10 Most Cringeworthy Performances From Otherwise Great Actors

The mighty have never fallen quite so hard as the legendary Marlon Brando did with one of the most notorious flops of the 1990s, The Island of Doctor Moreau.

The iconic method actor had of course long been noted for his - how to put it - eccentric behaviour in later life. His screen appearances had been sporadic in the wake of 1979 classic Apocalypse Now, so it may have been surprising to see him sign on for the title role in an adaptation of HG Wells' dark science fiction novel, from up-and-coming horror filmmaker Richard Stanley.

However, in a perfect storm of off-camera chaos, Brando arrived on an already-troubled set distraught in the wake of his daughter's suicide. Co-star Val Kilmer wasn't in a great place personally either, going through an ugly divorce. With tensions running high, director Stanley was replaced by John Frankenheimer, but this did little to calm things down.

The resulting film is, without question, very poor indeed, yet it remains the centre of much fascination, largely due to Brando's hypnotically weird performance replete with oversized hat, white face paint, and of course his mini-me, Nelson de la Rosa.

It leaves you unsure whether you should laugh out loud, or shed a tear for the decline of a once-great artist.