These Iconic Horror Movies Were Real-Life Nightmares Behind the Scenes

The popularity of horror movies is a fascinating dynamic of modern culture. From the way we intentionally engage with frightening and macabre cinema, to the imagery and effects used to terrify us, horror films present audiences with a lot to take in. However, while the horror films we consume are always fun for us to enjoy, they are not always the easiest movies for studios to make.

Occasionally, some pretty bizarre things happen on horror movie sets that are almost just as terrifying as the movies themselves. Below, we have put together a list of some of the most intense behind-the-scenes stories from some of your favorite horror films, as adapted from a list by Cracked. Scroll down to check it out!

‘Poltergeist’

Good horror films are great at making the audience feel like there is real danger in what is happening, but the best horror films actually have real danger in what is happening. 

In Poltergeist, for example, the actor who played Robbie reportedly once shared that in the scene where he was strangled by a clown doll, something in the device malfunctioned and he really was being strangled by the clown doll. Luckily, director Steven Spielberg noticed what was happening and rescued him.

‘Alien’

While filming Alien, the production crew built a scaled-down set to capture certain shots. Director Ridley Scott then had kids, including his own, put on tiny spacesuits to act as the space explorers for the shots. 

According to reports, the suits were so poorly ventilated that the kids would overheat, pass out, and then have to be revived with oxygen.

‘The Silence of the Lambs’

Some actors go very method for their roles, digging as far into their character as possible. In order to prepare for his role as an FBI profiler for The Silence of the Lambs, actor Scott Glenn went so deep that he reportedly once stated that he still had nightmares about the things he saw and heard. 

What exactly did he encounter that made that big of an impact on him? Glenn worked closely with the FBI, even going so far as to view a video that depicted a teenage girl being tortured to death.

‘The Amityville Horror’

The Amityville Horror was a novel first, documenting the alleged paranormal events experienced by the Lutz family after they moved into a home that had been the site of a series of gruesome murders.

It was made into a feature film in the 1970s and then remade later in 2005. During the filming of the remake, police were called to the set due to an actual dead body floating in the lake where the film was shooting.

‘The Shining’

The Shining is not so much “scary” as it is “a complete mental submersion into a psychologically deranged realm of paranoia and insanity.” 

That effect was captured by director Stanley Kubrick essentially verbally assaulting actress Shelley Duvall in order to get a more realistic performance out of her. Kubrick’s berating was reportedly so bad that Duvall was stressed out to the point of losing her hair.

‘The Blair Witch Project’

By now, everyone knows that The Blair Witch Project was all staged but, initially, many moviegoers believed the “found footage” horror film to be 100 percent real. 

One way the filmmakers made it seem more real was to deprive and terrorize their actors. According to reports, the directors sent the actors off into the woods to just get lost and then would sneak into the campsite and take their food, as well as shake their tents while they tried to sleep and make mysterious noises.

‘The Exorcist’

The original Exorcist film is famous, or infamous, for being surrounded by so many terrifying behind-the-scenes events that many think the whole movie was cursed. One of the more compelling arguments for this, comes from the fact that both Ellen Burstyn and Linda Blair suffered back injuries while filming. 

Blair was hurt after a device she was strapped into, designed to make her thrash around, malfunctioned and caused her to scream out in agony. Burstyn was injured when she was thrown backward in a scene and crashed into a table. Both scenes were kept in the film.

‘Night of the Living Dead’

Night of the Living Dead is arguably one of the top three most influential horror films of all time. The dedication that George A. Romero and his team had in making the film had a lot to do with that, right down to the screenwriters. 

During a scene where the survivors are throwing Molotov cocktails at the zombies, co-writer John Russo took it upon himself to suit up and set himself aflame since there were no stuntmen available. He also had zero protective gear or training. Thankfully, Russo wasn’t fatally injured and went on to work behind the scenes on films like Return of the Living Dead and the 1990 remake of Night of the Living Dead.