Actors will occasionally get injured on set (or worse). Usually, it is caused by an accident while performing a stunt or an out-of-the-blue occurrence. However, there have been instances where the on-screen talent was intentionally hurt. And while this has occurred in various genres, it tends to happen most often in horror features, although this may be a coincidence.
Some of the incidents were allowed (or even encouraged) by the actors, to get an authentic shot or reaction. However, there have also been scenarios where the director and or crew did this without consulting the actors and even out of malice.
Skinned Deep
Skinned Deep was a low-budget feature released in 2004. The movie generally received negative reviews and was deemed to be a poorly-executed Texas Chainsaw Massacre ripoff.
In the intro scene, someone’s arm gets branded with an “S” and a “D” as the remaining letters of the movie’s title appear. This was achieved with no special effects but instead actual scarification. The willing participant was hired on a fetishist site by director Gabe Bartalos.
The Exorcist
Director William Friedkin was willing to go to any lengths to get a genuine reaction from his actors, including when Chris (Ellen Burstyn) was slapped by Reagan (Linda Blair) so forcefully that she landed on her back. For the stunt, a harness was wrapped around Burstyn’s midriff and pulled by a stuntman. After the first time, she urged the stuntman and Friedkin to not pull so hard that she would get hurt.
Despite this, she was pulled even harder and landed on her lower back – to which Friedkin asked the cinematographer to focus on Burstyn before calling an ambulance. As a result, she has a permanent injury but insists there are no hard feelings and mentioned she enjoyed working with Friedkin.
Evil Dead
While filming a scene in Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead, Bruce Campbell, who played Ash, twisted his ankle. Raimi and Rob Tapert joked with Campbell and poked his ankle with sticks. This caused Campbell to walk with a visible limp in later scenes.
Being close friends, there was no ill-will intended. Campbell even commented afterward that he is always getting injured in his movies.
An American Werewolf In London
A penchant of An American Werewolf In London was its groundbreaking special effects designed by Rick Baker and his team. For the scene where Jack (Griffin Dunne) and David (David Naughton) were attacked by a werewolf, Baker instructed Dunne to be careful with the wolf head, but the actor got carried away and accidentally ripped it.
Annoyed, Baker briefly thought of putting hard teeth in the wolf, but instead, he beat up Griffin with the backup head. Baker and Dunne remain on friendly terms and both commended each other’s work in the film.
Hereditary
Hereditary was filled with frightening and disturbing sequences, including the scene where Alex Wolff’s character, Peter, is possessed and slams his head on his desk while in class.
Wolff was willing to break his nose, but director Ari Aster insisted it was not necessary and the prop department created a soft, cushioned desk. However, when they shot the scene, Wolff slammed his head on the bottom of the desk only to realize the top was cushioned, but the bottom was hard. Wolff ended up dislocating his jaw as a result.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
In Tobe Hooper’s The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, quite a few actors were intentionally and unintentionally harmed during production (mostly the latter).
During the dinner scene, the crew could not get the fake blood to come out of the tube when Leatherface (Gunner Hansen) cut Sally’s (Marilyn Burns) finger. Burns eventually obliged to being really cut so that they could get the shot.
The Shining
Director Stanley Kubrick’s treatment of actress Shelley Duvall is almost as infamous as The Shining itself. Duvall’s character, Wendy Torrence, was a bereaved mother who was tormented by her husband’s descent into insanity. Co-star Jack Nicholson noticed Kubrick was a different director with Duvall. Kubrick frequently criticized the actress and her performance.
For the notorious bat scene, Kubrick had Duvall perform 127 retakes. He also ordered the crew to not sympathize with Duvall and the resulting stress caused her hair to fall out. Despite this experience, Duvall has regarded it as a mixed blessing as she valued her time with Kubrick, but noted it was physically and mentally exhausting.
The Birds
Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds has gone on to be one of the genre’s most distinguished and praised classics. However, there have been reports and claims from lead actress Tippi Hedren and the cast and crew about the director and actress’ relationship behind the scenes. Reportedly after spurning his romantic advances, Hitchcock put her in scenarios where she could potentially be harmed, including the phone booth scene, where shattered panes of glass cut her face, and the finale, where Hedren’s character Melanie is ambushed by birds in the attic.
According to NPR, Hedren said she was misled to believe mechanical birds would be used, but at the last minute, they were switched to real birds. The scene required several retakes and seven days of filming. Hedren was later admitted to the hospital.
