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30 Behind-the-Scenes Horror Facts That Aren’t All That Scary

By:: Cracked Writers; Brian C. Miller

September 25, 2023

30 Behind-the-Scenes Horror Facts That Aren’t All That Scary

Horror movies are designed to be watched in the dark, breathless with anticipation for whatever supernatural murder could possibly befall the characters — and hopefully not you once you leave the theater and have to keep living with the movie’s images in the back of your brain. The thing is, though: Making a horror movie is pretty similar to making any other kind of movie: You have a script, you have actors, you have a fussy studio, you have special effects and you have any number of things that can go wrong between pre-production and the release of the movie.

Here are some of our favorite behind-the-scenes facts about some of our favorite horror movies — and thankfully they aren’t, mostly, all that scary in and of themselves, they’re more about the general horror that comes with a high-stakes workplace…

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30 Housebound

HOUSEBOUND STRUGGLED TO SECURE THE RIGHTS FOR SOME POP CULTURE THEY WANTED TO USE. The New Zealand production couldn't get the rights to either Nancy Drew or The Bachelor to play on the TV in the background when Kylie fights with her mother. They also couldn't get the rights for a Sisters of Mercy song to use as Kylie's ringtone. CRACKED.COM — Source: 16 Rad Behind-The-Scenes Facts About Your Favorite Horror Movies

29 Re-Animator

JEFFREY COMBS HAD TO HELP DAVID GALE SMOKE WHILE FILMING RE-ANIMATOR. Combs recalls how he had to assist Gale during the shoots where his character Dr. Hill's head sat on the table for hours on end. CRACKED.COM — Source: 16 Rad Behind-The-Scenes Facts About Your Favorite Horror Movies

28 The Return of the Living Dead

THE YELLOWISH SMOKE DURING THE OPENING CREDITS WAS PRETTY TOXIC IN_ THE RETURN of THE LIVING DEAD. Apparently the only way to get yellow smoke was for the production team to use sulfur. It took a few minutes of pumping that smoke to give most of the people on set terrible headaches. CRACKED.COM — Source: 16 Rad Behind-The-Scenes Facts About Your Favorite Horror Movies

27 Hereditary

ALEX WOLFF WAS SERIOUSLY SCARRED FILMING HEREDITARY. Wolff had to go to therapy and had serious issues sleeping after being emotionally screwed by the film. CRACKED.COM — Source: 16 Rad Behind-The-Scenes Facts About Your Favorite Horror Movies

26 The Conjuring

BEHIND-THE-SCENES FACTS The real doll that inspired The Conjuring was a normal Raggedy Ann. WARNING POSITIVEL CRACKED.COM DO NOT In The Conjuring, and the Annabelle spin-off, the evil-possessed doll is a creepy, ventriloquist-dummy-looking toy with wooden skin and large, unblinking eyes. In reality, the toy that inspired the series is a regular Raggedy Ann, which is locked up in Warrens' Occult Museum in Monroe, ст. — Source: 14 Behind The Scenes Facts About Our Favorite Horror Movies

25 Psycho

BEHIND-THE-SCENES FACTS The first American film that featured a working toilet was Psycho. GRACKED.COM Flushing a toilet was seen as a little too risque for mid-20th century audiences, which is why Hitchcock added it as a plot point for some extra shock in 1960's Psycho. The scene in question doesn't include a toilet in the novel that the movie is based on. — Source: 14 Behind The Scenes Facts About Our Favorite Horror Movies

24 Scream

ROSE MCGOWAN DID HER OWN SHOPPING FOR HER CHARACTER IN SCREAM. The actress said the original look for her character was very tomboyish and that the costume designer tried to put her in overalls and stacked Keds. So McGowan went to the mall and bought her entire wardrobe. CRACKED.COM — Source: 16 Rad Behind-The-Scenes Facts About Your Favorite Horror Movies

23 It

BILL SKARSCARD SKYPED HIS BROTHERS A LOT WHILE FILMING IT... IN HIS PENNYWISE MAKE-UP. The Skarsgard brothers were apparently psyched that Bill was playing the iconic clown. Brother Bill ended up skyping them a lot, so they could get a kick out of seeing him all done up. CRACKED.COM — Source: 16 Rad Behind-The-Scenes Facts About Your Favorite Horror Movies

