© NL Beeld/Getty Images

'Silence Of The Lambs' - Anthony Hopkins and Jodie Foster reportedly didn’t even talk off-set and were genuinely scared of each other.

© NL Beeld

'Psycho' - A few years after the film was released, actress Myra Davis (light double of pictured Janet Leigh) was raped and murdered by a handyman. The man was actually a Hitchcock fan.

© NL Beeld

'The Passion of the Christ' -

Jim Caviezel, the actor who played Jesus, was struck by lighting. But he was not alone—assistant director Jan Michelini was also struck by lightning, twice!

© NL Beeld

'The Passion of the Christ' -

If that wasn’t enough, Caviezel got pneumonia, hypothermia, and dislocated his shoulder.

© NL Beeld

'American Psycho' - To prepare for the role, Christian Bale and director Mary Harron watched a lot of "a**** movies" together.

© NL Beeld

'The Omen' - The 1976 film is probably one of the most cursed movies of all time. Special effects designer John Richardson had a car crash where his girlfriend was decapitated, just like a scene in the film. An animal handler was also killed by a tiger.

© NL Beeld

'The Omen' - Lightning also struck planes carrying cast and crew members—in three separate occasions! In addition, trained dogs attacked a stuntman for real, ignoring instructions by their trainer to stop.

© NL Beeld

'The Omen' - The cast and crew also almost got blown up by the Irish Republican Army (IRA) in London, England. Lastly, Gregory Peck's son committed to taking his own life shortly after Peck accepted the role and started filming.

© NL Beeld

'Poltergeist' -

Heather O'Rourke, the actress who played Carol Anne, died aged 12. If that wasn't tragic enough, Dominique Dunne, who played the older sister in the movie, was murdered by her boyfriend.

© NL Beeld

'Rust' -

The movie 'Rust' is well on its way to infamy as one of the most tragic and ill-fated productions of all time. It started on October 21, 2021, when Alec Baldwin fired a faulty prop gun and accidentally killed the cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, as well as wounding the film's director Joel Souza. The devastating incident caused uproar around the world and calls for reform in the use of firearms on film sets.

The production of 'Rust' was shut down after the shooting and extra crew members were hired to dismantle the set on the New Mexico ranch. One of these crew members, a man called Jason Miller, was then bitten by a seriously venomous brown recluse spider. The bite life a gaping wound on his upper arm and the poison made him extremely ill.

© Getty Images 

'Zodiac' -

David Fincher reportedly "tortured" his actors by making them repeat takes to exhaustion, sometimes doing up to 70 takes for one scene!

© NL Beeld

'Zodiac' - Fincher also deleted hours of footage in front of actor Jake Gyllenhaal just to see how long it would take for him to break and cry.

© NL Beeld

'Natural Born Killers' -

Oliver Stone thought it would be a good idea to cast real convicts in his movie, so a prison riot scene almost turned into the real thing.

© Getty Images 

'The Twilight Zone' - A helicopter crashed during a scene, killing two children and decapitating actor Vic Morrow.

© NL Beeld

'The Crow' - Brandon Lee, Bruce Lee’s son, was killed on set with a prop gun that unknowingly had a bullet in the barrel.

© NL Beeld

'Se7en' -

Brad Pitt smashed his arm through a windshield while filming a scene. David Fincher included the injury in the script and the filming continued. 

© Getty Images

'The Exorcism of Emily Rose' - On more than one occasion, actress Jennifer Carpenter's radio turned on, reportedly on its own, as she was about to go to sleep.

© NL Beeld

'The Texas Chain Saw Massacre' -

The 1974 horror classic was filmed in the summer. Temperatures inside the house where the film was shot reached up to 46°C (115°F).

© NL Beeld

'The Texas Chain Saw Massacre' - The chainsaw Leatherface used was actually real. Also, Sally's finger got sliced for real. The blood and screams were genuine.

© NL Beeld

'Halloween' -

Director John Carpenter cast his friend Nick Castle to play Michael Myers because he apparently walked like a serial killer.

© NL Beeld

'Apocalypse Now' -

In true apocalypse fashion, a typhoon destroyed a number of sets, the payroll was stolen one night, and actor Martin Sheen had a heart attack while filming.

© Getty Images

'Superman' - George Reeves of the 1950s TV show 'Adventures of Superman' was shot dead at 45, and Christopher Reeve of the 1978 'Superman' film suffered a tragic accident, became paralyzed, and died aged 52.

© NL Beeld

'Saw' - A needle pit scene in the second movie had to be called off as someone accidentally knocked a box of real needles into it. They had to stop filming until the real needles were found.

© NL Beeld

'Scream' - Remember Casey Becker (Drew Barrymore) screaming and crying? Those were real tears! Director Wes Craven would tell Barrymore a story that would trigger an emotional response.

© NL Beeld

'House Of Wax' -

Real glue was used in a scene where Elisha Cuthbert is captured and gets her lips sealed.

© NL Beeld

'The Exorcist' - The set caught fire, but strangely enough, Regan's room remained intact. Plus, the characters played by actors Jack MacGowran and Vasiliki Maliaros die in the movie... and then they died in real life while the film was in post-production.

© NL Beeld

'Rosemary’s Baby' - Roughly a year after the film was released, director Roman Polanski's pregnant wife and friends were brutally murdered by members of the Manson Family.

© NL Beeld

'The Conqueror' -

A staggering 91 of the 220 cast and crew members got cancer, including John Wayne. The film was shot near an atomic testing area, so radiation is suspected to be the cause.

See also: Films that inspired real-life crimes

© NL Beeld