Scares on AND behind the scenes! Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the horror films that possess a real-life dark side.
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00:00So you had a big scare up there, huh?
00:03Oh yeah.
00:05Welcome to WatchMojo, and today, we're counting down our picks for the horror films that possess
00:10a real-life dark side, either due to their conceptual content or something associated
00:16with behind-the-scenes production.
00:18It's like another side of nature, you know?
00:20A side that you and I are not qualified to understand.
00:24Number 10. The Amityville Horror.
00:30The creep factor runs deep with regards to both the original Amityville Horror from 1979
00:36as well as this 2005 remake.
00:39The former is due to its real-life true-crime roots, and the latter, thanks to stories that
00:44haunted its production.
00:45These stories included real human remains that were uncovered on the shore of a lake
00:50that was located near some shooting locations.
00:54Help me!
00:57What have I got?
00:58Chelsea!
00:59Chelsea, don't move! Just sit down!
01:00Moreover, actor Ryan Reynolds claimed that some cast and crew members often awakened
01:05at 3.15 in the morning.
01:07What makes this coincidence so unsettling is that Ronald DeFeo Jr. stated that it was
01:12around this time when he committed the murders at the root of the Amityville legend.
01:24Number 9. The Exorcism of Emily Rose.
01:31Sometimes it isn't so much about disturbing incidents on a movie set,
01:35but rather the inspiration behind the movie's story.
01:38The Exorcism of Emily Rose was based on the real-life exorcism of young German woman
01:43Anneliese Michel.
01:44Actually, the exorcism isn't correct.
01:47Michel was subjected to an astonishing 67 exorcism attempts prior to her death back in 1976.
02:01Michel had been experiencing epilepsy and depression and reported hearing voices.
02:06Her parents and the priest involved were convicted of negligent homicide in her death,
02:11after it was revealed that they contributed to Michel's dehydration and malnourishment.
02:16Why did the demons not leave me tonight?
02:21She said, I am sorry, Emily.
02:24The demons are going to stay where they are.
02:27Number 8. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
02:36There will probably never be another film set quite like 1974's The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
02:43The film was inspired by the real-life crimes of Ed Gein, a notorious serial killer from the late 1950s.
02:49Gein was also the inspiration for Norman Bates in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho.
02:54As for TCM's production, Tobey Hooper's independent spirit was put to the test
02:59with unforgiving heat and conditions that seemed to challenge the cast and crew at every corner.
03:04Neither actors Gunnar Hansen nor Marilyn Burns would escape TCM unscathed.
03:13The former suffered a nasty burn during his infamous chainsaw dance at the film's finale,
03:19while Burns' hand was actually sliced by Hansen near the film's climax.
03:33Number 7. The Birds.
03:36Hey! No touching allowed!
03:38The dark side of Hollywood is full of stories that allege a very quid pro quo sort of atmosphere.
03:44The casting couch myth is sadly very real,
03:47and this legacy didn't stop at the feet of legendary directors like Alfred Hitchcock.
03:52In fact, it's since been alleged that Hitchcock held an obsession with The Birds actress Tippi Hedren
03:58and made direct sexual overtures in her direction.
04:02I know I've put you through some hard times.
04:07Look at you now.
04:08Hedren, for her part, claims that Hitchcock attempted to blackball her in the industry
04:13after she rebuffed these advances.
04:15The actress also said that the director utilized real birds during an attack sequence,
04:21which led to Hedren developing a real phobia of the creatures.
04:31Number 6. Twilight Zone The Movie.
04:34Can you help me, lady?
04:35What?
04:36I've been shot at.
04:38It's one of the darkest and most depressing examples of an on-set accident.
04:42Director John Landis was riding high in 1983
04:46after helming such hits as Animal House, The Blues Brothers, and An American Werewolf in London.
04:51Landis was used to getting what he wanted as a result,
04:54such as when he was able to illegally hire child actors without the proper night work permits
04:59for 1983's Twilight Zone The Movie.
05:12This probably wouldn't have made headlines had the unthinkable not happened.
05:16The children lost their lives in an accident involving a helicopter.
05:20Veteran actor Vic Morrow also perished in the stunt gone horribly wrong.
05:24This led to extensive legal action that resulted in an increase in on-set risk management.
