Last year, we delved into the crates of dreary memories and ghoulish moments to bring the Top 10 horror movie fun facts you may not know. It was fairly popular because there are more horror fans out there than you know.
Among those horror movie fun facts, we learned:
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- The staggering efficiency and profitability of Paranormal Activity
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- Tony Todd really had 23 bees on his face and in his mouth in Candyman
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- Child’s Play and Scream may have been real stories
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- And all the heinous acts on the set of Poltergeist
This year, we have a few more ghoulish geek treats you may not know about some of your favorite horror movies. Fasten your seat belts for another patented GVN list — all tricks, no treats.
10. The Red Dead Shining
For die-hards of The Shining, have you ever noticed how much the color red is in the movie? That was on purpose. Stanley Kubrick made the color red in just about every shot of the film to be the foreboding sense of dread. Sure, there is all the blood in the room, the elevator, the doors, the huge bathroom, and everywhere else.
But look around: The book in the opening scene? Red. Wendy’s dress? Red. The darts Danny plays in the early scenes? Red. Much like hell within Jack or the bloodshed everywhere else? Red.
9. In the Witching Elements
Considered the godfather of the found footage sub-genre, The Blair Witch Project took the world by storm. However, the crew rained down punishment on the cast. Everyone believed this movie was real, and that may be because the cast was close to emotionally tortured.
Producers of the film “shook the tent” the cast were forced to sleep deep in the woods of Maryland. They “made noises” late at night, “hid from the actors” during filming, and were even deprived of food to get a sense of hopelessness. Those notorious stick figures weren’t in the script. The crew hung them at night to freak out the cast. “Basically, we just played Blair Witch.”
8. Buffalo Bill’s Bluff in the Buff
Halloween or not. Horror or not. The Silence of the Lambs is one of the best films of any time, any genre. And one of its most popular scenes was made up. Ted Levine knew Buffalo Bill/Jame Gumb was a fries short of a happy meal, so he wanted to add a more levels of cringe to the mirror scene.
In the Jonathan Demme adapted screenplay, Bill stood in front of the mirror with Bob Seger’s “Her Strut” blaring in the background. Nice song, but not befitting the vibe. Demme changed the song to Q Lazzarus’ “Goodbye Horses” and Ted Levine danced–and tucked–all improvisation style. And holding out the shawl to reflect the wings of a moth? He meant to imply the symbolism there too. Genius!
7. This Sucks
While the movie may not hold up to today’s terrifying standards, Nosferatu in 1922 is a film that freaked patrons out–of the theater. Like, they left the cinema because Max Schreck there is a straight-up monster.
The film was made before anyone worked with the Bram Stoker estate, so the vampire is named “Count Orlok.” Check out those deers in headlights. Those are some gigantic eyeballs–and he only blinks once in the entire movie! Still, one of the best makeup jobs ever.
6. In Need of a (Blood) Bath
Sissy Spacek may be Coal Miner’s Daughter in many cinematic circles, but among horror movie fun facts enthusiasts, she will always be Carrie. And following the pig blood shower at the high school prom, she loses her mind. Well, maybe, she just tapped into it given the chaos created with her telekinesis.
It turns out Spacek is quite the method actor too. To keep the continuity, and her mindset in the role, the Oscar winner slept in that blood-soaked prom dress for three nights. We appreciate the dedication to your role, but that’s just nasty. Evidently, so did Stephen King, who has repeatedly said that Brian De Palma’s classic is “better” than the book. High praise.
5. Wes Craven’s “Method” Acting
It’s understood that Wes Craven is the director, not the actor. Yet, his methods on with the first movie into his infamous career makes this list of horror movie fun facts nowhere near fun. Sandra Peabody (Mari) didn’t understand how disturbing this film would become. In fact, it was refused a certificate for cinema release by UK Film Censors because of “explicit, sadistic sexual violence.”
Evidently, Peabody thought filming would be more like the soap operas how she entered Hollywood. A few of the actors on set were into their roles too much who tried to pull down her pants off-camera. One time, the lead villain, David Hess, was so convincing that she believed the “sadistic violence” was real–and she called the police to file a report on attempted sexual assault. Awful.
4. Taking One for the Dead Team
George Romero knew his affinity for zombies would have to include becoming a pyromaniac. In several scenes, they’re throwing Molotov cocktails at the zombies. Co-writer John Russo that it was unrealistic to be around that much wildfire, and no one gets a little on them.
With little budget, no stuntmen, and no protective equipment, Russo volunteered for the fiery detail. Watch Night of the Living Dead and look for the on-fire zombie. That is George Romero’s employee of the decade.
3. The Amityville Horror Reboot Was a Sinking Feeling
In 2005, Ryan Reynolds starred in a reboot of The Amityville Horror. It’s a true story and did not require a reboot, but here we go. In trying to drum up some of the real-life horror, the crew got much more than what they bargained.
