Friday, February 27, 2015

Review: Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley's Island of Dr. Moreau

by Patrick Bromley
One of the worst movies of the '90s gets an amazing tell-all documentary.

Like 2002's Lost in La Mancha and last year's great Jodorowsky's Dune, the new documentary Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley's Island of Doctor Moreau is another glimpse into a movie that could have been but never was. The difference between those movies and this one is that The Island of Dr. Moreau was released; New Line Cinema put it in theaters in 1996 with John Frankenheimer credited as director. That version quickly gained a reputation as one of the worst movies ever made. Lost Soul offers some explanation as to why that is.

I can't exactly remember why, but I know I was really excited to see Dr. Moreau back in '96. Maybe the trailer was great. I'm sure my fascination with monster movies and elaborate creature makeup played a huge role. To say that I was...disappointed...with the end result would be an understatement. I have not returned to the movie since.
It was supposed to be different. Originally the passion project of 30-year old South African-born director Richard Stanley, who envisioned something small and character based, much closer to H.G. Wells' novel. Though it had previously been adapted twice on film -- first as the great Island of Lost Souls in 1932 and again in 1977 with Burt Lancaster and Michael York, Stanley still felt no one had gotten the story quite right. After four years developing the project, he was hired by New Line to direct a new version based on the success of his two prior genre films, 1990's Hardware and Dust Devil in 1993. Originally set to star Marlon Brando, James Woods and Bruce Willis, the cast eventually changed to include Brando, Val Kilmer and Rob Morrow (the budget grew in the process). Unfortunately, New Line got cold feet about the young director's ability to manage a production of this scale and fired him after only a few days on set.

That's when shit gets completely crazy. Stanley was replaced by John Frankenheimer, a filmmaker in need of a hit who took the job because New Line agreed to pay him a ridiculous amount of money. Rob Morrow quit and was replaced by David Thewlis. Both Kilmer and Brando wreaked absolute havoc on the set; they hated each other and everyone else, behaved badly throughout and made the shoot a miserable hell for everyone involved (prompting Frankenheimer to reportedly quote about Kilmer "They could be making a movie about that guy's life and I still wouldn't fucking cast him!"). Richard Stanley was paid off his full director's fee and was ordered to get on a plane immediately; instead, he went and hid out in the Australian jungle (where the movie was shooting) and eventually snuck back onto set as an extra. You cannot make this stuff up.

Lost Soul is full of fascinating stories like this courtesy of interviews with Stanley, producer Edward R. Pressman, co-star Fairuza Balk, Rob Morrow, Marco Hofschneider and many more. Unlike the other would-be movies mentioned at the top of this review, Lost Soul doesn't offer much of a glimpse at the film that could have been; except for seeing some concept art and hearing Stanley discuss his vision (in a very fast, very monotone speaking style that is distinctly his own), we don't get much of a sense of what his version might have been. And yet even with that little information, we can still safely assume it would have been much better than what was eventually produced, which is a train wreck of epic proportions and a movie with behind-the-scenes stories so terrifying they could frighten off any would-be filmmaker from ever picking up a camera again.
Less a treatise on unrealized potential than it is an autopsy on a movie gone horribly, horribly wrong, Lost Soul is nonetheless required viewing for movie fans for a bunch of reasons. First, it offers a sad portrait of a promising genre voice who was so chewed up and crushed by his studio experience that he hasn't directed another feature since. It's also further evidence of just how hard it is to make a movie -- not just a good movie, but any movie. We can forget that sometimes; when you talk about movies as much as we do and see as many movies that don't work for you, it can be easy to just start pointing out the mistakes that were made or, more cynically, to accuse the filmmakers of just not trying hard enough. Island of Dr. Moreau has more obstacles than most movies -- chief among them being two stars (Brando and Kilmer), who one interview subject posits were on set solely to mess with the film as much as possible -- but still works as a reminder that getting any movie finished is an achievement. Getting Dr. Moreau finished was a fucking miracle.

If nothing else, we should applaud director David Gregory for seeing to it that some good came out of Moreau, even nearly 20 years after the fact. There is something so singular about the perfect storm of disaster that led to the '96 adaptation (including actual storms) that it deserves to have its story told. That the documentary is this entertaining is value added, as there seems to be no end to the insane and amusing anecdotes. I'm sad about what the experience did to Richard Stanley, but remain hopeful that he will someday have the last laugh. Lost Soul is a step in the right direction. It's a great film about a very bad film.

Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley's Island of Dr. Moreau is currently available on VOD and iTunes.

19 comments:

  1. I've recently read somewhere that Stanley is still determined to make his vision happen. We shall see. Didn't this flick leave a really bad taste in your mouth regarding Kilmer and Brando? I don't think I can watch another movie with either of them in it and not think about them as dicks. If anything, It will now be distracting because I would be thinking about their relationship on set with the crew.

