Alien (1979 – Directed by Ridley Scott)
Scriptwriter Dan O’Bannon was down on his luck when he conceived the
idea for Alien. At the time he was
living at Ronald Shusett’s house and was desperate to no longer be sleeping on
his friend’s sofa. The two of them got together to write the screenplay for Alien and were surprised at the positive
reaction it received from the studios after they sent it out. But they knew the
Hollywood system well enough to know that projects can easily fall apart,
“Everything had fallen through for us. Nothing had ever worked,” O’Bannon said.
Even after they received their first paycheck they continued to be pessimistic.
Fortunately sci-fi was hot in Hollywood at the time, owing to the massive
success of Star Wars, and the project
continued to expand, “We caught this science fiction boom just right… our
script was on the market just a month after Star
Wars was released.”
O’Bannon has said in early interviews that producers David Giler and
Walter Hill only wanted to give him a story-writing credit in the finished
film, claiming that they had extensively re-written the original screenplay. It
appears that their motivation was simply to steal the credit from rookies
O’Bannon and Shusett. The producers clearly had a change of heart throughout
the lengthy production process and O’Bannon would be given sole writing credit
with Shusett receiving co-story credit with O’Bannon.
Whilst
shooting the classic chest-burster sequence, director Ridley Scott thought the
best way to get a realistic reaction from his actors was to not tell them
exactly how intense (and bloody) the effect was going to be. Actress Veronica
Cartwright’s (Lambert) performance perfectly captures her surprise and horror
as the gory scene unfolded before her eyes - and all over her face!
John
Hurt had initially been considered for the role of Kane but a scheduling
conflict meant that they had to cast actor Jon Finch instead. Hurt was supposed
to be filming Zulu Dawn (1979) in
South Africa, although he was denied entry into the country when they confused
him with actor John Heard (who was banned from South Africa for his political
views). The weekend that Hurt returned to London he was informed that Jon Finch
had been taken seriously ill. Ridley Scott immediately got in touch with Hurt
to ask him if he wanted the part and Hurt was on the set the following morning,
albeit very tired!
The working title for the script was Star Beast. In footage from the making of the movie the
clapperboard can sometimes be seen to read The
Alien.
The writers of the movie never intended for Ripley to be female –
during the early stages of pre-production John Travolta was considered for the
role.
Aliens (1986 – Directed by James Cameron)
Gordon
Carroll, one of the executive producers on Aliens,
says that James Cameron’s pitch for the movie was as simple as walking up to a
chalkboard, writing the word ‘alien’ and adding an ‘s’ – to which he then drew
a line through to make ‘$.’ Oh, and he had just made a little film called The Terminator, so that may have swung
it for him!
Tip
Tipping, who starred as Pvt. Crowe, was also a very well respected stunt
performer in films such as Indiana Jones
and the Temple of Doom (1984), Batman
(1989) and Robin Hood: Prince of
Theives (1991) as well as a couple of the Bond movies. Sadly in 1993 he was
filming the BBC television show 999
(about real-life accidents) when his parachute failed to open and he tragically
plunged to his death.
Alien 3 (1992 – Directed by David Fincher)
Michael Biehn was paid more for Alien 3 than he was for Aliens – even though he doesn’t actually
star in it! The money he received was merely for the use of his photograph that
featured at the beginning of the movie.
Actor Charles S. Dutton, who
played the inmate Dillon, was charged and convicted of the death of a man he
got into a fight with when he was 17-years old. He served seven years in prison
for manslaughter and only a few months after being released he was charged with
possession of a deadly weapon and sentenced to three more years in prison.
Maybe he was just getting into character for Alien 3?
With it being director David
Fincher’s debut feature film, the executives at Fox kept a very close eye on
the young director during production. It was clearly the cause of much friction
on set. In the documentary chronicling the making of the movie, Wreckage and Rage, Fincher grabs a boom
microphone and says into it, “It’s amazing to me that Fox is the number one
studio in the country because they’re all such a bunch of morons.” This scene
had initially been omitted from the Alien
Anthology DVD box-set release but was restored for the Blu-ray version –
along with over twenty minutes of other excised footage featuring Fincher’s
difficulties on set.
An American Werewolf in
London (1981 – Directed by John Landis)
The scene in which David and Jack
are attacked on the moors was actually filmed on the grounds of Windsor Castle
in Windsor Great Park.
