Making a cinematic adaptation of the classic H.G. Wells novel The Island of Doctor Moreau was a passion project for Hardware / Dust Devil director Richard Stanley, who had first read the book as a child. He spent four years developing an adaptation, and then – as chronicled in David Gregory’s documentary Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley’s Island of Dr. Moreau – it all fell apart just days into production. With tons of problems stacking up, Stanley was fired three days into filming and replaced by John Frankenheimer for the infamous 1996 Moreau that starred Marlon Brando and Val Kilmer… but Frankenheimer wasn’t the first choice to take Stanley’s place at the helm. While sorting through the movies in “the cellar” of Severin Films, an independent film production and distribution company known for restoring and releasing cult films on DVD and Blu-ray, Gremlins director Joe Dante discussed the fact that he was offered the job, but cast member Ron Perlman warned him away!
Synopsis and Cast
Based on the 1896 novel by H.G. Wells, The Island of Dr. Moreau was scripted by Richard Stanley and Ron Hutchinson and has the following synopsis: Dr. Moreau is a brilliant geneticist on the brink of superseding evolution. When a U.N. diplomat visits Moreau’s laboratory, he uncovers fantastic but brutal experiments turning animal life forms into human-like beasts. As Moreau and his assistant race toward their barbaric goal of creating the perfect life form, the beasts revolt, threatening not only the island but ultimately all mankind! Ron Perlman was joined in the cast by David Thewlis, Fairuza Balk, Daniel Rigney, Temuera Morrison, Nelson de la Rosa, Peter Elliott, and Mark Dacascos, as well as Marlon Brando and Val Kilmer, who were exhibiting strange behavior while dealing with tragedy and heartbreak.
Perlman’s Warning
While checking out Severin’s Blu-ray release of Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley’s Island of Dr. Moreau, Joe Dante said The Island of Dr. Moreau was “a picture that I almost did because when Richard Stanley was fired, I was called by the company and asked to take over the movie. Ron Perlman, who is a friend of mine, was in the movie, and he said, ‘Don’t do this. Don’t come down here. This is a mess. Don’t do it, you’ll regret it.’ And so I turned it down. It went, amazingly, to John Frankenheimer, who is one of my favorite directors. I had lunch with him once and I asked him a lot of things about the movie, none of which I can repeat, unfortunately, without being sued.“
Joe Dante’s visit to the Severin Cellar can be seen in the video embedded at the bottom of this article.
What do you think of The Island of Dr. Moreau, and do you think it could have been better if Joe Dante had taken the helm? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
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