John Lui Film Correspondent recommends

Film Picks: Color out of space (NC16)

Julian Hilliard (left) stars in Color Out Of Space.
Julian Hilliard (above) stars in Color Out Of Space. PHOTO: SHAW ORGANISATION
Julian Hilliard (left) stars in Color Out Of Space.
The Hollywood Reporter, stars Lee Young-ae (right) PHOTO: THE PROJECTOR
Julian Hilliard (left) stars in Color Out Of Space.
Historian Yoel (Ori Pfeffer, above) PHOTO: THE PROJECTOR

COLOR OUT OF SPACE (NC16)

111 minutes

3.5 stars

This genre-bending, trope-smashing work gleefully blends body horror with science fiction, Stephen King-style small-town spookiness with 1980s-style creature effects. Think John Carpenter's The Thing (1982).

Another terrific, artist-driven work from SpectreVision, the production house co-founded by actor Elijah Wood, this adaptation of a classic H.P. Lovecraft story follows what happens after a meteorite lands in the yard of Nathan Gardner (Nicolas Cage). One by one, family members fall prey to a hungry space organism.

South-African born writer and director Richard Stanley has a long and chequered Hollywood history. Here, he shows that he has a distinct and artful style, one that has put him at odds with major studios for years: Grief takes the form of monsters from the ghastliest of nightmares.

BRING ME HOME (NC16)

108 minutes

This South Korean missing-child thriller, called "not for the faint-hearted" by The Hollywood Reporter, stars Lee Young-ae, who gained global fame as the title character in Park Chan-wook's Lady Vengeance (2005). Here, she is not out for revenge but to find her son, who vanished 14 years ago. The implacably determined mother, who still puts up posters of her child, one day receives a clue that puts her in the path of ruthless gangsters.

WHERE: The Projector, Level 5 Golden Mile Tower, 6001 Beach Road MRT: Nicoll Highway WHEN: Now showing ADMISSION: $13.50 INFO: theprojector.sg

INTERNATIONAL HOLOCAUST REMEMBRANCE DAY

In this special screening of the 2017 drama The Testament (PG, 94 minutes), co-presented by the Embassy of Israel in Singapore, historian Yoel (Ori Pfeffer) is an academic embroiled in a court battle in Austria over a site where a massacre of Jewish labourers took place in 1945. But matters take a personal turn after he discovers that members of his own family might have been victims.

WHERE: The Projector MRT: Nicoll Highway WHEN: Feb 29, 5.40pm ADMISSION: $13.50 INFO: theprojector.sg

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on February 21, 2020, with the headline Film Picks: Color out of space (NC16). Subscribe