Melissa George was interviewed about the reboot experience when she mentioned something that was off-script. They’re filming by the boathouse on the land when a boat comes flush on the land. They stopped taping to go to the boat. And that’s where they found a real-life dead body that was floating in the lake. Yeah, not so much on the positive mojo for filming.
2. The Exorcist Was Really Cursed
Whether you can sit through The Exorcist without screaming or not doesn’t matter. Some of the horror movie fun facts collected during this filming is scary as hell. In the documentary, Fear of God: 25 Years of The Exorcist, we learn so much.
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- Max von Sydow learned his brother died unexpectedly. He flew to Sweden, delaying the movie for a couple weeks.
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- Linda Blair lost her grandfather. She left for his funeral, which delayed the movie again.
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- For aesthetics, William Friedkin ordered this 10-foot demonic statue, but it was lost in Hong Kong and never made the shoot.
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- During the shoot, a crew member lost his toe and a set carpenter chopped off his thumb. Tragically, nine people died, including an assistant cameraman’s newborn baby and a night watchman.
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- Remember the scene when Regan is levitating over the bed screaming, “Please, make it stop. It hurts. It burns!” That was 100% real because she was convulsing in the harness due to a fracture in her lower back. That was the beginning to a lifelong battle with scoliosis, but since the crew thought it was part of the script, they left it in the movie.
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- In the most disturbing oddity, The MacNeil home burned down in a fire at the beginning of production. The only room in the house to survive the fire was ironically, Regan’s bedroom–the source of hell.
1. And Soooooo Was The Omen
Producer Harvey Bernhard once told Gregory Peck in the middle of the movie, “The devil was at work and he didn’t want this film made.” Let that sink in for a second because that guy had no qualms about creating The Omen in the first place. In 2005, a TV documentary called The Curse of The Omen, which note came up and several horror movie fun facts that weren’t so fun. Harvey was right.
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- Two months before filming began, Gregory Peck’s son killed himself. His first movie after that tragic loss? A father who must kill his son (who just happened to be the Antichrist).
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- The Omen is known for showing the first decapitation in motion picture history. Not quite the achievement when you learn that the movie’s special effects designer, John Richardson, was in a head-on car accident that decapitated his passenger.
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- Richardson’s petrifying claim about that fateful day was a road sign at the accident site. He saw a sign telling passers-by the town of Ommen (Netherlands) was 66.6 kilometers away.
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- In a bone-numbing scene, these demonically possessed baboons attack Damien’s mother (Lee Remick). Laugh if you want, but the day after that shoot, the animal trainer was killed by a tiger who grabbed him by the dead.
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- Speaking of animals, remember those rotten Rottweilers in the cemetery? During filming, the dogs stopped gunning for Peck and went after another animal trainer. They were so vicious that their teeth punctured his protective gear. The stuntman survived.
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- Harvey Stephens (Damien, The Omen) did a TV movie and then disappeared. He vanished until the filming of The Omen’s failed reboot in 2006. From 1980 to 2006, no one knew where Stephens was located. Jonathan Scott-Taylor (Damien, Omen II) quit acting shortly after the movie and may have changed his name. Most peculiar is the notable Sam Neill who played an adult Damien in Omen III. To this day, he refuses to talk about filming the movie.
And then, there’s this spine-chilling coincidence during filming The Omen making it the most haunted movie, maybe ever, involving five airplanes.
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- Gregory Peck is on his way to London for filming, and the plane is struck by lightning.
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- Prodcuer Mace Neufeld is also flying to London for filming, and his plane is struck by lightning.
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- Screenwriter David Seltzer is flying somewhere else during filming, and his plane is struck by lightning.
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- Remember Harvey Bernard? The guy is flying to Rome, and his plane almost was struck by lightning.
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- The crew rented a plane for aerial shots. Unexpectedly, the plane that was rented was bought by an Asian businessman. The Omen crew got another plane, which took off to get to the site. Suddenly, it flew into a flock of birds at takeoff, crashed through a fence, and hit a car on the highway killing everyone in the plane and the car.
These cursed things happened to the reboot as well. For example, 13,500 feet of film unexplainably burst into flames. Just because. But that is for another list of horror movie fun facts that are not so much. Sheesh.
Since he saw ‘Dune’ in the $1 movie theater as a kid, this guy has been a lover of geek culture. It wasn’t until he became a professional copywriter, ghostwriter, and speechwriter that he began to write about it (a lot).
From the gravitas of the Sith, the genius of Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, or the gluttony of today’s comic fan, SPW digs intelligent debate about entertainment. He’s also addicted to listicles, storytelling, useless trivia, and the Oxford comma. And, he prefers his puns intended.