain about. The story is set in Germany and effectively recreates the layered narration typical to so many HPL stories. The minor liberties taken with the story are thoughtful and even enhance the tale a bit. I'd put this on par with the 2005 silent-film "The Call of Cthulhu" as one of the best HPL adaptations ever made. Definitely check it out if you are a fan of Lovecraft or of understated horror.If you're looking for a more in-depth review, there are plenty on the web, and I've found most to be on-point and accurate.