In the same vein as the great documentary from last year, Jodorowsky’s Dune, Lost Soul tells a similar story of a film on the cusp of possible greatness being ruined by the Studio and out of control events. I adore Richard Stanley’s film Hardware (1990) and there are many aspects of Dust Devil (1992) that show true talent and creativity. Lost Soul is a documentary about Stanley’s ill-fated attempt to bring a more faithful version of the classic HG Wells book The Island of Dr. Moreau to the big screen.
This is such a great documentary, carefully laying out the bizarre events, crazy weather, movie studio meddling, and rogue actors that eventually caused the director to be fired during production. The film was of course completed later with questionable quality and was a box office failure. Of particular hilarity were the bits about Marlon Brando and Val Kilmer’s erratic behavior on set with Brando at one point, deep in production, saying he wanted to reshoot the entire movie while wearing a hat and then add a new ending where he takes the hat off to reveal he’s actually a dolphin. Great stuff like that happens all the time. Super entertaining with great cast & crew interviews and explanation from Richard Stanley himself (who hasn’t been heard from since the film). Recommended.