TedStixon

26th Oct 2022

The Witch (2015)

Trivia: Robert Eggers often had co-star Ralph Ineson direct child actor Harvey Scrimshaw during filming. Eggers has no children of his own, and wasn't sure how to communicate with the young actor. So Eggers would describe the scene, and Ineson, a father with two children, would then reinterpret his direction in a way Scrimshaw could understand. (Often by relating it to sports, since Scrimshaw is a huge soccer fan, and literally "coaching" him like a soccer coach).

TedStixon

26th Oct 2022

The Witch (2015)

Trivia: It's shown that there is mold growing on the family's corn. If you look close, the mold is a specific type called ergot. Ergot poisoning can cause severe symptoms including hallucinations, irrational behavior and death. Director Robert Eggers has said this was a purposeful choice, as he left clues for different possible interpretations of the film. If audiences want to believe the supernatural elements, they can. Alternately, they could chalk it up to ergot poisoning driving the family insane.

TedStixon

26th Oct 2022

Christine (1983)

Trivia: While Christine is a Plymouth Fury, many of the cars used on the production weren't. Many of them were similar-looking cars that were simply made up to resemble a Fury. Only a few actual Plymouth Fury's were used. (Mostly for glory-shots, closeups, etc).

TedStixon

26th Oct 2022

Christine (1983)

Trivia: Only three known "Christine" cars still exist, and only one of them is a proper Plymouth Fury. The lone Fury currently resides at the Rochester Auto Museum in Upstate, New York. It is valued as high as $500,000 due to its notoriety.

TedStixon

26th Oct 2022

Hellraiser (2022)

Trivia: One of the major issues that stalled this reboot and kept it from being made earlier was that executives at Miramax, who owned the rights at the time, wanted to tone the franchise down and make the movie PG-13 so it could appeal to teenagers. None of the writers or directors attached wanted to make a PG-13 "Hellraiser," and many exited the project over this bizarre and insane mandate. Once Clive Barker got the rights back, production moved forward on this (very) R-rated installment.

TedStixon

26th Oct 2022

The Lighthouse (2019)

Trivia: Originally, there were going to be several scenes with graphic male nudity, including a scene that match-cut the lighthouse and the erect penis of one of the lead characters. The producers were able to use these as a bargaining chip... they would let Robert Eggers shoot the film in full-frame black-and-white as he envisioned... as long as he cut the nudity, since it would get them an NC-17 rating. Eggers has since admitted the scenes involving male nudity were misjudged and "juvenile."

TedStixon

26th Oct 2022

Halloween Ends (2022)

Trivia: An alternate ending was written where, in the final moments of the movie, the scene would suddenly cut to the Silver Shamrock Factory from "Halloween III: Season of the Witch." You'd see the witch, pumpkin and skeleton masks being produced... then suddenly, you'd see dozens of Michael Myers masks on an assembly-line, implying some sort-of connection between Michael and Silver Shamrock. This ending was ultimately thrown out because it was deemed to be too weird and fan-servicey.

TedStixon

26th Oct 2022

The Lighthouse (2019)

Trivia: The movie originally began as a modern day "reinterpretation" of an unfinished Edgar Allan Poe story called "The Light-House." The project stalled, and was eventually retooled as a stand-alone period film, with any references to Poe's work removed.

TedStixon

26th Oct 2022

The Lighthouse (2019)

Trivia: Willem Dafoe originally was meant to be missing an eye and several fingers, and have an old-fashioned peg-leg. This was changed because director Robert Eggers worried people would assume he was a pirate giving the film's nautical themes.

TedStixon

26th Oct 2022

The Lighthouse (2019)

Trivia: Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson had both reached out to director Robert Eggers after seeing his film "The Witch," wanting to work with him. Dafoe even saw "The Witch" two days in a row... going once by himself, then forcing his wife to come with him to see it the following day because he loved it so much. It just-so-happened that Eggers was a fan of both actors and wanted to work with them... and he realised they would be a perfect fit for the two lead characters in "The Lighthouse."

