Accidents on the set of films that make your blood run cold

Most people associate film sets with bohemia, celebrities, and the beautiful life of Hollywood. Nevertheless, often during the filming of all their participants are in mortal danger. Diseases and strange cases, injuries and other unpleasant overlays accompanied the production of such movie hits as" Titanic"," Rogue"," Best Shooter", and others. Get ready: if you ever dreamed of playing in a movie, these stories will make you want to become a screen star.

"The Twilight Zone»

If you are going to shoot such a terrible series of films as "The Twilight Zone", you need to be prepared for the fact that strange things will happen on the set. During the filming of the film in 1983, three actors were killed due to a helicopter crash. Actor Vic Morrow and the children who starred in the film — Mika Dean and Renee Shin Yi Chen-were killed when a helicopter flying low came into contact with pyrotechnics on the set. Pyrotechnics exploded, the helicopter lost control and decapitated two actors. Chen was killed when the helicopter crashed, falling on top of her.

"Titanic»

On the set of "Titanic" there was one of the strangest cases. During the filming, 50 extras and crew members ate seafood soup stuffed with phenylcyclidine, a drug used for intravenous anesthesia, which is included in the list of illegal drugs in Russia. After a while, several people complained of unbearable anxiety, although in the end all were healthy. However, on the set of "Titanic" there were other unpleasant episodes. For example, Kate Winslet refused to wear a wetsuit during a scene in the water, almost drowned, and then fell ill with pneumonia. In addition, several actors of the extras received fractures and internal injuries.

"The Conqueror»

"The Conqueror" is undoubtedly one of John Wayne's weirdest films (especially because he plays Genghis Khan with a pronounced American cowboy accent). It is even more strange because most of the actors were exposed to radioactive radiation right on the set. The film was directed by Howard Hughes in 1956 and was shot in St. George, Utah, in the territories where nuclear tests were previously conducted. The filmmakers were aware of the nuclear tests, but the government swore and swore that the radiation was absolutely harmless. By 1980, almost half of the crew had cancer, including Wayne, who died of it.

"A Clockwork Orange»

For many, the first association with the movie "A Clockwork Orange "is the famous" brainwashing " scene, where the eyes of the hero Malcolm McDowell are forcibly held open. However, many people probably do not know that this scene was too real for the actor himself. In the process of creating it, McDowell suffered permanent damage to the cornea and temporarily lost his sight due to the fact that his eyes were open for so long.

"The Raven»

In 1993, actor Brandon Lee, the son of Bruce Lee, starred in the movie"The Raven". According to the plot, Lee's character was supposed to be shot in the chest, so the film crew prepared a real .44 Magnum and loaded it with blank cartridges. However, when they fired the weapon at Brandon Lee, he got a real bullet in the stomach: the plug just got stuck in the barrel, and no one noticed it. The actor died of blood loss, but his tragic death was not the only accident on the set of this film. After the death of the actor, severe thunderstorms partially destroyed the set, an angry carpenter drove a car into the scenery, and another of the stuntmen fell through the roof while performing the trick. After the death of Brandon Lee, he was replaced in several scenes by actor Chad Stahelski, and thus managed to finish the picture. The face of the deceased was superimposed on the body of Stahelski using computer technology.

"The best Shooter»

The movie "Best Shooter" has a lot of complex scenes with the use of airplanes, and it is not surprising that there were several accidents on the set. Moreover, this film is associated with such an accident, as a result of which a person went missing. During one of the scenes, the pilot and aerial cameraman Art Scholl got into a tailspin in an attempt to capture the necessary footage. The plane lost control and fell into the sea. Neither the operator nor the plane was ever found, and Scholl was pronounced dead.

"Back to the Future 3»

During the filming of the third part of "Back to the Future" actor Michael J. Fox almost lost his life. During the scene where his character is hanged by the villain, Buford "Mad Dog" Tannen, Fox had to wrap a rope around his neck, and the situation quickly got out of hand. The actor stopped breathing and lost consciousness for a few moments before the crew realized that he was suffocating. As soon as they realized this, they released the actor from the rope, and he came to his senses.

"The Outcast»

While filming the movie "Rogue" in Fiji, Tom Hanks caught a very dangerous infection that almost cost him his life. Towards the end of filming, he cut himself slightly in the knee area, and bacteria got into the wound. When Hanks finally got to the doctor, he was in shock. He told the actor that the wound was infected with staphylococcus and that he was very close to blood poisoning. In an interview with the BBC, Hanks recalls that the doctor told him: "What's wrong with you, idiot? You could have died of it!» Fortunately, Tom Hanks did not die, although doctors had to cut a rather large piece out of his leg, and the actor spent three days in the hospital. Because of this incident, filming was suspended for three weeks.

The Lord of the Rings Trilogy»

"The Lord of the Rings" is one of the most successful trilogies in history, but this epic is also famous for the fact that it was like a magnet for injuries on the set. The number was ridiculous. In one case, Viggo Mortensen was injured while filming a battle scene and lost a tooth. During the creation of the scene in the Hobbit house, Ian McKellen hit his head hard on the ceiling, but played down this incident, and it was included in the final version of the picture.

An endless list of injuries during the filming of " The Lord of the Rings»

In another incident, Orlando Bloom broke his ribs falling from a horse, Brett Beatty injured his knee, and Mortensen nearly drowned and broke two toes kicking a metal helmet. But this is not enough: many scenes of the film turned out to be almost impossible to shoot without injuring anyone. The stunt coordinator in the trilogy, George Rag, had a hard time putting on battle scenes that were safe at the same time. In one scene, it was raining, and the actors had to climb into a stone quarry at night. During the shooting, several actors sprained their ankles and suffered bruises and abrasions.

"The Passion of Christ»

Mel Gibson's film "The Passion of the Christ" was not just scandalous: its creation was accompanied by strange cases. During filming, one of them happened to actor James Caviezel, who played Christ. Just before filming the scene of the Sermon on the Mount, he was struck by lightning. In addition, the actor dislocated his shoulder, fell ill with pneumonia and almost died of hypothermia. 

"Die hard»

"Die Hard" is considered one of the best action movies in the history of cinema, partly due to the desire of director John McTiernan to try to portray things as close to reality as possible. So, McTiernan forced the actors to shoot blanks from prop weapons with a specially increased volume. In one scene, Bruce Willis must shoot an opponent across the table while holding the gun near his ear. When he fired this particularly loud weapon, he was permanently deafened in one ear. Actor Alan Rickman wasn't hit by a prop weapon, but he had problems with it, too. He couldn't shoot it without squinting, so the director decided to cut it out of several scenes.

"Three x's»

During the filming of the film "Three X" stuntman Harry O'Connor, dubbed Vin Diesel, died in an accident. According to the plot of one of the scenes, the hero flies on a paraglider behind a boat that is rushing at full speed through the water, and descends on a cable a moment before colliding with the bridge under which the boat is passing. The stuntman performed the trick perfectly, but was dissatisfied with the result. It seemed to him that the edge of the bridge was too far away from the hero and the scene was not tense enough. He asked director Rob Cohen to do another take and miscalculated, making a fatal mistake. O'Connor started the slide too late, did not manage to slip under the edge of the bridge and crashed into it at a speed of more than 70 km/h. The stuntman died instantly. The double with his death was partially included in the film, but the family of the deceased was very unhappy with this decision. According to the stuntman's sister, the increased media attention to this case led to heart attacks and the subsequent death of his mother.