THE ISLAND OF MISFIT FILMS

Yeah, that movie's bugfuck. I kind of enjoyed it for that reason, but haven't felt the need to revisit it.

I've said for a while the time is ripe to take another crack at the material. In fact, when the OFCS sent out its monthly question to critics a year or so ago, asking "If you had the chance to remake any film, which one would you remake?", this was my reply:

The on-the-nose choice for the new Dr. Moreau would, of course, be Dieter Laser.

Great article.  If The Island of Dr. Moreau had been made in '86 instead of '96, it would be considered a grindhouse classic.  

Interesting potential for a column, but the execution leaves something to be desired. After the initial backstory of the movie's production, this mainly seems like a snarky plot summary. There's no real analysis of the film, nor is the little commentary there is particularly amusing or insightful. It's not terrible writing, I just don't see why I'd read this over, say, the movie's IMDB page. I never like to say "be like that other guy," but I think you might want to take some pointers from the "Franchise Me" columns, which take movies most people have already seen and gives you a reason to give a shit about them again.

I had forgotten i'd seen this turd in the theater. Its a horrible film it has no redeeming values. With the talent involved and it has great talent even Ron Perlman dammit it should have been better.

As Martin so beautifully says this story is actually scary in how real it is now. As the Spidercricket thread here on Chud shows there is huge genetic tampering going on that i'd say most of the world is not privy to. Google Monsanto or hybrid salmon.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Johnny Daywalker 

I had forgotten i'd seen this turd in the theater. Its a horrible film it has no redeeming values. With the talent involved and it has great talent even Ron Perlman dammit it should have been better.

 

You too, huh? Absolutely nothing works in this. The only non actively offensive part was Thewlis but I suspect it's because he was acting in a different movie in his mind.

Wow, I would have thought a movie as unhinged as this one would have found more love on CHUD.  I, too, saw this mess in the theater.  My family and I had seen the 70s film on a Saturday-morning spooky movie show hosted by the Grandpa from The Munsters more than once and had developed a real fondness for the story.  All of my siblings and I went to see this together.  Needless to say, it was probably the weirdest thing our young minds had ever seen.  (We were quite sheltered.) 

Maybe it was for all those reasons that this... not-great movie still holds a special place for me.  We still like to quote a few lines from this one.

"Have you ever thought that maybe you've...  LOST YOUR MIND?"

As for the column itself, I have to kind of agree with Splatoon.  I was engaged while reading about the production woes, but lost interest quickly when the analysis of the film began.  

Quote:

Originally Posted by stelios 

You too, huh? Absolutely nothing works in this. The only non actively offensive part was Thewlis but I suspect it's because he was acting in a different movie in his mind.

 

Kilmer just being completely fucking bonkers throughout kept me alive in the cinema for this. His Brando get-up/death scene is a trip.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andrew Merriweather 

Kilmer just being completely fucking bonkers throughout kept me alive in the cinema for this. His Brando get-up/death scene is a trip.

 

Kilmer gave more an impression of an asshole throwing a tantrum than of an actor being weird. And I'm violently allergic to tantrums. Whether they come from 5 year olds, 16 year olds, or moderately talented pretty boys with way too high an opinion of themselves. Take your millions and just do your lines you bitch!

I dunno. I prefer Kilmer getting to overact in such an absurd supporting part than what we would've been lumbered with had he stayed in the Morrow/Thewlis role.

Missing from this article: the brilliant/absurd/terrifying fact that, post-firing, Stanley supposedly buggered off into the jungle, got one of his friends on the make-up team to disguise him as one of the animal people, and spent the rest of the film hanging around on set and causing trouble. It's like everyone involved in this film bar Thewlis was exposed to Cosmic Retard Rays.

It's a shame there hasn't been much from Richard Stanley because of this. Hardware and Dust Devil are great movies, hope there's something coming from him eventually.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andrew Merriweather 
Missing from this article: the brilliant/absurd/terrifying fact that, post-firing, Stanley supposedly buggered off into the jungle, got one of his friends on the make-up team to disguise him as one of the animal people, and spent the rest of the film hanging around on set and causing trouble. It's like everyone involved in this film bar Thewlis was exposed to Cosmic Retard Rays.

Seriously missing from the article. It's the major anecdote that always pops into my head when this movie comes up.

Quote:

Originally Posted by stelios 
You too, huh? Absolutely nothing works in this.

I'd say the Stan Winston creature FX and the total WTF-ness of this one keep me from hating it. I'm actually in the mood to pull out the dvd and watch a double feature with the York/Lancaster version. "The doctor is IN... SANE!"
 

Also: This was a pretty good thread back in the day (as long-lived as it was). And again, I'll reiterate for the sake of this article... No mention of the pseudo-adaptation, ISLAND OF THE FISHMEN? Or Eddie Romero's contribution to the genre (TWILIGHT PEOPLE, BLOOD ISLAND trilogy)? EDIT: I'm a completist, but I can see how these details wouldn't pertain to this particular piece.

Also also... LULZ

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andrew Tom 

It's a shame there hasn't been much from Richard Stanley because of this. Hardware and Dust Devil are great movies, hope there's something coming from him eventually.

The dude has been announcing projects for the past two years, but nothing ever seems to come of it.  That said, he has been writing screenplays for others, so at least his is getting work.

I'm surprised the fact that Richard Stanley snuck onto the set as a manimal extra (hanging around for days after he was fired!) wasn't mentioned in the article.