05:30I don't know what's the matter with this country, but it's getting tougher and tougher to earn a living.
05:33Number 5. The Omen.
05:35No! No! No!
05:38No! No!
05:44The disturbing aura surrounding 1976's The Omen doesn't only have to do with the film's satanic origins.
05:51This was an era where the devil meant business in Hollywood,
05:54thanks to the successes of films like The Exorcist and Rosemary's Baby,
05:58leading to rumors of the Omen set being cursed.
06:02Murderers.
06:05Murderers.
06:09Some very real incidents surrounded production on The Omen,
06:13including the tragic pre-production death of Gregory Peck's son.
06:17A small plane carrying film crew also crashed during production,
06:21while special effects crew members Liz Moore and John Richardson,
06:25who were responsible for the film's infamous beheading scene,
06:28were involved in a fatal car accident.
06:39Number 4. Cannibal Holocaust.
06:47The Italian jungle horror movie possesses roots in the 1970s,
06:52but it was 1980's Cannibal Holocaust that would forever reign within the genre's hall of infamy.
06:57This is due in part to the film's pioneering of the found-footage shooting style,
07:02but also thanks to some disturbing on-set stories.
07:05Once again I ask myself, what unspeakable crime could have called for such atrocious retribution?
07:10I know our lives are hanging by a thread.
07:12Cannibal Holocaust became notorious for its unsimulated animal deaths,
07:17as well as a court case that saw its director, Ruggero Diodato, accused of actual human murder.
07:23This all came down to the realism of Cannibal Holocaust,
07:26combined with a contractual clause for the actors that required them to briefly disappear after production wrapped,
07:33to promote the illusion of their deaths.
07:40Number 3. The Exorcist.
07:50The disturbing backstories that took place during the filming of The Exorcist
07:54weren't just limited to instances on screen.
07:56A real-life murder charge was later slapped on Paul Bateson,
08:00a radiologist who had parlayed this experience into a brief walk-on role.
08:05Bateson was convicted in 1979 for murdering journalist Addison Verrill,
08:10but that wasn't the only bit of infamy behind The Exorcist.
08:24A fire rampaged through the set, hamstringing production.
08:28Additionally, both actresses Ellen Burstyn and Linda Blair
08:31suffered traumatic back injuries while filming sequences for the film.
08:35The latter even reported enduring lifelong scoliosis as a result of her deal with the devil.
08:41And the lacing came loose while I was being thrown,
08:45and so as I went forward, the piece was coming back.
08:49So it was a constant.
08:51And I, the dialogue was, please make it stop, make it stop, it hurts, it burns, whatever.
08:55Number 2. The Shining.
08:58What are you doing down here?
09:05I just wanted to talk to you.
09:10Stanley Kubrick's adaptation of Stephen King's The Shining is infamous today,
09:15not only for how much King disliked the final product,
09:18but also for how Kubrick treated actress Shelley Duvall.
09:22The director was a noted perfectionist to the point of obsession,
09:25and made Duvall shoot her confrontation with co-star Jack Nicholson a staggering 127 times.
09:34Here's Johnny!
09:37Kubrick also berated Duvall during production
09:40in order to instill fear, anxiety and exhaustion for the actress' character.
09:45The end results, however, were that Duvall was nearly driven to madness,
09:49to the point where she was hoarse, dehydrated and at her breaking point.
09:55From May until October, I was really in and out of ill health,
10:01because the stress of the role was so great.
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10:21Number 1. Poltergeist Franchise
10:26The Poltergeist film franchise's reputation for being cursed will probably never go away.
10:31This is sad given the tragic human loss associated with these productions.
10:35At only 12 years old, Heather O'Rourke passed away from congenital stenosis and septic shock
10:41as a result of an undiagnosed bowel obstruction.
10:44Dominique Dunne was another actor who died young after appearing in the franchise,
10:48stalked and murdered by an ex-boyfriend.
10:51Julian Beck, who portrayed Reverend Kane in Poltergeist II The Other Side,
10:56died from stomach cancer shortly after filming his scenes.
11:03Finally, the use of real human remains for the skeletal sequence in the original Poltergeist
11:08ensured this franchise would never exist far from lists such as these.
11:13Did any of these stories shock you? Let us know in the comments.
11:43Subs by www.zeoranger.co.uk