22 The Dark and the Wicked

THE SHEEP AND GOATS GOT A BIT TOO COMFORTABLE ON THE SET of THE DARK AND THE WICKED. The 2020 horror was shot on director Bryan Bertino's dad's farm in Texas, and the actors had about two days to familiarize themselves with their surroundings. Actress Marin Ireland said the animals got so comfortable with them that, at one point when she had to lay down on the ground, they just started walking all over her, trampling her head and becoming quite dangerous. CRACKED.COM — Source: 16 Rad Behind-The-Scenes Facts About Your Favorite Horror Movies

21 An American Werewolf In London

GRIFFIN DUNNE GOT TOWED INSIDE A TRAILER ON THE SET of AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON. Dunne said he had to stop filming at one point to use the bathroom in the only trailer on set that had one, but halfway through, the trailer started getting towed with him still in it. CRACKED.COM — Source: 16 Rad Behind-The-Scenes Facts About Your Favorite Horror Movies

20 Halloween

MICHAEL MYERS'S HANDS IN HALLOWEEN. In the beginning of the 1978 film where Myers open a kitchen drawer to retrieve a knife, we're actually seeing the hands of co-writer and producer Debra Hill. CRACKED.COM — Source: 16 Rad Behind-The-Scenes Facts About Your Favorite Horror Movies

19 Spiral

CHRIS ROCK'S BEHIND-THE-SCENE JOKE IN SPIRAL. After filming his emotional outburst scene in the police station, Rock turned to the camera and said, Lest anyone forget, I was in Pootie Tang, so I have range. CRACKED.COM — Source: 16 Rad Behind-The-Scenes Facts About Your Favorite Horror Movies

18 Psycho, The Silence of the Lambs, and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

BEHIND-THE-SCENES FACTS Three separate horror movies are inspired by real-world serial killer Ed Gein. CRACKED.COM In the late 50's, Ed Gein confessed to two murders and was found with a house full of human remains. The horrific actions of Gein were used as inspiration in film over four decades in Psycho (1960), The Silence of the Lambs (1974), and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1991). — Source: 14 Behind The Scenes Facts About Our Favorite Horror Movies

17 Carrie

BEHIND-THE-SCENES FACTS Sissy Spacek slept in her bloody clothes for three days. CRACKED.COM When Spacek's character in Carrie is covered in pig's blood, it makes for quite the stunning visual. During the three days it took to finish the scene, Spacek slept in the blood-soaked clothes to not risk losing continuity. — Source: 14 Behind The Scenes Facts About Our Favorite Horror Movies

16 Scream

BEHIND-THE-SCENES FACTS Scream was based on actual events that happened in Florida. CRACKED.COM Danny Rolling went on a killing spree in 1991 in Gainesville, Florida, killing five students in their apartments with a knife and posing their bodies to shock investigators. Screenwriter Kevin Williamson was watching the news story when he noticed an open window in his home, which inspired him to write the Scream script. — Source: 14 Behind The Scenes Facts About Our Favorite Horror Movies

15 The Blair Witch Project

BEHIND-THE-SCENES FACTS People thought The Blair Witch Project was real, and that the people in the movie actually died. CRACKED.COM Due to the marketing around The Blair Witch Project, which described the unknown actors as missing, presumed dead, many viewers thought they were really watching the final days of the people on the screen. The mother of actress Heather Donahue actually received sympathy cards from concerned audience members. — Source: 14 Behind The Scenes Facts About Our Favorite Horror Movies

14 Scream

BEHIND-THE-SCENES FACTS The voice actor for Ghostface was kept out of view of the actors. CRACKED.COM In the Scream series, the voice actor for Ghostface (Roger L. Jackson) was hidden on set when he voiced his lines to keep the on-screen actors believably unsettled by him. When characters are taunted by him on the phone, he really is talking to them from somewhere out of sight. Не also voiced Mojo Jojo on The Powerpuff Girls, so there's that. — Source: 14 Behind The Scenes Facts About Our Favorite Horror Movies

13 The Exorcist

BEHIND-THE-SCENES FACTS The Exorcist is the first horror movie to be nominated for Best Picture. CRACKED.COM It received 10 Oscar nominations in 1974, including Best Supporting Actress for the 15 year old Linda Blair. It lost Best Picture to The Sting, a movie you didn't know existed until now. — Source: 14 Behind The Scenes Facts About Our Favorite Horror Movies

12 As Above, So Below

AS ABOVE, SO BELOW WAS THE FIRST FEATURE TO GET PERMISSION TO FILM IN THE off- LIMIT AREAS of PARIS' CATACOMBS. The filmmakers said it was quite challenging to film down there, and that there were days where the water came up to their waists, adding to the already cold atmosphere. There were also parts that had absolutely no lighting, and the actors had to really do the lighting themselves. CRACKED.COM — Source: 16 Rad Behind-The-Scenes Facts About Your Favorite Horror Movies

