South Africa had very poor repertory distribution. I didn't find out about Akira Kurosawa and Tarkovsky and Werner Herzog until I got to the U.K.
— Richard Stanley
I'm not Christian. I didn't meet Jesus. I met something that looked like it had come out of a 'Heavy Metal' comic.
Over the last 20 years, everyone who interviews me feels compelled to ask at least one question about 'The Island of Dr. Moreau.'
I particularly love watching 'Hardware' with a young audience.
The Roundhouse was a complete shell. It was absolutely empty, lying derelict for years.
From a very early age, I knew I wanted to be Carl Denham.
Obviously if you're Coppola going into 'Apocalypse Now' off the back of the two 'Godfathers,' you're in a much better position than coming off the back of something like 'Dust Devil,' which had scarcely been released, and was pretty much lying around in film cans in different places.
With 'Moreau,' it's been particularly confusing because I started out being the writer of the screenplay and then trying to be the director, then being moved from being the director and having to become the dog extra, it makes some kind of sense to suddenly become a character in the story.
Britain has had a very honourable tradition of literary sci-fi - H. G. Wells, John Wyndham, J. G. Ballard, Brian Aldiss, Michael Moorcock - but for whatever reason, they have never really been given the time of day on screen.
'Hardware' came about because I had written quite a few scripts and hadn't had any luck getting them made.
You've got all these people making action movies, and they've never been in a life-or-death situation.
I was so in debt by the end of 'Dust Devil,' having picked up the tab personally for the post-production of the movie, and having no way to recoup because I didn't own the rights to the movie. There was no way I could see any money back on it, so any money spent was just a dead loss.
'Dust Devil,' I've never really seen with an American audience, so I'm looking forward to that experience.
Having spent all that time getting away from South Africa, running away from the army, I wanted very much to believe that America and England were actually as free as they were meant to be, not slipping rapidly into becoming police states like the one I'd just left.
