The Island of Dr. Moreau (1996) starring Val Kilmer and Marlon Brando is a near legendary film as far as how not to make a film goes. It’s well known that a lot of crazy stuff went on behind the scenes during the making of whats often regarded as one of the worst films ever made. Lost Souls (the full title is too long to repeat, they must have been paying the makers by the letter) is an attempt to make some sense of what went on, interview the people behind the film and squeeze out those interesting stories and Brando craziness.
It takes a little while to get started but it’s good watch. It was made with the original writer/director’s involvement so we get to hear how he got his pet project into production in the first place but it’s when he’s fired from the production that it really gets interesting. Marlon Brando sounding like an impossible mad man, key characters being replaced little people, the script being rewritten almost daily, lead actors refusing to work together. There’s a lot in here. The concept of Mini Me in Austin Powers was built off the back of this film only Brando was serious about.
It’s a fun ride that makes me want to watch the actual film even though I know it’s terrible. Lost Soul is a solid documentary and at 97 minutes doesn’t go over the top. It’s told with a slight bias towards the original director Richard Stanley but at the same time it does include the other side of the argument too. Nobody was perfect on this film. We may never see Richard Stanley’s original vision of The Island of Dr. Moreau but at least we get this peek at the madness of film production instead.
