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'Alien' (1979) -

Ridley Scott's 1979 sci-fi masterpiece 'Alien' is full of scares and frights for viewers, but apparently there were a few surprises in store for the cast as well.

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'Alien' (1979) -

When the titular monster first bursts out of John Hurt's chest, he was apparently the only one in the scene who knew what was coming. The reactions from the rest of the crew were completely genuine.

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'The Goonies' (1985) -

A defining kids' adventure film of a generation, 1985's 'The Goonies' was full of spooky intrigue and treasure hunting. When the gang first find One-Eyed Willy's pirate ship, they're taken aback by the sheer size and brilliance of it all.

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'The Goonies' (1985) -

That glimmer in their eyes wasn't manufactured: that was the first time the actors had seen the giant, 105-foot (32-m) long pirate ship.

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'Die Hard' (1988) -

Near the end of everyone's favorite Christmas flick, 1988's 'Die Hard,' the evil Hans Gruber, played by Alan Rickman, is holding on to the edge of the Nakatomi Plaza by his fingertips, and soon falls to his doom with a look of horror on his face.

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'Die Hard' (1988) -

That was genuine horror that jumped across Rickman's face: he thought he had until the count of three before the techs let him go, but they let him drop just after one, when Rickman was anything but prepared for the scary but harmless drop.

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'The Blair Witch Project' (1999) -

'The Blair Witch Project' was a revolutionary breath of fresh air in the horror genre, making a strong case for the 'found footage' style of filmmaking. What many people don't know is how experimental the rest of the process was, too.

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'The Blair Witch Project' (1999) -

The cast were given only a 35-page script outline, telling certain characters to get in arguments with certain other characters and so on. But the actual frights and scares that make the film so terrifying were kept secret from the cast for the entire filming process.

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'Fight Club' (1999) -

There's no shortage of memorable scenes in David Fincher's 1999 classic, but one that stands out is when Brad Pitt's character convinces Edward Norton's to give him a real good punch. Pitt was expecting a feigned punch to the gut, but Fincher had told Norton in secret to give him a real punch in the face.

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'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre' (1974) -

One of the greatest slasher horror films of all time, 1974's 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre' practically invented the archetype of the silent, hulking killer.

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'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre' (1974) -

Leatherface is truly one of the scariest villains in horror, so one can only imagine what it must have been like to see his mask of human skin for the first time. Actually, we don't have to imagine, because the cast's on-screen reactions to the terrifying killer come from their first time actually seeing the villain in real life.

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'Noah's Ark' (1928) -

'Noah's Ark' was a semi-silent film directed by the prolific Michael Curtiz, of 'Casablanca' (1942) fame. In a move that would land Curtiz in prison for murder today, the industrious director decided to turn reality up a notch for the infamous flood scenes.

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'Noah's Ark' (1928) -

Hundreds of thousands of gallons of water were relentlessly poured onto hordes of extras who were clambering to get onto the set's ark. In the end, three extras lost their lives on camera, and numerous others sustained serious injuries.

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'The Exorcist' (1973) -

One of the greatest horror films of the 20th century, 1973's 'The Exorcist' was one of the scariest movies most people had seen at the time. One particularly revolting scene involves the possessed girl Regan projectile vomiting green bile into the titular exorcist's face.

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'The Exorcist' (1973) -

Jason Miller, the actor who portrayed Father Karras, was told the fake, but still revolting, vomit fluid was only going to land on his stomach. So, that look of disgust and horror on his face when he gets blasted in the face with the green goo is due to a bit more than just acting talent!

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'The Birds' (1963) -

The master of suspense, Alfred Hitchcock was infamous for going to great and morally questionable lengths to get exactly the performance he wanted out of his actors. In one of his many classic films, 1963's 'The Birds,' Hitchcock told actress Tippi Hedren that they planned to used mechanical birds for a scene where her character gets violently attacked. That is, until the last minute, when Hitchcock informed Hedren they were to use real birds instead.

