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When it comes to movie production, most filmmakers go above and beyond to ensure the safety and well-being of everyone involved, from the cast to the crew. The keyword here is “most.” Unfortunately, some directors just didn’t care much about that kind of stuff, and were willing to sacrifice these things to ensure a movie came off as being more authentic. The sad thing is, it actually worked.
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While the resulting movies are absolutely incredible, they take on a totally different tone when you find out what really went on behind the scenes, to the point that they can be a bit hard to watch. The movies themselves aren’t bad at all, in fact, they’re great, but they would’ve been a bit easier to watch if there wasn’t so much drama behind the scenes.
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‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ (1974)
The history behind the original The Texas Chainsaw Massacre movie is much more horrifying than the movie itself. Today, it’s widely seen as one of the most quintessential slasher films that revolutionized the genre, but it gets really scary the more you learn about what went on behind the scenes. The movie had a really low budget, which is generally fine, but not in this case, as that meant skimping out on actual safety precautions.
Many of the blades used, including the eponymous chainsaw, were real, so the actors involved were in serious danger of injury or death throughout the shoot. Another grisly detail is that actual rotting meat was used for various scenes rather than props. The smell must have been repulsive, never mind the psychological effect of seeing animal carcasses all over set. It’s not the worst on this list, but the creators are darn lucky something serious didn’t happen, or it might have ended up being the worst.
7
‘The Birds’ (1963)
Alfred Hitchcock is commonly seen as the greatest horror director of all time, if not one of the finest film directors in cinema history. One of his most popular films is The Birds, based on a short story by Daphne du Maurier. The story is about a strange phenomenon where all birds on Earth suddenly begin attacking people for no apparent rhyme or reason. The details aren’t important. But it does make for a really good movie.
However, main actress Tippi Hedren would likely disagree with this. See, in the final moments of the film, Hedren’s character is attacked by birds. Hedren was assured that the birds would be mechanical, i.e. props. Hitchcock lied. For one week, Hedren was forced to endure birds being flung at her from all angles. At one point, they were attached to her clothing by rubber bands, pecking at her eyes and face for hours, one of them even almost clawing her eye out. She received scratches, bruises, and lacerations, and Hitchcock almost didn’t let her take a week of rest afterward, even though it was ordered by a doctor. This is enough to give anyone a phobia of birds. Audiences understand that Hitchcock was going for authenticity, but it’s not right to sacrifice someone’s personal safety (not to mention the safety of the animals) just for the sake of it being authentic.
6
‘Fitzcarraldo’ (1982)
Fitzcarraldo is one of the most textbook examples of films that are hard to watch not because they’re bad, but because the production process was so gruelling. The main issue stems from the leading actor, Klaus Kinski. By all accounts, he was a massive bully to everyone involved, to the point where the director of the film even needed to carry a gun to keep Kinski in line. But his animosity wasn’t the only issues.
Technical issues plagued the film, which resulted in an uncountable amount of injuries, with some people actually dying in horrific accidents. Two planes transporting actors crashed, and the volatile environment of the set had its own hazards. One crew member was bitten by a venomous snake. His survival story is too gruesome to mention here, as he was forced to go to extreme lengths to ensure he lived. The movie is pretty good, but it’s by far one of the most disastrous and disturbing productions in history, which makes it a little hard to watch.
5
‘The Abyss’ (1989)
Director James Cameron is sort of known for being a bit of a perfectionist, to put it mildly. Many actors who worked with him report he is very meticulous, and can often be uncompromising in his projects. While all of his films have been hard to shoot, perhaps none have been as bad for the cast and crew as The Abyss. One problem is that much of the movie occurs underwater, meaning the cast and crew had to spend weeks shooting in cold water, which not only chilled them to the bone, but exhausted them, too.
