FILM 1975: PET SEMATARY

FILM 1975: PET SEMATARY (1989)

TRIVIA: Stephen King once mentioned that the only novel he wrote that really scared him was "Pet Sematary."

Bruce Campbell was the first choice for the role of Louis Creed.

Stephen King was present on location for most of the shooting of the film. The area it was shot in was only twenty minutes away from his home in Bangor, Maine. 

In Stephen King's novel, Judd mentions that a dog went wild in a nearby town and killed several people. This is a reference to the events of Cujo (1983), another novel by King. It is common for characters in King's novels to mention the events of his other novels.

Stephen King is a big fan of the Ramones and referenced some of their songs in the novel "Pet Sematary." In homage, The Ramones wrote and performed the theme song "Pet Sematary," which is featured in the film's closing credits. The truck driver was also listening to "Sheena Is A Punk Rocker" by The Ramones.

The idea for this story came about when Stephen King's daughter's cat, Smuckey, was killed on the highway outside their home. Smuckey's name appears on gravestones in the pet cemetery, in both the film and the novel.

George A. Romero was originally set to direct, but when filming was delayed, he dropped out and Mary Lambert stepped in and Romero directed Monkey Shines (1988).

During the film, the character played by Fred Gwynne mentions that he had a pet named "Spot." "Spot" was also the name of the family pet on the TV show The Munsters (1964), also starring Gwynne.

Director Mary Lambert said that Fred Gwynne was her first and only choice for the role of Judd Crandall.

Initially, Paramount executives wanted a pair of twins to play the role of Gage, like those chosen to play Ellie, which was the more cost-effective option. However, Lambert was very impressed with three-year old Miko Hughes, whom she felt was a natural talent despite his young age, so she lobbied the studio to accept her choice.

Tom Savini turned down the chance to direct the film.

One of the hardest elements for the production design team was the path to the cemetery as it was described as, "shining in the moonlight."

CAMEO: Stephen King: (at around 41 mins) minister at the funeral.

FILM 1974: THE CELL

FILM 1974: THE CELL

TRIVIA: Jennifer Lopez wanted the costumes to be comfortable to wear. Costume designer Eiko Ishioka advised Lopez to feel uncomfortable because her character, Catherine, is "tortured".

(At around one hour and three minutes) When Catherine (Jennifer Lopez) talks with Carl (Vincent D'Onofrio) while he is "cleaning" his first victim, the scenery resembles the music video "Losing My Religion" by R.E.M.; that video was directed by this film's director, Tarsem Singh.

(At around one hour and twelve minutes) The scene where Peter Novak (Vince Vaughn) first enters the mind of Carl Stargher (Vincent D'Onofrio), and is confronted by three females with open mouths to the sky is based on the painting "Dawn" by Norwegian painter Odd Nerdrum.

(At around forty-four minutes) The scene in which the horse is cut into segments suspended in glass cases is inspired by the work of British artist Damien Hirst (e.g., the installation "Some Comfort Gained from the Acceptance of the Inherent Lies in Everything").

Vincent D'Onofrio later admitted that his wife refused to sleep in the same bed with him for two weeks after seeing his performance in the movie.

Named by Roger Ebert as one of his top-ten films of 2000.

Vince Vaughn and Vincent D'Onofrio played brothers in The Break-Up (2006).

FILM 1967: TERRIFIER

FILM 1967: TERRIFIER

TRIVIA: This is a return for Art the Clown, as he was previously used by the same director in the film "All Hallows Eve".

The ambulance that drives past Dawn as she listens to the radio broadcast in the car was unplanned. That was a real ambulance that drove by.

The scene in the pizza restaurant was originally meant to take place in a burger restaurant, but Damien Leone changed this when he realized that both Jenna Kanell and Catherine Corcoran are vegetarian.

FILM 1966: VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED

FILM 1966: VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED

TRIVIA: This was the final feature film completed by Christopher Reeve before a horse riding accident on May 27, 1995 which left him paralyzed.

The film was shot in western Marin County, California. Director John Carpenter had a house in Inverness for several years, so the location was essentially his second home at that time (as the director puts it, "his own backyard"). However, the locals were not happy to see the film crew in the area so they made the shoot very difficult by harassment and vandalism. Carpenter tells that while they were filming, for example, a sound take, a neighbor would start mowing his lawn or start up a chainsaw until he was paid to stop. Some of the people even tried to break into the equipment trucks. The whole experience essentially soured Carpenter on living in the area, where several scenes of his earlier film The Fog (1980) were also filmed.

