Some movies are doomed from the start — or even before they start. Quirky, erudite South African directorRichard Stanley’s unfortunate experience makingThe Island of Dr. Moreauis stilltalked about in hushed tones because of the production hell it became. Stanley was a bit of a fixture in indie circles coming off of small films likeHardwareandDust Devil, but what he was about to undertake turned out to be too big of a leap. It’s not all Stanley’s fault, either. It was a quixotic endeavor from the get-go, considering who would be cast in the leads and where they wanted to shoot the movie. Suffice it to say,it was a witch’s brew that had Stanley at the end of his ropewhen hesought out the advice of a real-life warlock to save what had already mushroomed into a monster. It may sound like a funny story, but in reality, it takes a sad turn when you consider that Stanley was replaced in the film and ostensibly driven out of the industry.
The Problems Started Before They Even Began Shooting ‘The Island of Dr. Moreau’
To begin with,Val Kilmerwas a replacement cast forBruce Willis, who had to drop out for personal reasons just weeks before the shoot ofThe Island of Dr. Moreau. There was an additional reshuffling of parts whenJames Woodswould no longer be part of the ensemble. The tragic suicide ofMarlon Brando’s daughter,Cheyenne, also delayed the shoot. Needless to say, things were rocky before they even set foot on location.
The fact thatStanley had no experience with such a big studio and big-budgeted film made the project feel like a bridge too faralmost immediately. The last thing he needed was a catastrophic act of God that further delayed principal photography. Stanley and New Line Cinema had decided to use the rainforests outside of Cairns, North Queensland, Australia, at a place called Cape Tribulation as the primary backdrop for shootingThe Island of Dr. Moreau. The lush wooded areas proved to be a suitable spot, but Mother Nature had other plans.Just two days into the shoot, the area was hit by a massive tropical storm that sent the set flyingand left the entire space underwater. With the film being the filmmaker’s passion project, and the fact that the studio had already sunk a substantial amount of money into the project, the movie’s production forged ahead. Despite all the setbacks and the tension between Stanley and the movie’s stars, Brando and Kilmer, he wasn’t about to relinquish his passion project — one he had researched for years and grown deeply attached to,especially with Well’s source material.
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Richard Stanley Seeks Out a Warlock Out of Pure Desperation To Save ‘The Island of Dr. Moreau’
According to the acclaimed 2016 documentary that was made about the disastrous shoot calledLost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley’s Island of Dr. Moreau, the director was on the brink of a nervous breakdown as each day of shooting was worse than the day before. Burning the candle at both ends with rewrites and settling interpersonal feuds, Stanley,a practicing Wiccan at the time, got in touch with a warlock seeking advice on carrying on and maintaining his fragile psyche.“Knowing the odds were stacked against me, I resorted to witchcraft,“Stanley revealed. He had grown up with an actual witch for a mother, so he had always been around the dark aspects of religion. And it’s sadly ironic and apropos that the documentary about the production hell is considered a far superior film and highly recommended viewing if you’re into the story behind the saga.
Dr. Edward Jones Featherstone,better known as “Skip,” was the warlock Stanley turned to before he went to Brando’s houseto convince him to take the titular role. So, his influence was felt very early in the process. Needless to say, the die had already been cast for the director, and no amount of hexes or black magic would change his fate. After he had been fired and replaced byJohn Frankenheimer, a bitter Stanley, with some help, put up stone patterns and structures throughout the rainforests that would bring more harm to the production.For his troubles, New Line ultimately decided to pay him his entire fee to go away. But they (and the Screenwriter’s Guild of America) were kind enough to give him credit for his screenplay adaptation of the H.G. Wells' classic novel. It’s doubtful the director counts blessings over the whole debacle. Stanley now lives in isolation on a remote mountainside, broken byThe Island of Dr. Moreau.
The Island of Dr. Moreau
A shipwrecked UN negotiator stumbles upon a remote island, only to discover that its inhabitants are hybrid creatures—genetic experiments created by a mad scientist, Dr. Moreau. As the creatures rebel against their creator, chaos ensues, forcing the outsider to confront the dark consequences of scientific hubris.
The Island of Dr. Moreauis currently available to rent or buy on Prime Video in the U.S.
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