13 Curiosities About Famous Horror Movies

1. "Psychosis" was the first North American movie to show a bathroom

And it wasn't just that. It was also the first movie in the United States to hear a discharge being activated. Think!

2. "The Exorcist" was the first horror film to be nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars

Although the genre doesn't seem to captivate the Academy so far, "The Exorcist" received 10 Oscar nominations in 1974, including Best Supporting Actress for Linda Blair, who was just 15 at the time.

3.Stephen King was not a fan of The Shining

In an interview with Playboy in 1983, author Stephen King revealed that he admired director Stanley Kubrick and had high expectations for the project, but was quite disappointed with the result. According to him, some passages seem bland and the lineup of Jack Nicholson did not help either. “His last major role before was in 'A Stranger in the Nest', and between that and the manic smile, the audience automatically identified him as crazy since the first scene. But the book is about Jack Torrance's gradual process of going mad through the evil influence of the Overlook Hotel - if the guy already looks crazy at first, then all the tragedy of his downfall is wasted. ”

4. It took 7 years to do “Aliens The Rescue”

“Why all this?” You might be wondering. Lawyers and money, obviously. Discussions about a sequel began shortly after “Alien the 8th Passenger” (1979) was a success; however, they were postponed due to a dispute between the film's producers and 20th Century Fox over the distribution of profits. The studio, reluctant to follow up because it would be expensive, finally agreed to it as a way to resolve the issue. Interestingly, the same producers, in addition to James Cameron and Gale Anne Hurd, sued Fox again after "Aliens The Rescue, " claiming that the studio had used "creative accounting" techniques to avoid paying them.

5. Serial killer Ed Gein has inspired three major horror movies

Convicted of murdering two people and suspecting the disappearance of five others, Ed Gein was eventually sent to a mental hospital for his actions. On his farm in Wisconsin, he found numerous macabre items, including four noses, nine masks made of human skin, several headless heads, lampshades and bowls made of fur, lips used as a curtain puller from the window and a belt made of nipples. Because of this, he eventually inspired some of the most iconic titles of all time: “Psychosis”, “The Silence of the Lambs” and “The Chainsaw Massacre”.

6. The "Halloween" script did not indicate the use of a specific mask

Michael Myers's description of the mask merely pointed to "the pale, neutral characteristics of a man." For the movie there were two options, both white-painted latex and bought by production designer Tommy Lee Wallace for less than $ 2 each at toy stores. One was a replica of the mask of a clown character named "Weary Willie" popularized by actor Emmett Kelly, and the other was a mask of Captain Kirk of "Star Trek." In the end, Kirk's was chosen because of her look, which fit perfectly with the character Myers.

7. The original ending of “The Hour of Amazement” was very different

In the original version of the end of the film, Peter Vincent turned into a vampire while performing “The Hour of Amazement” live.

8. The cast of “The Blair Witch” used GPS to find her instructions for the day.

The production programmed points for actors to locate milk cartons with three small plastic containers. Each contained notes about the direction in which the story was going for each character, and was not allowed to see the others. From then on they were free to improvise the dialogue as long as they followed the general instructions received.

9. Gene Hackman was cast to star in and direct "The Silence of the Lambs"

Gene Hackman and Orion Pictures shared the $ 500, 000 needed to acquire the rights to produce a film based on the book. However, he eventually gave up days after watching excerpts of his performance in “Mississippi in Flames” during the 1989 Oscar ceremony. The actor chose not to take another dark role in the sequel, especially as an even more nasty character. .

10. Drew Barrymore has been cast to star in “Panic”

The actress changed her mind 5 weeks before production began. Instead, she suggested playing Casey Becker, the teenage girl terrified by the killer in the opening scene. Before casting Neve Campbell, casting directors considered Alicia Witt, Brittany Murphy and Reese Witherspoon for the role of Sidney Prescott.

11. A real witch has been hired to help make “Young Witches” more authentic.

In order to ensure that the Wicca representation in “Young Witches” was as close to reality as possible, the filmmakers turned to the advice of Pat Devin, a member of one of the largest and oldest Wicca organizations in the United States. She played a very significant role in the process and even worked directly with the actresses a few times.

12. Originally, Damien had a different name in "The Prophecy."

Screenwriter David Seltzer planned to name his antichrist as Domlin, inspired by a friend's “totally nasty” son, but his wife convinced him that this would be a horrible thing. In the end, he eventually opted for Damien in reference to Father Damien, who started the first leper colony on the Hawaiian Islands.

13. “Killer Toy” was inspired by a real fact.

In 1909, painter and author Robert Eugene Otto claimed that one of his family's employees had placed a voodoo curse on his childhood toy, Robert. According to him, the doll moved from room to room, knocked down furniture and talked. The toy was then left in the attic until Otto's death in 1974, when new owners moved into his Florida home. It turns out that the new family also reported mysterious activities connected with the doll. Think! Today, Robert is on display in Key West, Florida.

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