An unnecessary second remake (following the oft-forgotten '77 version with Michael York) of 1932's THE ISLAND OF LOST SOULS, based of course on the classic short story by H.G. Wells. A huge flop on release, this movie starts off pretty well and looks extremely promising with the crisp, highly colourful photography and interesting locations (Queensland actually). Sadly it deteriorates constantly as it goes on, until it becomes an almost parody of itself at the end, and is completely impossible to take seriously!
Directorial disputes resulted in original director Richard Stanley being fired in place of the more mainstream John Frankenheimer, although even his veteran presence can't hide the dodgy editing and episodic nature of the narrative. The movie opens very promisingly with an well-choreographed fight aboard a rubber dinghy (trust me, it is very impressive) but that about as exciting as it gets. British star David Thewlis (not a bad actor, but his character is far too whiny to be likable) meets up with the ever-grouchy Val Kilmer, who takes him a remote island where they meet the incredible Marlon Brando. Brando overacts as never before in this movie, dressed in a white sheet and white face-paint, and his hamminess knows no bounds; his performance is so terribly and completely off beat that it serves as one of the movie's highlights.
Soon afterwards, a hyena man discovers the implant which Moreau uses to control him through painful shocks, and tears it out, thus inciting a riot amongst the beast men, who eventually storm the island and learn how to use guns. The action-packed finale is absolutely terrible and laughable, with the beast men having far too much screen time (forget the eerie glimpses in the original - here they're on screen for ages which totally ruins their impact) and running and jumping about all over the place before they all kill each other.
Aside from the miscast Thewlis, the wooden Kilmer and the laughable Brando, there is one other main character - Fairuza Balk (THE CRAFT), who plays a panther woman. Balk is far more attractive here than she was as the teenage witch in that other '96 horror movie, and indeed her feral beauty does most of the acting for her. Hidden inside costumes and make-up are a number of noted actors like Ron Perlman, Mark Dacascos, and Verne Troyer, but you'd never recognise them. The special effects are by Stan Winston, and the beast men are initially very impressive, with CGI being interspersed flawlessly with live-action footage. Sadly their overexposure soon shows and, as you see more and more of them, the less impressive they become until the laughing stocks of the finale.
The morals are muddled and the film ends in an inconclusive fashion with most of the cast dead and the rest carrying on with their lives. A tragedy it is not as most of the dead characters are selfish and unlikeable or just plain odd. In the other versions, Moreau was attacked and killed at the end of the film, but that happens halfway through here, leaving the movie floundering with nowhere to really go afterwards. Kilmer ends up going mad too and dressing as Brando, but the irritatingly non-conclusive script means that you never figure out why.
With an above average cast wasted along with a substantial budget, hopefully the poor reception of this movie at the box office has put off any other chancers with an idea of making a buck from a remake of a classic horror film. In an ideal world it certainly would, but I'm not so sure. THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU is worth a look as a curiosity piece for sure, but it feels all the more frustrating as you get the impression that a good idea is in here somewhere, waiting to get out.
Directorial disputes resulted in original director Richard Stanley being fired in place of the more mainstream John Frankenheimer, although even his veteran presence can't hide the dodgy editing and episodic nature of the narrative. The movie opens very promisingly with an well-choreographed fight aboard a rubber dinghy (trust me, it is very impressive) but that about as exciting as it gets. British star David Thewlis (not a bad actor, but his character is far too whiny to be likable) meets up with the ever-grouchy Val Kilmer, who takes him a remote island where they meet the incredible Marlon Brando. Brando overacts as never before in this movie, dressed in a white sheet and white face-paint, and his hamminess knows no bounds; his performance is so terribly and completely off beat that it serves as one of the movie's highlights.
Soon afterwards, a hyena man discovers the implant which Moreau uses to control him through painful shocks, and tears it out, thus inciting a riot amongst the beast men, who eventually storm the island and learn how to use guns. The action-packed finale is absolutely terrible and laughable, with the beast men having far too much screen time (forget the eerie glimpses in the original - here they're on screen for ages which totally ruins their impact) and running and jumping about all over the place before they all kill each other.
Aside from the miscast Thewlis, the wooden Kilmer and the laughable Brando, there is one other main character - Fairuza Balk (THE CRAFT), who plays a panther woman. Balk is far more attractive here than she was as the teenage witch in that other '96 horror movie, and indeed her feral beauty does most of the acting for her. Hidden inside costumes and make-up are a number of noted actors like Ron Perlman, Mark Dacascos, and Verne Troyer, but you'd never recognise them. The special effects are by Stan Winston, and the beast men are initially very impressive, with CGI being interspersed flawlessly with live-action footage. Sadly their overexposure soon shows and, as you see more and more of them, the less impressive they become until the laughing stocks of the finale.
The morals are muddled and the film ends in an inconclusive fashion with most of the cast dead and the rest carrying on with their lives. A tragedy it is not as most of the dead characters are selfish and unlikeable or just plain odd. In the other versions, Moreau was attacked and killed at the end of the film, but that happens halfway through here, leaving the movie floundering with nowhere to really go afterwards. Kilmer ends up going mad too and dressing as Brando, but the irritatingly non-conclusive script means that you never figure out why.
With an above average cast wasted along with a substantial budget, hopefully the poor reception of this movie at the box office has put off any other chancers with an idea of making a buck from a remake of a classic horror film. In an ideal world it certainly would, but I'm not so sure. THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU is worth a look as a curiosity piece for sure, but it feels all the more frustrating as you get the impression that a good idea is in here somewhere, waiting to get out.