After Michael Jackson saw the
movie he fell in love with it so much that he hired director John Landis and
special effects make-up artist Rick Baker to work on his Thriller video. John Landis’s wife, Deborah, designed Jackson’s now
iconic red costume for the video. Only two of the jackets were ever made, one
of which recently sold at auction for $1.8 million. Deborah Nadoolman Landis is
also notable for creating the fedora and jacket for Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark.
The Amityville Horror
(1975 – Directed by Stuart Rosenberg)
Peter O’Neill Jr. who lived in the
real Amityville house between 1987 and 1997 was one of the victims of the
September 11 attacks in 2001. The 21-year-old was training to become a bond
trader at his Uncle’s firm, Sander O’Neill & Partners on the 104th
floor of Tower Two.
The original film has spawned
thirteen sequels to date – a lot of which seem to have nothing to do with the
original storyline and film: Amityville
II: The Possession (1982), Amityville
3-D: The Demon (1983), Amityville 4:
The Evil Escapes (1989), The
Amityville Curse (1990), Amityville
1992: It’s About Time (1992), Amityville:
A New Generation (1993), Amityville
Dollhouse: Evil Never Dies (1996), The
Amityville Horror (2005), The
Amityville Haunting (2011), The Amityville
Asylum (2013), Amityville Death House
(2015), The Amityville Playhouse
(2015) and Amityville: The Awakening
(2017).
Anaconda (1997 – Directed by Luis
Llosa)
Whilst shooting the film a power
surge caused one of the massive animatronic snakes to go completely out of
control, thrashing around as if it were a real anaconda. Actor Ice-Cube (Danny
Rich) said that, “It was like fantasy and reality merging.” The cameras were
actually rolling at the time but they cut when they realized that the snake had
gone completely loco – however, the filmmakers did include some of the footage
in the finished film.
Actor Eric Stoltz (Dr. Steven
Cale) has said that he didn’t really have a fear of snakes before working on
the movie - that was until he encountered a real 15-foot anaconda on the
balcony of the hotel he was staying at whilst shooting the film in Brazil.
In 2014 wildlife expert Paul
Rosolie announced that he was going to allow himself to be eaten alive by a
giant anaconda whilst wearing a specially constructed protective suit. After
all the hype surrounding the Discovery Channel show (Eaten Alive) viewers were disappointed to witness Rosolie merely
wrestle with the snake for a minute or two before complaining that his arm was
hurting. After viewers had waited for almost two hours for the big event,
Rosolie was quickly pulled away from the snake and the whole debacle was
quickly aborted. Disgruntled viewers quickly took to Twitter to voice their
opinion that the program was all a big hoax.
Annabelle
(2014 – Directed by John R. Leonetti)
The real
Annabelle doll is quite unlike the one featured in both The Conjuring and Annabelle,
although the stories connected to her are equally as chilling. The doll, which
is actually a Raggedy Ann doll, is currently housed at the Warren Occult Museum
in Connecticut, USA. It resides in a specially built cabinet with a holy cross
above it and the words, ‘Warning – Positively do not open’ written upon it. The
doll was said to be possessed by a deceased 7-year-old-girl called Annabelle
Higgins and would often be found in different rooms or positions around the
house. Notes were mysteriously found in the handwriting of a small child and
blood appeared on the doll’s hands and chest. It was only when the doll
physically attacked someone that the famed paranormal investigators Ed and
Lorraine Warren (the Amityville and haunting in Connecticut investigations)
were brought in to attempt an exorcism on the doll. They concluded that a demon
inhabited the doll, not a young girl. It has been alleged that a man who
taunted the doll at the Warren Occult Museum died in a motorcycle accident
shortly after his visit.
Taken from Incredible Horror Movie Facts
Available to buy on Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Killian H. Gore presents an incredible collection of shocking true tales from over 100 horror movies. From the weird to the scary to the completely unbelievable! Discover some of the most bizarre stories in the annals of horror film history and experience a little of the mad and the macabre with each bloodcurdling entry. Read all about... The haunted history of the Evil Dead cabin. The Jaws: The Revenge actress murdered by her father. The 9/11 victim who lived in the Amityville house. The stuntman mauled to death by a shark. The fired film director who returned to the set in disguise. The UFO incident that inspired The Blob. And finally, Killian H. Gore reveals the truth behind the story of Ellen Mort - the "serial killer in the family!" PLUS! The Wicker Man inspired short story: Morning Jogger.
The exterior of the house
The barbecue where the keys were left
The lovely views
The creaky staircase
A sunburned Mr. Gore writes the story in Daglan
