I went to my library intending to check out Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir, but that was nowhere to be found, and what is next to Weir on the shelf? Wells. I checked out out a collection of H.G. Wells stories and started this book completely unfamiliar with the premis, but I really enjoyed this read. It was kind of a horror-adventure/thriller type, and a bit more gruesome than I tend to find myself reading. A shipwrecked sailor is rescued and then finds himself on a mad scientist's island where he vivisects (mutilates alive) animals in an attempt to make them humanoid in physiology and behavior. The Beast Folk as they're called roam the island and revere Dr. Moreau as a god until their innate animal nature takes over.
It felt surprisingly contemporary for a 130-year old story. For example, it was absolutely wild to read the phrase "blew its brains out" and know it was penned in 1896.
As I was reading I thought to myself, "Man, this story deserves the Guillermo Del Toro treatment." I soon found out that there are two existing film adaptations of this story that I just had to endure and they are both STINKERS. I found they were both about equal in quality, which was not high, but put into their respective times of 1977 and 1996, they were fair enough adaptations. After watching these movies I found out how much of a behind the scenes disaster the 1996 film was, and with that knowledge, you can see the problems bleeding through in the final product.
The Serum: Both make use of some dort of serum instead of gorey, gruesome vivisection. This is easier for general audiences to stomach and understand as well as easier for studios to execute, so I totally understand why this was done, but it undercuts the severity of Moreau's actions. In the source material, he is taking living creatures, hacking them up, rearranging their anatomies, and hoping that he can create something close to a man. In the movies animals are just getting a shot (albeit extremely painful) and then turning into just some guy in makeup.
Effects: Just bad. True to their times and weird no matter how you cut it. I don't think it's possible to adapt how truly grotesque the Beast Folk were meant to be, afterall grotesque and gruesome are repeated ad nauseam in the source material. One thing the '96 adaptation had going for it was that it used actors with actual differences to help. One character in particular, Majai, was played by the 2'4" Nelson de la Rosa. Another character was played by an actor with Downs Syndrome in brown face paint, and that certainly did not age well.
Casting Overall: I think the edge goes to '77 on this one. Michael York is a better choice than David Thewlis, who clearly didn't even want to be there. I understand that Brando was an awesome choice for Moreau, especially at the time, but his take on the character was too heavy on the Brando eccentricites and not quite right for how I envisioned Moreau during my reading. Lancaster is closer to my thoughts of the character, but still a bit too restrained. Oh yeah, Ron Perlman is there in tons of makeup. (Quick aside, Moreau and Majai's relationship very strongly inspired that of Dr. Evil and Mini Me in Austin Powers in which Michael York plays Basil Exposition.)
Female Leads: Again, I understand this decision. There was no female character or love interest in the book, but you need a pretty girl to bring in audiences.
Story: I didn't care for the divergences in either. It's tough to say, but I found that '96 was a bit truer to the source and had a much stronger start, thought it ended up off the rails.