Color out of Space was one of the best horror movies of 2020. The film loosely adapted H.P. Lovecraft’s short story The Color Out Of Space and is, in my opinion, among the finest live-action Lovecraft adaptations ever. It was a personal vindication for director Richard Stanley, returning to direct for the first time since the bonkers behind-the-scenes drama of 1996’s The Island of Dr. Moreau. A sequel was soon hinted at, too, with Stanley teasing that this would be the first in a Lovecraft trilogy and he’d next be adapting The Dunwich Horror.
That’s all in doubt now, though, as he’s just been painted as a scumbag of the highest order by his former partner Scarlett Amaris. Amaris, who’s a writer and novelist in her own right, published a lengthy blog post detailing her experiences with Stanley, and it’s not a fun read.
“I filed charges for Domestic Violence, Assault & Battery against Richard Stanley, my then long term life & creative partner in October, 2014, after he beat the shit out of me in our car parked behind the Banque Postale in Lavelanet, France when we were returning from a film festival in London. It was not the first time he had beaten me. In fact, he beaten the shit out of me numerous times, but I finally pressed charges against him that time. I had been taken to the doctor with two black eyes, a badly sprained possibly broken finger, throttle marks around my throat, bruises all over my head, chest and shoulders, and a concussion. I also had bruises on my head, chest and back that were still healing as he had attacked me at a friend’s apartment in London a few days earlier. A friend of mine in London saw the bruises and urged me to leave him.”
Amaris goes on to explain that she’s making this public now as additional abuse charges have been filed against Stanley by another woman as well.
“Now there are another set of charges against him for Domestic Violence, Assault & Battery from another woman who was his partner. Another woman who believed him and loved him, and whom he beat the shit out more than once, and who was afraid she was going to die by his hand. I remember that feeling all too well.”
What comes next for Stanley remains to be seen. But one early omen that this is likely to impact his career is that SpectreVision, who produced Color Out Of Space, posted a tweet saying the following:
“We stand with victims of abuse. We believe those who speak out. We believe women.”
They went on to release a statement confirming that they’ll no longer work with Stanley and that any future revenue from Color Out Of Space will be donated to domestic violence charities. In addition, James Flower of Arrow Films has said they’ve cancelled their plans to re-release his movies Hardware and Dust Devil on Blu-ray.
If there’s any silver lining to this depressing story, it’s that SpectreVision has acted so quickly and so conclusively and that Color Out Of Space can still do some good in world despite the behavior of its director.
Neither Richard Stanley nor his representatives have commented on the allegations, so more on this as it develops.