John Carpenter had planned to work again with Universal on their long-gestating remake of Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954), but the film's box office failure killed those plans. As of 2017, the remake remains unmade, although speculation began again with the announcement of Universal's "Dark Universe" brand.

Based on the novel The Midwich Cuckoos by John Wyndham, published through Penguin Books.

DIRECTOR CAMEO: John Carpenter: Man at gas station pay phone.

FILM 1940: ED WOOD

FILM 1940: ED WOOD 

TRIVIA: This film cost more to produce than all of Edward D. Wood Jr.'s films put together.

Martin Landau's Academy Award for "Best Actor in a Supporting Role" for his portrayal of Bela Lugosi marked the first time in Oscar history that a performer in any category won for playing a movie star. A decade later, Cate Blanchett won a "Best Actress in a Supporting Role" Academy Award for her portrayal of Katharine Hepburn in The Aviator(2004).

Initially, Bela Lugosi, Jr. didn't want to see the film because he thought it wouldn't portray his father correctly, but upon further persuasion, he saw the film, and agreed that Martin Landau honored his father in the performance. The two later became friends.

Tim Burton said that he was drawn to the story because of the similarities between Edward D. Wood Jr.'s relationship with Bela Lugosi, and his own friendship with Vincent Price late in the actor's life.

Unhappy with Vincent D'Onofrio, Tim Burton had his voice dubbed by Maurice LaMarche.

The first film by Tim Burton to not feature Danny Elfman's music score.

Johnny Depp said that his characterization of Edward D. Wood Jr. was a mixture of "the blind optimism of Ronald Reagan, the enthusiasm of the Tin Man from The Wizard of Oz(1939), and Casey Kasem."

Martin Landau's face had to be painted unnaturally white in order for the black-and-white film stock to record it properly.

One story claims that the producers decided to make the film in black and white because no one could decide how Bela Lugosi should look filmed in color. 

Johnny Depp developed a love-hate relationship with angora sweaters. He jokingly told MTV that he learned too much about women's clothing while making the film. Because angora sheds profusely, Depp joked that in certain scenes, he may have "inhaled more angora than oxygen."

In order to imitate Bela Lugosi's voice and mannerisms, Martin Landau watched approximately 35 Bela Lugosi movies, and purchased Hungarian language tapes. With the tapes, he would "literally practice the language and see where the tongue would go." When Hungarian-born director Peter Medak saw the film, he called Landau to praise him. Medak said that Landau's accent sounded spot-on, because, "You are not an actor trying to do a Hungarian accent, you're a character trying not to do (one)."

John Breckinridge originally had very little dialogue. His role was greatly expanded when Bill Murray was cast.

Director Tim Burton's favorite of his films.

During the bar scene with Wood, Orson Welles complains that the finances keeps falling through for his Don Quixote picture. In August 2000, Johnny Depp took part in filming The Man Who Killed Don Quixote (2018), with Terry Gilliam directing. After years of delays the film was finally released in 2018.

The film cast includes two Oscar winners: Patricia Arquette and Martin Landau; and two Oscar nominees: Bill Murray and Johnny Depp.

Rick Baker was very concerned about the casting of Martin Landau as Bela Lugosi, seeing how they didn't share any similar facial features. Baker, being a very big fan of Lugosi and who had known Tim Burton before the film, persured the job as makeup designer fearing that a lesser makeup artist would do too much. Baker designed and created subtle appliances that would alter Landau's features to make him more resemble Lugosi (a set of a ears, a nose, a chin, and an appliance to cover the fullness of his upper lip) that Ve Neillwould apply on a daily basis. Landau, Baker, and Neill would all eventually win Academy Awards for their work.

FILM 1933: VELVET BUZZSAW

FILM 1933: VELVET BUZZSAW

TRIVIA: When Dan Gilroy was asked by Vanity Fair what he wants audiences take away from the film, he said: "I hope people look at art in a slightly different way. Any time you listen to a piece of music or look at a sculpture or a painting or a film, you realize the artists behind that have invested what I believe to be their creative soul into the work. To me, that's a bit of a sacred thing and I think we've lost that a little bit. I would love it if we could return to that."

