5 Facts About Horror Movies That Will Give You Chills
Miscellaneous / / May 11, 2023
Bees in the mouth, mountains of dead animals, skeletons in the pool - collected truly creepy stories from the filming of famous horror. Beware, you might catch spoilers.
1. Real skeletons were used as props in Poltergeist
You can see the bones on the screen towards the end of the 1982 film, in the scene where the heroine Jobeth Williams is terrified runs around the yard, escaping from otherworldly forces, and finds himself in a pit dug in the yard for a pool.
Stick real skeletons in dirty water decided not so much for authenticity, but for the sake of economy. Buying a dozen copies for medical students was both cheaper and faster than making models out of plastic or rubber.
At the same time, not all team members knew about the original and frightening props. It turned out to be a surprise for Williams too: she learned about the real origin of her “partners” on stage only after filming.
2. One of the actors of the "Exorcist" became a murderer
In fact, Paul Bateson is difficult to call an actor. «exorcist"- this is the only picture in his filmography, and even there he is not listed in the credits. The man worked with X-ray equipment and in the cinema, in fact, played a small role of himself - an assistant radiologist. Filming Bateson participated at the end of 1972, and in 1977 he was charged with murder.
During the trial, they tried to pin six or seven more murders on the man, but in the end, convincing no evidence was found - he was sentenced to life in prison with the right to parole after 20 years. Bateson was released in 2003. Despite the fact that the man was imprisoned for one murder, he entered popular culture as a serial from The Exorcist. He was even portrayed in the second season of Mindhunter.
3. Skeet Ulrich was stabbed in the chest with an umbrella during the production of Scream
It happened in the final. On the screen, the main charactercrySydney jumped out of the closet dressed as Ghostface and slammed her umbrella into the chest of Billy, one of the maniacs played by Ulrich.
On the actor at the time of filming was a protective vest, the "means of self-defense" did not have a sharp tip, and its top was compressed when pressed. But something still went wrong - the umbrella entered the body of the actor. And not just anywhere, but exactly in the scar on the chest, which remained after the operation on the heart: it was done to Ulrich in childhood. As a result, the double remained in the final cut - the grimace of pain and the actor's cry on the screen are as sincere as possible.
4. On the set of Candyman, Tony Todd had to put 500 bees in his mouth.
The actor played a maniac from the underworld. In one scene, his chest filled up bees, which later began to crawl out of the mouth. The insects were real. And Todd really kept them in your mouth. The actor, in his own words, agreed to such a crazy idea, because “creating something worthwhile does not come without pain.”
To prevent the bees from entering the throat, a plug was inserted into Todd's mouth. In the filming, only young individuals were used, the sting of which had not yet fully formed. But the scene was still risky, so the actor was promised a bonus - $ 1,000 for each bite. As a result, Todd's fee increased for $23,000.
5. Dead animals were used to decorate the set in the Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Decaying carcasses and bones were needed by the 1974 film crew to create a gloomy and disgusting interior for a cannibal family's home. Use many believable dummies did not allow tiny budget, so animal remains borrowed at the local shelter.
As a result, the props made not only the frame creepy, but the set itself. There was no ventilation in the old house, it was unbearably hot outside, and the windows were closed and curtained with thick curtains to create the appearance of a dark time of day. The room stank unbearably, so between takes the actors ran outside to empty their stomachs or at least breathe a little.
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