10 Horror Movie Sets On Which Actors Were Nearly Killed

Like any other work environment, sets should be a safe place for its employees. Unfortunately, sometimes the ambition to get the perfect shot or the best performance overrule safety measures leads to tragedy.

Action and horror movies are more prone to fatal accidents due to the narrative’s risky nature; endangered characters shouldn’t mean endangered actors, but it often does. Laws and rules were invented to keep filmmakers safe and accountable, but disobedience and freaky accidents still haunt horror film sets. Sometimes, the irresponsibility doesn’t end in a total disaster. These are 10 times when actors almost got killed on set.

10 The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is the first of eight slasher movies that comprise the horror franchise of the same name. The brutality in the story is led by Gunnar Hansen’s character, the cannibal Leatherface. In 1974, many of today’s laws to keep movie sets safe didn’t exist. But, apparently, neither did common sense.

Not surprisingly, Leatherface’s weapon was a chainsaw, and Hansen’s prop was actually a real, running saw. Yes, you read this correctly. The actor had a real chainsaw to shoot the scenes and threaten the actors, which could have ended in an enormous tragedy. Luckily, no one died, but Hansen got close to it when shooting the last scene when he throws the chainsaw at the teenagers. The working saw ended up falling a little too close to Hansen’s face.

9 Poltergeist (1982)

Poltergeist is one of the scariest movies ever made. Released in 1982 and written by Steven Spielberg, the movie is rumored to be cursed because it’s surrounded by the tragic off-set deaths of cast members, including two young actresses Heather O’Rourke and Dominique Dunne. But one incident scared the whole cast and crew on set when child actor Oliver Robins almost suffocated to death in the hands of a mal-functioning mechanical clown doll. The actor called for help, but the crew thought he was acting, and it was only when his face changed colors that the scene was stopped and Robins was saved.

8 The Exorcist (1973)

The 1973 supernatural classic horror The Exorcist is another movie rumored to be cursed. Whether it’s because the movie accomplished its goal of terrifying the audience or because something supernatural actually did occur on set, the reality is that actress Ellen Burstyn got severely hurt during one scene. The actress suffered a permanent spinal injury when she was thrown out of her bed by Regan. Burstyn’s scream in the film is actually a real cry of pain.

7 The Call (2013)

The Call is the 2013 psychological horror thriller directed by Brad Anderson. In the movie, Halle Berry plays the part of a 9-11 operator who attempts to save a teenage girl who’s been kidnaped. During the shooting, while performing in a fight scene, the main actress fell headfirst onto the concrete floor. She was rushed to the hospital, but thankfully, it was just a concussion, and nothing more serious happened.

6 The Green Inferno (2015)

Eli Roth’s 2015 cannibal horror movie frightened audiences worldwide. Inspired by the Italian 1980s classic, Cannibal Holocaust, the movie stars Lorenza Izzo, Ariel Levy, Daryl Sabara, and others. In the story, Izzo’s character tries to escape the cannibal tribe through a river, but she is swept away by the waters. In real life, the actress almost drowned for real while shooting the scene. Luckily, one crew member realized her cry for help was more than good acting and saved her. Roth, who is married to Izzo, even left some of the real drowning footage in the film.

5 The Mummy (1999)

In 1999, Stephen Sommer’s The Mummy was released. In the story, Brendan Fraser plays adventurer Rick O’Connell, and we follow his expedition to the City of the Dead in Egypt.

Rick is captured and hanged in one of the scenes, while Rachel Weisz’s character tries to negotiate his release. The hanging stunt went wrong in real life, and the actor actually suffocated for 18 seconds, enough to pass out. Naturally, Fraser didn’t like the experience and talked about the trauma with CBS news. 

4 Harry Potter And The Deathly Hollows (2009)

While Harry Potter is not a horror movie, there are plenty of horror elements within the films. In 2009, while filming the first part of the final episode in the Harry Potter saga, an unfortunate accident severely injured stunt actor David Holmes, who had done stunt work for Daniel Radcliff for all movies until then. In the serious accident, Holmes broke his neck, which left him paralyzed from the waist down after being thrown against a wall and fell onto the ground while shooting a flying scene. David Holmes was only 25 years old, and he kept a positive attitude after the accident and is today an ambassador for helping people who go through similar tragedies.

3 The Omen (1976)

The Omen is an American-British 1976 supernatural horror movie. Although it received mixed reviews from critics, it was a definitive commercial success, becoming one of the year’s highest-grossing movies. Unfortunately, the movie was surrounded by deaths. From Gregory Peck’s son’s suicide to a car accident that left a crewmember decapitated. But, while in production, Peck almost met a sad destiny himself when his plane got struck by lightning. Peck’s wasn’t the only plane to get struck by lightning; producer Harvey Bernhard also experienced this scare.

2 Ghostland (2018)

Ghostland is an indie horror movie directed by Pascal Laugier and shot in Canada. In the shooting, actress Taylor Hickson, who plays the role of young Vera, got severely injured when a glass door shattered, causing Hickson to fall through the door and glass shards. The actress was facially disfigured and had to be rushed to the hospital, where she received 70 stitches. Taylor Hickson sued the production for the accident.

1 The Evil Dead (1981)

The last almost-death on set turned out to be a rumor created by the two protagonists of the incident, but one, but one that lasted for a long while. In 1981, Sam Raimi released his supernatural horror movie The Evil Dead, starring, amongst others, the actor Bruce Campbell. In one of the final scenes of the movie, the camera rushes towards Campbell. It was believed that the scene was filmed by Raimi riding a motorcycle with one hand while holding the camera with the other and that the director accidentally knocked out and broke Campbell’s jaw. Bruce Campbell revealed it was all a joke during the 2012 Dallas Comic-Con.

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