Dan Gilroy was struck by the idea for Velvet Buzzsaw after having visited the Dia contemporary-art gallery in Beacon, New York in 2017 and hours after came up with a rough plot. In an interview with Vanity Fair he described: "It was the Tuesday after Christmas, at about 5 o'clock in the afternoon, and no one was there. I was wandering around this huge, empty warehouse with all this rather disturbing contemporary art. And I wound up in the basement in a video installation with, like, dentist chairs and rats running around. And I just thought, 'Man, this would be a great place for a horror movie.' The idea that artists invest their souls in their work and it's more than a commodity--that has always interested me. I suddenly saw a way of incorporating it all, to explore how, when art and commerce are dangerously out of balance, bad things can happen. It clicked very quickly."

After Dan Gilroy's debut film Nightcrawler (2014), as well as his sophomore movie Roman J. Israel, Esq. (2017), this is his third feature film set in Los Angeles. Gilroy often praises the city for having such natural beauty to it, and even more importantly, people that have been working there for ages who are all experts on their various crafts.

FILM 1917: HALLOWEEN

FILM 1917: HALLOWEEN 

TRIVIA: Jake Gyllenhaal helped convince Jamie Lee Curtis to reprise her role of Laurie Strode for the film. Jake Gyllenhaal is a family friend of Curtis' and is dubbed by her as an unofficial godson.

The role of Allyson, Laurie's granddaughter, became somewhat of a coveted role. Multiple popular actresses including Lucy Hale and Emma Roberts met with Danny McBride to personally talk about the movie. However, the studio decided that they wanted to go back to the roots of the first movie and cast an unknown actress, similar to how Jamie Lee Curtis was cast in the original.

As with the original Halloween (1978), Michael Myers is listed in the credits not as "Michael Myers", but "The Shape".

The film's producer is Malek Akkad, who is the son of Moustapha Akkad, the producer of the original 1978 "Halloween." Moustapha Akkad was murdered, along with his daughter Rima (Malek's sister), in the terrorist bombing of an Amman, Jordan hotel in 2005. Jamie Lee Curtis has recounted how the first person whom she saw when she came to the set for the first day of filming the 2018 film was Malek, whom she remembered as a 7 year-old child visiting the set during production of the original film. She added that seeing Malek for the first time since his father's death immediately brought her to tears.

On the tv, a newscaster can be heard describing the events of the original film as "the babysitter murders". This was originally the title Carpenter wanted for Halloween (1978). It was only changed to Halloween after the producer Irwin Yablans thought up the idea and to release it near Halloween. The rest is history.

While the film ignores all previous sequels and reboots, it pays homage to all Halloween films, as had been intended by co-Writer Danny McBride.

Jamie Lee Curtis revealed to Chris Hardwick on his podcast that she performed the sounds of the baby crying when Michael walks through the house after slaughtering the resident with a hammer and grabbing a butcher's knife from the kitchen.

FILM 1895: THE STEPFATHER

FILM 1895: THE STEPFATHER

TRIVIA: Loosely based on the story of John List, the New Jersey man who killed his family in 1971, and was on the run until 1989, when his profile on the television show America's Most Wanted: America Fights Back (1988) resulted in his capture. The episode is: America's Most Wanted: America Fights Back: John Emil List/John Riccardi (1989).

Stephanie (Jill Schoelen)'s mother was played by Shelley Hack, who's only 16 years older, and Terry O'Quinn, who was the stepfather, is only 11 years her senior.

Cinematographer John Lindley was hired as a last minute replacement for the original director of photography who was arrested in a domestic dispute right before shooting was to start.

Entertainment Weekly ranked this as the 22nd scariest movie of all time.

Director Joseph Ruben originally wanted Jerry Blake to whistle the Barbra Streisand song "The Way We Were," but the rights to the song proved to be too expensive.

FILM 1871: TOURIST TRAP

FILM 1871: TOURIST TRAP

TRIVIA: The script originally called for nudity, but Schmoeller said he was too bashful and embarrassed to bring it up with Tanya Roberts and the other actresses during casting. When they got to the lake scene, he finally asked them if they'd be willing. The collective answer was no.

Stephen King praised the film in his book Danse Macabre, especially its frightful opening scene.

Director David Schmoeller was startled when the film received a PG rating despite its disturbing subject matter. Schmoeller stated in an interview with TerrorTrap.com that he felt the film would have been more commercially successful had it received an R rating.

The mannequin who gives the female lead something to drink is actually Schmoeller's then-wife. The mannequin originally had 2 lines, but Schmoeller had them edited out during post-production. She then never forgave him for that.

FILM 1859: CAMPFIRE TALES

FILM 1859: CAMPFIRE TALES

TRIVIA: Film debut of Jacinda Barrett.

Originally intended for a theatrical run, the film was eventually released direct-to-video in 1998.