Actor Ed Harris almost died while filming, as his oxygen tank ran out while his safety partner got tangled in a cable. Harris actually started to drown, ingesting water and barely making it to the surface in time. Some actors also reported having emotional breakdowns due to the film’s horrific conditions, and that’s not even considering the technical issues of the film. Being underwater for 12 hours a day, for weeks at a time will have an effect on anyone, as will working with a boss who can be so particular about things. The movie, while a lesser-known Cameron film, is good, but it sounds like a logistical nightmare for everybody involved.
4
‘The Blair Witch Project’ (1999)
The Blair Witch Project is a pioneering member of found-footage horror, one that made the genre explode in popularity. But it seems that the filmmakers really wanted this to be genuine and authentic. Many people know how they marketed the film by saying the actors were actually missing, even though it wasn’t true. Still though, what they actually did was beyond the grounds of acceptable.
There was very little in the way of a script for the movie. Actors were mostly just improvising, and for the most part, were completely on their own, isolated in the middle of the woods for days and days. They were given clues as to where they should go next, all while the crew manipulated the environment at night, scaring the cast on purpose. In short, the fear that the actors are showing is pretty genuine. They were exhausted, cold, hungry, terrified, and while that does sell the realism a bit, it’s really not cool to put anyone through that,
3
‘Apocalypse Now’ (1979)
Apocalypse Now is largely a psychological film, highlighting the PTSD that soldiers in the Vietnam War experienced from the brutality of warfare, and the harsh jungle conditions. Unfortunately, it would seem that some of that translated to real life, as well. The shoot really did take place in a jungle, which meant weeks of hot, muggy weather, clouds of insects, and potential hazards waiting in the brush.
Actors were none too pleased about it, either. Martin Sheen reportedly had a genuine nervous breakdown, ranting and raving, breaking a mirror with his fist and cutting his hand open in the process, which actually made the final cut of the film. On top of that, the filmmakers captured the actual death of a live cow during the final scene, which also made the final cut. Overall, great movie, but not exactly fun to shoot for anybody.
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‘The Wizard of Oz’ (1939)
The Wizard of Oz is one of the most infamously horrific movie shoots in the history of Hollywood. First of all, there’s the manipulation and gaslighting actress Judy Garland suffered at the hands of her mother, who was constantly pushing her into the spotlight, often against her daughter’s wishes. Beyond that, there were so many injuries and cases of mistreatment on set. Actress Margaret Hamilton received actual burns due to the pyrotechnics used, for example.
One of the worst things that happened is that in lieu of snow, the crew created fake, non-melting snow using pure asbestos, prior to people discovering it was extremely toxic. Think about that for a second. Actors had to sit there, for multiple takes, getting asbestos flakes dropped on them. This movie was likely a contributing factor in why Judy Garland died so young, and it doesn’t take a doctor to figure that out. Listing all the problems behind the scenes for this movie would probably be enough to make a list of its own. Yes, the movie is whimsical and is an all-time classic, but it takes on a whole different tone when one learns about what was really going on behind all that happiness and joy.
1
‘The Shining’ (1980)
Perhaps the single most notorious case of difficult shoots is the controversy surrounding The Shining. The horror movie is based on a Stephen King novel of the same name, but behind the scenes, it was much more of a horror show than anything the movie could’ve produced. The controversy in question comes from actress Shelley Duvall, who was treated like dirt throughout the shoot.
Director Stanley Kubrick felt that she wasn’t being a good enough actress. Now, any normal person would just recast the role or get her some coaching. Instead, Kubrick viciously abused her, both psychologically and verbally, in order to get a better performance and a more genuine reaction of fear. He instructed the crew to not speak to her, which left her isolated. He would also berate her and force her to do takes hundreds of times, to the point where Duvall’s voice became hoarse from screaming. Duvall even reported chunks of her hair began falling out due to the stress. It’s a horrible reality to confront, and it’s painful to watch the movie knowing that Duvall was probably terrified for real, and wasn’t just acting in the movie.
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Dawson Nyffenegger
Almontather Rassoul
