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

1996's The Island of Dr. Moreau was a bad film.  But it wasn't the film meant to be.  Original director Richard Stanley set out to make something completely different, but thanks to death, divorce, lots of studio pressure, and a few asshole actors, John Frankenheimer's ultimate product is a bumbling inept mass, one I'll cover in more detail when I see it again this evening.  Lost Souls isn't about that film, it's about the one never made, the one by Richard Stanley, and just how it went awry.

As a documentary, it dives into the rumor underbelly of filmmaking like few have before.  While some perspectives (Ron Perlmen's and Val Kilmer's for example) are conspicuously missing, those interviewed paint a candid picture of disaster far better to watch than the actual film.

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

2014, 97 minutes, directed by David Gregory

Richard Stanley: "I made a mistake; I met Val Kilmer."

Attributed to Marlon Brando: "If I was directing a film called 'The Life of Val Kilmer', I wouldn't put that prick in it."

Attributed to Marlon Brando: "I'm getting paid.  You're getting paid.  None of the scripts make any sense, so why worry?"