THE NEW AGE OF CAGE
NICOLAS CAGE HAS a mantra. Something he returns to whenever he has a big decision to make. Lately, he tells Empire, it seems to be coming into play more than ever. “I always ask myself, ‘What would Prince do?’”
A surprising code to live by, perhaps. But it makes a curious, Cage-y sort of sense. Much like Prince, Cage is constantly unpredictable, a true original who will often do exactly the opposite of what you’d expect. After nearly 40 years on screen he’s still surprising us, probing uncharted territory, always in pursuit of the experimental and the esoteric. You wouldn’t put it past him to change his name to a symbol.
Lately, he seems to be finding his most natural home in cosmic horror, nihilistic fantasy, introspective sci-fi. Weird fiction. With the likes of 2018’s cult demon biker nightmare Mandy and, now, psychedelic horror Color Out Of Space, Cage seems to be pushing things more than ever, expanding his range yet further, with material that perfectly suits his sensibilities. He seems to have come home.
Where his non-naturalistic style of acting might elsewhere seem out of place — sometimes wonderfully so — these films are the ideal match of material and man. With H.P. Lovecraft — the innovative, apocalyptic science-fiction author and tentacle enthusiast, whose short story is based on — it’s a match made in hellish heaven. Cage has found a niche. Or, maybe the