TedStixon

26th Oct 2022

The Lighthouse (2019)

Trivia: Actress Anya Taylor-Joy had become good friends with director Robert Eggers after they made "The Witch" together. Taylor-Joy has said she begged Eggers to be in "The Lighthouse" so they could work together again, and wanted to play the mermaid. Eggers told her she wasn't right for the part. Taylor-Joy then jokingly exclaimed that she'd "play a seagull" if it meant she could be in the movie. Needless to say, that didn't happen. (Although she was in Eggers' next film, "The Northman.").

TedStixon

Trivia: The film was originally budgeted at $70 million, but this was lowered to $55 million because the studio got cold feet after one of Eddie Murphy's movies, "The Distinguished Gentleman," was a critical failure and performed below expectations. However, due to issues and delays during the filming, the budget ended up ballooning to well over the original $70 million budget.

TedStixon

Trivia: The film was originally meant to take place in England, with several co-stars such as Sean Connery or John Cleese being suggested for Axel's new partner. However, this idea was dropped since it was deemed too similar to the movie "Black Rain," about an American cop who goes to Japan. "Die Hard" writer Steven E. De Souza was then hired, based on an idea he had that was pitched as "'Die Hard' in an amusement park." This became the basis for the script.

TedStixon

25th Oct 2022

Ghosts of Mars (2001)

Trivia: John Carpenter has said that the movie was meant to be silly and tongue-in-cheek, with a purposely ludicrous premise. He'd even come onto set every day and exclaim that the movie was "The biggest piece of s**t I've ever made!" He was reportedly incredibly annoyed that critics and audiences took it seriously, even remarking "It's called 'Ghosts Of Mars' for Christ's sake! Why would people take this movie seriously?" He's since said that he should have added more humor to clarify the the tone.

TedStixon

25th Oct 2022

Christine (1983)

Trivia: Reportedly, the films uses of the f-word were added at the last minute because they didn't think the film would get an R-rating due to most of the violence being not very bloody. (Mostly just people getting hit by cars.) They were worried movie goers wouldn't go to see a Stephen King horror movie that was rated PG, so they peppered in several f-bombs to artificially drive it up to an R-rating.

TedStixon

25th Oct 2022

Christine (1983)

25th Oct 2022

Escape From L.A. (1996)

Trivia: Despite the film having a very mixed-to-negative reception from critics and audiences, especially in comparison to the well-received "Escape from New York," director John Carpenter has stated several times over the years that he considers "Escape from LA" to be the superior film, even going so far as to call it "ten times better." He has also stated that he was delighted when he found out it has attained a cult following over the years.

TedStixon

25th Oct 2022

Escape From L.A. (1996)

Trivia: John Carpenter's movie "Ghosts of Mars" originally began life as a third "Escape from..." movie, which would have involved Snake Plisskin being trapped on Mars on a mission. It was ultimately retooled into a stand-alone sci-fi/horror movie, and Plisskin was rewritten into the character "Desolation Williams," portrayed by actor/rapper Ice Cube.

TedStixon

19th Oct 2022

Halloween Ends (2022)

Trivia: The font in the opening credits is the exact same font (right down to the blue color) used in the opening credits from "Halloween III: Season of the Witch," which famously didn't feature the Michael Myers character and told an original story. Fairly appropriate, because (MINOR SPOILERS) Michael Myers plays a somewhat smaller role in much of this film, which primarily focuses on a new character who is driven mad and almost becomes a "New Michael/Boogeyman."

TedStixon

9th Oct 2022

Hellraiser (2022)

Trivia: At Voight's estate, Trevor asks Nora "What's your pleasure, ma'am?" when offering to make her a drink. This is a subtle callback to the original film, where the nameless merchant asks "What's your pleasure, Mr. Cotton?" and later "What's your pleasure, sir?" when selling the box.

TedStixon