Trivia

Removed as director of The Island of Dr. Moreau (1996) after one to four (accounts vary) days of filming. He snuck back onto the the set in a dog-man mask.

Wrote a script called "Nemesis" (inspired by the H.P. Lovecraft poem with the same title) about a group of robbers who break into the vault of a very old Dutch bank to get some diamonds, but end up trapped inside the building fighting a demon who possessed one of them. The project was planned as a starring vehicle for Jean-Claude Van Damme and Sam Raimi was looking to direct it in the 90s, but sadly it didn't happen.

His adapted material includes: 'Shadowland' by Peter Straub (one of Stanley's favorite novels), "The Damnation Game" by Clive Barker, "The Three Stigmata Of Palmer Eldritch" by Philip K. Dick, "Flicker" by Theodore Roszak, "Cocaine Nights" by J.G. Ballard and "The Great God Pan" by Arthur Machen.

The great grandson of the explorer Henry M. Stanley, Richard was inspired to make a film from H. G. Wells's story, "The Island of Dr. Moreau", not only because it appealed to him on its own merits but because Wells had claimed that Joseph Conrad's character, Kurz, in his novel "Heart of Darkness" was based on Dr. Moreau, and Conrad, in his own defense, claimed that Kurz was based on Henry M. Stanley.

Dario Argento is one of his favorite directors.

In the mid-90s his adaptation of Robert E. Howard's "Solomon Kane" was optioned by Edward R. Pressman who wanted to set it up with Daniel Day-Lewis in the lead role. The whole thing was killed off by the "Moreau" affair.

Turned down an offer to direct Judge Dredd (1995).

Wrote a revisionist remake of The Wild Geese (1978). The project was essentially a modern day mercenary saga with meanspirited twists; it stayed in limbo despite the support of Roger Moore and the original movie's backers (Asia Argento was also in the frame for the female lead).

Around 2007 wrote a novel called "The Green Avatar" which involved genetically engineered animals, absentee parents and fake messiahs. The book remained unpublished.

Turned down an offer to direct Spice World (1997).

Vincenzo Natali once said of him: "He's an extraordinary character. There aren't many like Richard Stanley.".

Around 2010 he collaborated with Vincenzo Natali on the long gestating screen adaptation of J.G. Ballard's "High-Rise", which Natali was going to direct for HanWay Films, the company of famed producer Jeremy Thomas. Project stayed in limbo for a few years before finally being made as High-Rise (2015) by director Ben Wheatley, who used a brand new script written by his wife, Amy Jump.