FILM 1844: THE SIXTH SENSE

FILM 1844: THE SIXTH SENSE

TRIVIA: Reportedly, Haley Joel Osment got the role of Cole Sear for one of three reasons. First, he was best for it. Second, he was the only boy at auditions who wore a tie. Third, director M. Night Shyamalan was surprised when he asked Haley Joel Osment if he read his part. Osment replied, "I read it three times last night." Shyamalan was impressed, saying, "Wow, you read your part three times?" To which Osment replied, "No, I read the script three times."

Toni Collette has said that she was so moved by the emotional resonance of the story while filming, she did not even realize it was a horror film until after its release.

While in New York City auditioning for Bringing Out the Dead (1999), Toni Collette also auditioned for this film as an afterthought. She said the scene in the car toward the end of the film, which was the audition scene, was the scene that really drew her to the film.

According to director M. Night Shyamalan, Donnie Wahlberg lost 43 pounds for the role of Vincent Grey.

Filmed in sequence.

The movie was rented by 80 million people in 2000, making it the year's top-rated VHS and DVD title.

M. Night Shyamalan wrote the role of Malcolm Crowe with Bruce Willis in mind.

A lot of the members of M. Night Shyamalan's family are doctors. This is the reason why he cameos as a doctor, as a tribute to his family.

This was the first of two movies that Bruce Willis owed Disney, after he caused another production, "The Broadway Brawler," to be shut down, due to him firing the director. He also was paid ten million dollars, half of his usual salary at the time.

According to Michael Cera, this was the first film that he ever auditioned for. He read for the part of Cole, but the role ultimately went to Haley Joel Osment.

Included among the "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die," edited by Steven Schneider.

In 2007, the American Film Institute ranked this as the #89 Greatest Movie of All Time. This was one of the newest entries on the list (from films which were released between 1997 and 2005).

DIRECTOR CAMEO: M. Night Shyamalan: Dr. Hill, who examines Cole Sear after the "accident" at the birthday party.

FILM 1841: BODY PARTS

FILM 1841: BODY PARTS 

TRIVIA: Body Parts is very similar to a 1971 episode of Night Gallery titled "The Hand of Borgus Weems."

Advertisements for the movie were cancelled in Wisconsin due to the Dahmer killings.

FILM 1839: WINCHESTER

FILM 1839: WINCHESTER

TRIVIA: The Winchester Mystery House is a mansion located in San Jose, California. It is believed to be haunted by the victims of the Winchester rifle. It has been a tourist attraction since 1923, a year after Sarah Winchester's death.

Very little of the filming took place in the actual mansion. The mansion's design in reality is extremely cramped, making filming very difficult. As such, most of the mansion's interior needed to be recreated on sound stages.

According to records kept by the Mystery House proprietors today, Sarah Winchester constantly built and rebuilt the house throughout her 38 years in residence. The Winchester house has windows and doors in the floor, doors that open into walls or go nowhere, and stairs to nowhere or into the ceiling. Its total area is around 6 acres (24,000 m²).

The promotional image for the film of Helen Mirren sitting in the carriage in mourning clothes mirrors the only known photograph of the reclusive Sarah Winchester on the estate, which is seen on the tour of the mansion in San Jose, California.

Lionsgate bought the film and photography rights to the Winchester Mansion for this film. So now tourists are not allowed to take any pictures of the interior of the mansion, because a tourist photo would be in direct competition with a Hollywood movie.

The directors are twins. Dame Mirren likened the experience to having one mind speaking through two mouths.

The quotes on the stained glass windows shown at the beginning, "Wide unclasp the tables of their thoughts" and "These same thoughts people this little world," are obscure Shakespearean quotes, and not even from the same play. No one knows why Sarah Winchester chose them.

The real life Winchester house has spider webs incorporated into its design, as Sarah believed that spider webs were good luck.

FILM 1832: POPCORN

FILM 1832: POPCORN

TRIVIA: The title "Popcorn" was linked to an element in the story. This element was removed before the final cut. The producers and distributor liked the title so it was kept.

The reason that the teenagers listen only to reggae music is that this film was actually shot in Jamaica.

The "Dreamland Theatre" shown in the film is actually The Ward Theatre in Kingston, Jamaica.

After three weeks of shooting, Amy O'Neill was replaced by Jill Schoelen. Schoelen has said that she did not have much interaction with the cast since many of the scenes had already been filmed with O'Neill and in most cases just needed to make quick re-shoots with Schoelen.

While the film flopped in cinemas, it has since become a classic among horror fans, largely due to it's homage to William Castle, who is known for creating theater gags such as the ones depicted in Popcorn.

