[4] Inspired by a series of unsolved murders in Namibia,[4] this short was unfinished but footage can be viewed on the Subversive Cinema DVD release of the feature Dust Devil.

Stanley and his crew witnessed the Soviet Army's withdrawal and the country's slide into the civil war that would bring the Taliban to power.

Stanley was present at the siege of Jalalabad, and the events surrounding his escape from the country, along with his wounded camera man, Immo Horn, later formed the basis of the screenplay Addicted to Danger, by Sebastian Junger.

Shot for approximately £960,000, it was eventually picked up by the Weinstein brothers and released theatrically in the United States through their early Millimeter Films division.

An ambitious project attempting to stay true to the source material, the film's production was fraught with problems from the start, with Stanley being undercut by his belligerent lead actors, suspicious studio and a sudden burst of bad weather; he was fired and replaced by John Frankenheimer a week after shooting began.

[9] Stanley completed The Secret Glory – an examination of SS officer Otto Rahn's search for the Holy Grail – in 2001 and The White Darkness – a look at the voodoo practices in Haiti – in 2002.

[11] Stanley was a contributing writer-director to the 2011 omnibus The Theatre Bizarre, with an adaptation of the short story "Mother of Toads" by Clark Ashton Smith.

Stanley launched the interactive website Terra Umbra – Empire of Shadows in October 2009,[14] an ongoing inquiry into the invisible world and the hidden history of southern and central Europe.

[24] In March 2021, screenwriter Scarlett Amaris, who previously collaborated with Stanley on several projects, alleged in a blog post that she had been in an abusive relationship with him.

[25] Subsequently SpectreVision, which produced Color Out of Space, announced it would no longer work with Stanley and that all future revenue from the film would be donated to unspecified anti-domestic violence charities.

[26][27][28] On 25 October 2021, entertainment news outlet Deadline reported Stanley has filed criminal complaints for libel and harassment in response to the allegation.

[29] The 2024 documentary film Shadowland addresses additional accusations, follows Stanley's legal issues, and includes his commentary on the allegations.