The Island of Dr. Moreau is a very disturbing story, but the plot of the novel by H. G. Wells is even more disturbing. The premise of the book is that evolutionary advance is greatly accelerated by the experience of pain. For background, consider the "dumb blonde" stereotype - when a woman is exceptionally beautiful, everything is given to her on silver platters - she has no need to do anything but receive all of the good things offered to her on every hand, so she never has any need to develop any intelligence or talent. In contrast, a man who is unattractive, poor, and/or otherwise disadvantaged must constantly devise strategies for survival and growth, leading to sharper imaginative and cognitive skills.
In the novel by H. G. Wells, Dr. Moreau cuts to the chase by administering pain to animals directly (at the "House of Pain"), in an effort to produce an adaptive response. Of course, this is a disturbing and chilling premise, but as the basis for a story it is pretty powerful, and it renders the development of the plot sufficiently plausible as to disturb one's sleep (or cause one to go running to Mama in terror).
That, at least, was the original premise of the work by H. G. Wells, but the present production morphs that original premise into the combining of human genes with animals to create hybrid creatures. This film lacks all of the genius of H. G. Wells, and degenerates into an ordinary garden variety monster movie, targeted, presumably, at fourteen year old boys. Dumb movie producers think they know better than H. G. Wells, and the result is just frivolous junk.
Fortunately, for fans of H. G. Wells, there is another and very excellent version of the story, Island of Lost Souls, 1932, featuring a delightful performance by Charles Laughton who totally nails the role of the gentleman mad scientist. This is the real deal. In fact, it was so disturbing to many people that the movie was banned for years. Compared with this achievement, the 1996 effort looks really stupid.
In the novel by H. G. Wells, Dr. Moreau cuts to the chase by administering pain to animals directly (at the "House of Pain"), in an effort to produce an adaptive response. Of course, this is a disturbing and chilling premise, but as the basis for a story it is pretty powerful, and it renders the development of the plot sufficiently plausible as to disturb one's sleep (or cause one to go running to Mama in terror).
That, at least, was the original premise of the work by H. G. Wells, but the present production morphs that original premise into the combining of human genes with animals to create hybrid creatures. This film lacks all of the genius of H. G. Wells, and degenerates into an ordinary garden variety monster movie, targeted, presumably, at fourteen year old boys. Dumb movie producers think they know better than H. G. Wells, and the result is just frivolous junk.
Fortunately, for fans of H. G. Wells, there is another and very excellent version of the story, Island of Lost Souls, 1932, featuring a delightful performance by Charles Laughton who totally nails the role of the gentleman mad scientist. This is the real deal. In fact, it was so disturbing to many people that the movie was banned for years. Compared with this achievement, the 1996 effort looks really stupid.