11 The Blackcoat's Daughter

KAT'S PIANO SONG IN THE BLACKCOAT'S DAUGHTER. The song was written by director Oz Perkins' brother, Elvis, who also did the score of the film. Perkins said he didn't hear actress Kiernan Shipka play the song until the day of the shoot. CRACKED.COM — Source: 16 Rad Behind-The-Scenes Facts About Your Favorite Horror Movies

10 The Cell

VINCENT D'ONOFRIO BLACKED OUT DURING A SCENE IN THE CELL. While shooting his character Stargher's chain and hook scene, D'Onofrio apparently let out a big scream before passing out, terrifying the director. CRACKED.COM — Source: 16 Rad Behind-The-Scenes Facts About Your Favorite Horror Movies

9 Tusk

THE WALRUS SCENES WERE FILMED ALL. AT-ONCE.IN TUSK. They did it so that Justin Long wouldn't have to get in and out of that costume over several days. CRACKED.COM — Source: 16 Rad Behind-The-Scenes Facts About Your Favorite Horror Movies

8 What We Do In The Shadows

TAIKA WAITITI SAID THE SCENE WHERE НЕ HAD TO BITE INTO THE WOMAN'S NECK IN WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS WAS PRETTY STRESSFUL AND UNPLEASANT. The blood went in my eye, actually in my eyeball, down my throat. CRACKED.COM — Source: 16 Rad Behind-The-Scenes Facts About Your Favorite Horror Movies

7 Scream

DREW BARRYMORE REALLY PHONED 911 DURING THAT SCENE IN SCREAM. The line was supposed to be disconnected, but wasn't. Barrymore ended up dialling 911 for real without knowing it, screaming into the phone before hanging up. An operator eventually phoned back to find out why they were getting constant calls from a screaming woman. CRACKED.COM — Source: 16 Rad Behind-The-Scenes Facts About Your Favorite Horror Movies

6 The Ring

BEHIND-THE-SCENES FACTS The shadows under all the actors in The Ring were removed. CRACKED.COM In order to give the viewer an unsettling feeling from the movie, cinematographer Bojan Bazelli used very deliberate lighting to remove shadows under the actors and have them look like they're floating in space. — Source: 14 Behind The Scenes Facts About Our Favorite Horror Movies

5 Poltergeist

BEHIND-THE-SCENES FACTS Real human skeletons were used in Poltergeist, without the actors knowing. GRACKED.COM The prop master on set realized it was cheaper to get some real skeletons from a medical and science supply company than to have replicas made. JoBeth Williams, who played the mother Diane, filmed with the skeletons in a mud filled pool for five days without knowing the props weren't... props. — Source: 14 Behind The Scenes Facts About Our Favorite Horror Movies

4 The Shining

BEHIND-THE-SCENES FACTS Jack Nicholson chopped through the prop door too fast in The Shining. CRACKED COM Since Nicholson used to be a volunteer firefighter, he was so good with the axe that when it came time to take down the prop door, it went down unnaturally fast. The production had to replace the flimsy door with a real one so Nicholson could hack away at it. — Source: 14 Behind The Scenes Facts About Our Favorite Horror Movies

3 The Craft

BEHIND-THE-SCENES FACTS The Craft hired a practicing witch to keep the film authentic. CRACKED.COM To make sure they were getting everything right, filmmakers hired Pat Devin, the (at the time) First Officer of Southern California's Covenant of the Goddess. Devin had a great experience on set, saying that a lot of my suggestions were acted upon and virtually all of my suggestions were given careful consideration. — Source: 14 Behind The Scenes Facts About Our Favorite Horror Movies

2 The Witch

BEHIND-THE-SCENES FACTS The director of The Witch hates that you can see Anya Taylor-Joy's earring holes. CRACKED COM Since the movie takes place in 1630, seeing evidence of earrings could break the immersion for people REALLY concentrating on the lead actress' earlobes. The movie's director Robert Eggers said it bothered him so much, he wished he went back in with CGI to get rid of them. — Source: 14 Behind The Scenes Facts About Our Favorite Horror Movies

1 Candyman

BEHIND-THE-SCENES FACTS Those are real bees in the mouth of Tony Todd in Candyman. GRACKED COM In the climax of the movie, Todd had to have real bees come out of his mouth, with only a dental dam blocking them from crawling down his throat. Todd had a deal with the production that he would be paid $1,000 for every bee sting (of which there were 23) over the course of filming. — Source: 14 Behind The Scenes Facts About Our Favorite Horror Movies

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