The Island of Dr. Moreau (1996) - Newspaper Ad [Oakland Tribune]

August 18, 1996

This another fine example of one the most unique cinematic sub-genre offerings for the dedicated film geek. A movie where the story of its troubled production might be more interesting and entertaining than the film itself.

What began as Richard Stanley's first modest-to-large budget studio production ended as a messy and uneven patchwork credited to John Frankenheimer. For full details, I heartily recommend watching the David Gregory helmed documentary Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley's Island of Dr. Moreau. A work that is every bit as fascinating and confounding as Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse. The major difference between the two being that Apocalypse Now survived its production to become a critical and commercial hit, while The Island of Dr. Moreau... did not.

The big surprise when I uncovered and researched this ad was learning that David Thewlis had played the shellshocked protagonist Edward Douglas. His performance in the film led me to making an observation to a friend that "throughout the film he looks palpably disgusted and seems to be trying to wish himself to be any other place than where he is."

Thinking on it now, I cannot tell if that was a performance choice or not. I doubt Thewlis would ever deign to answer if asked.

I think I need to watch Lost Soul again, pronto...