The character of "Lanyard Gates" was very loosely inspired by eccentric Brazilian filmmaker José Mojica Marins.

FILM 1821: GHOST STORIES

FILM 1821: GHOST STORIES

TRIVIA: The title of the film was misspelled as "Ghost Storeis" in much of the pre-release media. This was done to accord with the production's tagline "The brain sees what it wants to see"

Based on the West End play by League of Gentleman writer Jeremy Dyson.

Both Andy Nyman and Jeremy Dyson's feature film directorial debut.

FILM 1820: MONKEY SHINES

FILM 1820: MONKEY SHINES

TRIVIA: This was George A. Romero's first studio film. However, the studio he was working with, Orion Pictures, had re-cut the film against Romero's wishes which contributed to the box office failure of the film. Afterwards, Romero went back to independent filmmaking until The Dark Half (1993) (also from Orion).

This was the first film role for Stephen Root, then a stage actor. According to Root, he had been instructed by his agent not to let the casting directors know that he was inexperienced with film as an actor. Root's official debut was Crocodile Dundee II (1988), which had been released in theaters a month before this film, despite being shot a month after it.

FILM 1806: MAXIMUM OVERDRIVE

FILM 1806: MAXIMUM OVERDRIVE

TRIVIA: The only Stephen King story turned into a movie to be directed by King himself.

When asked why he hasn't directed a movie since "Maximum Overdrive", Stephen Kingresponded "Just watch Maximum Overdrive."

Stephen King, being a former cocaine addict, later admitted that he was "coked out of my mind" the entire time he was making this picture and often didn't know what he was doing. He remarked that he'd like to try directing again someday, this time sober.

While shooting the scene where the steamroller rampages across the baseball diamond, Stephen King requested that the SFX department place a bag of fake blood near the dummy of a young player who would be run over by it. The desired effect would be that a smear of blood would appear on the steamroller and be re-smeared on the grass over and over, like a printing press. While filming the scene, however, the bag of blood exploded too soon and sprayed everywhere, making it appear as if the boy's head had also exploded. King was thrilled with the results, but censors demanded the shot be cut.

AC/DC was selected to make the music for the movie by Stephen King himself.

The "Dixie Boy" truck stop was a set constructed 10 miles outside of Wilmington, North Carolina. It was convincing enough that several truckers tried to stop in, and eventually the producers had to put announcements in local papers saying that the "Dixie Boy" was just a movie set.

An accident occurred on July 31, 1985 during shooting in a suburb of Wilmington, North Carolina where a radio-controlled lawnmower used in a scene went out of control and struck a block of wood used as a camera support, shooting out wood splinters which injured the director of photography Armando Nannuzzi; as a result, he lost his right eye. Nannuzzi sued Stephen King on February 18, 1987 for $18 million in damages. The suit was settled out of court.

Stephen King is a huge fan of AC/DC and when he got to meet them he asked them if they would provide music for this movie. He also offered the band a role in the film but AC/DC declined stating they are not actors and do not appear in this movie at all, despite claims of a scene of them on a boat which is not true at all. The band agreed to do the soundtrack after Stephen King sung "Ain't no fun waiting round to be a millionaire" from the bands 1976 Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap album. King sang the entire thing from start to finish and the band laughingly agreed that if he was such a fan they would do it for him. AC/DC preform all but two songs featured in the film, and the entire 1987 album "Who Made Who" is the soundtrack to this movie. AC/DC wrote a new track called Who Made Who, and various instrumentals aka: score music. Only two of the instrumentals appear on the album. The rest of the songs are from previous AC/DC albums and also contains a slightly edited version of Sink The Pink. The movie also features two unreleased mixes of previously released songs. One being a more rawer version of You Shook Me All Night Long and the vocals cut out of For Those About To Rock, heard only in the movie, not on the album. At the time of the release many music stores had no idea the album Who Made Who was a compilation soundtrack for this movie, and many mislabeled the album as an AC/DC greatest hits. limited pressings of the album did feature a small print and the movies logo stating it was the soundtrack to Stephen Kings Maximum Overdrive but was later removed from future pressings.

If you listen closely you can hear the ice cream truck's tune is "King of the Road".

The title of the film is referenced in The Simpsons: Maximum Homerdrive (1999), in which Homer Simpson takes over a truck driver's delivery and finds out that his truck is controlled by an on board computer. Yeardley Smith, who plays Connie in the film, is the voice of Lisa Simpson in the show.