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'The Birds' (1963) -

Hedren was summarily thrown into the scene and attacked by real birds, and the horror seen in the film is genuine. Hitchcock got his take, but Hedren had to be admitted to the hospital for injuries she sustained from the very real birds.

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'Pretty Woman' (1990) -

One of the most successful retellings of 'Pygmalion' of the 20th century, 1990's 'Pretty Woman' starred the expertly charismatic Julia Roberts and Richard Gere.

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'Pretty Woman' (1990) -

In perhaps the most iconic scene of the film, Gere's character opens up the box of an exquisite and expensive necklace as a gift to Roberts' character. Gere snaps the box closed just as Roberts puts her fingers on the necklace. The incredibly charming shock and laughter from Roberts was entirely unscripted, as she had no idea Gere was going to close the box.

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'The Hateful Eight' (2015) -

In Quentin Tarantino's 2015 western 'The Hateful Eight,' its star-studded cast gets into all sorts of arguments and scuffles. One such scene ended up costing US$40,000, but got a real reaction out of one of the actors.

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'The Hateful Eight' (2015) -

In a scene with Kurt Russell and Jennifer Jason Leigh, Russell smashes a guitar in frustration. Unbeknownst to Russell, the guitar wasn't a prop, but was in fact an antique Martin guitar worth US$40,000. Jennifer Jason Leigh, on the other hand, knew which guitar was on set, and her reaction of surprise and horror when Russell smashed it to pieces was completely genuine.

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'Back to the Future III' (1990) -

'Back to the Future III,' the third and final installment of everyone's favorite time travel movie series, finds Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) in the Wild West.

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'Back to the Future III' (1990) -

In one climactic scene, McFly is on the gallows to be hanged. The crew decided that Fox would place his hand between the rope and his neck to keep the scene safe, but authentic. Unfortunately, Fox didn't quite slip his hand in correctly, and was actually being strangled for most of the scene until the crew realized he wasn't just acting and helped him down.

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'The Shining' (1980) -

Stanley Kubrick's 1980 horror masterpiece is well known as one of the best and most expertly crafted horror films of all time. But at what cost? Kubrick was known for being excessively demanding of his actors.

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'The Shining' (1980) -

Shelly Duvall, the acclaimed actress who played Wendy Torrance, was berated by Kubrick throughout the over 500 day-long filming process and denied appropriate breaks and rest. Duvall had numerous breakdowns and panic attacks on set, often while the camera was rolling, and these takes were used by Kubrick to create the visceral atmosphere of the film.

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'Saving Private Ryan' (1998) -

Steven Spielberg's timeless 1998 war film 'Saving Private Ryan' follows a group of Army Rangers as they search for one inexperienced Private Ryan, played by Matt Damon.

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'Saving Private Ryan' (1998) -

All of the seasoned war veterans in the film resent Ryan for wasting their time. These feelings of resentment weren't exactly turned off once Spielberg yelled "cut," either. All of the actors were sent to a demanding 10-day boot camp, while Damon got to comfortably sit it out. Once on set, the cast was genuinely annoyed with Damon's lack of discipline and knowledge of how soldiers were meant to act.

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'Rocky IV' (1985) -

The fourth installment of the 'Rocky' franchise, 'Rocky IV,' (1985) was written by, directed by, and starred Rocky Balboa himself, Sylvester Stallone. This time, Balboa was up against Ivan Drago (played by Dolph Lundgren), a man suspected of killing his opponents in the ring. Apparently, fictional legend wasn't too far from the truth.

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'Rocky IV' (1985) -

According to Stallone, he asked Lundgren to land the first few punches in their iconic boxing scene, to make sure it looked real for the camera. Lundgren obliged, but, underestimating his own strength, accidently put Stallone in the hospital after one particularly successful punch to the chest.

Sources: (Ranker) (BuzzFeed) (Bored Panda)

See also: The craziest souvenirs actors have taken from set

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