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    1. Because I had heard the stories of how horribly they behaved for years, the movie didn't do much to change my impression of either actor as lunatics. So depressing.

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    2. without having seen the documentary, could i just make a wildass guess that both of these divas were hoping the production would crash and burn so they could get paid and never have it on their resume?

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    3. I didn't get that vibe at all. It was more that Brando literally was creating the script and character in real time to his liking, almost testing what he could get away with and Kilmer being a complete douche.

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  2. Great review! Can't wait to see this film.

    Last year, my friend, Dirk had the opportunity to interview Richard Stanley: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2Nl2ZbR1tY

    Also, not sure if you've seen this, but the next documentary coming out about unseen film visions hits the DVD shelves in May, I believe: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5Q1j0XJQPI

    I'm seeing a new trend emerging.

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    1. I love these kinds of movies, and yet I hope this isn't an actual trend. I am a complicated paradox. I'm really excited for that Superman Lives movie, though, because I'm fascinated by that story.

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    2. I interned at the Pittsburgh Film Office when I was in college, and one of my first jobs when I started was to assemble and organize folders of Polaroids taken for what were going to be the Metropolis and Smallville locations for "Superman Lives" (which was supposed to shoot in Pittsburgh). I could take you around the city and show you: "That was going to be Lexcorp. That was going to be the Daily Planet building." Pittsburgh did eventually get to be Gotham City for large chunks of "The Dark Knight Rises", so I guess we got ours in the end.

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    3. Wow, that Superman Lives doc looks pretty good.

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    4. I actually prefer "The Hamster Factor" documentary for 12 Monkeys over the filmmakers' other work, "Lost in La Mancha" about Gilliam's unfinished film. But anything with Terry Gilliam I'll eat up.

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  3. I am really excited to see this - I remember stumbling on Island of Dr. Moreau somewhere in the middle not long after it came out and thinking I liked it. One scene in particular that stuck with me had Marlon Brando playing piano for his creations with them right on a very tense line between devotion to their "father" and murderous rage for what he'd done to them - it really left an impression. I watched the movie in its entirety a few years ago and it really is batshit - I still think that scene I remembered is a good one but yeah, the movie is quite a mess (though I daresay it's worth watching if you haven't). I've heard little snippets of what a f'ed up production it was but can't wait to find out more about it - thanks for bringing it to my attention!

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  4. I also thought Island of Dr. Moreau was awful, but in a very watchable way. I remember the VHS box boasted of having makeup effects by "Jurassic Park's Stan Winston" or some such.

    Not Winston's best work, by the way.

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  5. As it's been almost 20 years since I saw the movie, I should probably revisit it. Unless that would be a huge mistake. Someone talk me out of it.

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    1. Don't do it, Patrick. Think of your children!

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    2. I say its worth watching in the same way a flaming train full of half-formed mutant babies crashing into the side of an office building filled with Christopher Walken impersonators is worth watching. It's horrifying, but also kind of comical.

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    3. Wasn't Mini-me from Austin Powers derived from this film?

      Patrick, just watch Island of the Lost Souls (on Criterion Blu-ray)

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  6. I don't know if it's still available, but some years back I found Stanley's original script online (the draft that got everybody excited and the movie going) and it was a dark, fucked-up piece of beauty. It would have made a great horror movie, I believe. What a shame that...well, Hollywood happened to him. What might have been, right?

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  7. The guy who edited this documentary. Douglas Buck (who also directed the 2006 remake of DePalma's "Sisters"), is a long-time acquaintance of mine. He's introducing two theatrical showings of "Lost Soul" tonight and tomorrow night at Brooklyn's Nitehawk Cinema. I'm watching it tonight right after I catch Cronenberg's "Map to the Stars." Should be a fun double bill, though I wonder if I should have seen the '96 flick beforehand to get the full effect of the documentary. I doubt I'll feel the need to watch "Dr. Moreau" after I find out what went on into making it.

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  8. This doc sounds really interesting, I can't wait to check it out.
    I think when this came out, I was excited by Val Kilmer's presence. He had just been in THE REAL MCCOY, HEAT, BATMAN FOREVER, and TOMBSTONE, all films I enjoy.
    Brando was a mysterious film legend to me, I had never seen anything he was in at the point, and he looked F'ing weird in that movie, probably in the trailer too.
    I had to see it. And now, I cannot wait to hear the behind the scenes story.

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  9. I love a slew of terrible movies. Quite like the one Mr Bromley has reviewed in this article, sometimes the worst of cinema presents the most compelling of stories

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