35 Horror Movie Actors Who Had Chilling Experiences On Set
It might be just make-believe, but shooting a horror film can still be pretty scary for those involved. A whole host of actors — including big names such as Janet Leigh, Ellen Burstyn, and Shelley Duvall — have suffered some form of trauma after signing up to appear in horror movies. Whether this is down to haunted sets or directors like the late William Friedkin letting things go a little too far, it all sounds suitably terrifying. Here's a look at some particularly chilling cases featuring some of the most iconic terror flicks ever made.
1. Shelley Duvall, The Shining
Legendary movie auteur Stanley Kubrick made poor Shelley Duvall enact The Shining’s exhausting bat-swinging scene no fewer than 127 times. This pursuit of perfectionism won it a place in The Guinness Book of Records for the highest number of takes filmed for a spoken-word scene. Duvall’s hands were left tender and sore as a result.
Duvall was also often required to spend half of her entire day simply yelling at the top of her voice. The actress admits that these tactics helped to coax an unforgettable performance from her, but she also labeled the experience of playing Wendy Torrance “almost unbearable.”
2. Marilyn Burns, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
It’s widely considered to be one of the most terrifying horror movies of all time, and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre also put its leading lady through the wringer, too. In the famous dinner scene, Marilyn Burns had to endure constant blows to the skull with a fake yet weighty sledgehammer. She was also required to shriek for hours and hours on end.
Burns also had to endure the smell of both Leatherface’s costume and food which had long since passed its sell-by date. She later revealed to the website Terror Trap, “Afterwards, I was just so grateful it was over. I probably was the happiest girl alive.” And yet she still returned to the franchise on two separate occasions.
3. Malcolm McDowell, A Clockwork Orange
Malcolm McDowell also learned that Stanley Kubrick likes to push his actors to their limits while filming A Clockwork Orange. For one of the cult classic’s most disturbing scenes, the Brit assented to having his eyes pinned open for extended periods. This actually cost McDowell his sight! Happily, this unforeseen effect was only temporary.
As if briefly going blind due to his pinned eyelids wasn’t bad enough, McDowell also scratched his cornea, too. By this point, even Kubrick decided enough was enough. He called time on the scene and brought the star’s suffering to a merciful end.
4. Kyle Richards, Halloween
Kyle Richards wasn’t particularly affected by the filming of John Carpenter’s seminal Halloween. At the time, the actress was a little too young to fully understand its slasher storyline. But she was scarred for the rest of her childhood after seeing it unfold at the film’s premiere when she was just nine years old.
In an interview with the website Halloween Daily News in 2013, Richards revealed, "I had no idea what I was in for. Seeing it for the first time all pieced together was a very, very different movie. It was just really scary, and I really did sleep with my mom until I was 15 years old after that. I was terrified."