TonyPH

19th Apr 2021

Aliens (1986)

Trivia: Walter Hill and David Giler's initial story outline given to Cameron as a rough basis to write the script from was written in an amusingly casual and irreverent style, at one point jokingly referring to the space jockey from the first film as "the dental patient." Cameron recalls of their treatment, "I'll never forget this - the outline concluded with the sentence; 'And then some other bullshit happens.'"

TonyPH

2nd Apr 2021

Aliens (1986)

Trivia: Early marketing research ahead of the film's release showed that a significant number of people mistook 'Aliens' for the original movie 'Alien.' To address this, the studio made sure commercials referred to the film as "Aliens: the new movie" and gave the film a logo visually distinct from the one for 'Alien.' To this day, 'Alien' and 'Aliens' are treated almost as separate brands; merchandise and tie-in media tend to evoke one or the other, rarely both.

TonyPH

30th Mar 2021

Alien (1979)

Trivia: After first seeing the film, Stanley Kubrick called up Ridley Scott to ask how they did the chestburster scene. Scott not being used to fame at the time and Kubrick being one of his career idols, Scott assumed he was speaking with an imposter playing a prank, and promptly told Kubrick to "fuck off."

TonyPH

24th Mar 2021

Alien 3 (1992)

Trivia: James Cameron, who directed Aliens, said David Fincher was a "bastard" for killing off Hicks and Newt, and he wanted to "wring his neck." Though he said he eventually got over it and he and Fincher became pals.

TonyPH

16th Mar 2021

Alien (1979)

Trivia: For the landing sequence the crew rigged paint mixers beneath the seats on the bridge set so that they would vibrate to simulate turbulence. One effects supervisor noted wryly that when they turned them on Sigourney Weaver would get "a little smile on her face."

TonyPH

10th Mar 2021

Alien (1979)

Trivia: A few scenes that showcased the crew's casual attitude toward sex and bisexuality were planned at various points, including: a sex scene between Ripley and Dallas after Kane's death; a "post-coital" moment between Dallas and Parker; and a moment in which Ripley speaks intimately with Lambert and finds it odd that Ash hasn't tried to sleep with either of them. This last scene was the only one of these filmed and it, too, was cut in order to make the crew relationships more ambiguous.

TonyPH

10th Mar 2021

Alien (1979)

Trivia: Despite (or maybe because of) their similar style, a bitter rivalry developed between artists H.R. Giger and Roger Dicken. Giger said Dicken's work looked "terrible, like a dinosaur from Disneyland." Dicken in turn called Giger's designs "repulsive abominations." In response, Giger described Dicken as "an awfully aggressive nut" who was "on the verge of a nervous breakdown." The finished film features both artists' designs: Giger's adult xenomorph, and Dicken's facehugger and chestburster.

TonyPH

9th Mar 2021

Halloween: H20 (1998)

Trivia: When the film opens with the 50s tune "Mr. Sandman" over the soundtrack, it's not just a simple reminder of 'Halloween II', but a signal that this film is continuing from 'Halloween II' rather than its immediate predecessor 'Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers'. As "Mr. Sandman" was the last thing heard before 'Halloween II's closing credits, 'Halloween H20' in effect picks up where 'Halloween II' left off.

TonyPH

9th Mar 2021

Friday the 13th (1980)

Trivia: When Betsy Palmer first read the script her reaction was "What a piece of shit!" But she figured it wouldn't matter because likely few people would see the movie anyway, much less remember it years later. Of course the movie was a big hit and spawned a decades-long franchise, and while she never said publicly whether she'd changed her mind about the film, she did genuinely appreciate everyone who did enjoy it and happily made public appearances to meet with the movie's fans.

TonyPH

Trivia: A working title during preproduction was 'Raiders of the Temple of Death' before it was decided to base the title scheme around Indiana Jones (and of course "Death" was later changed to "Doom").

TonyPH

2nd Mar 2021

Poltergeist (1982)

Trivia: While understandably spooky, this movie's use of natural skeletons was not outrageous or even that unusual (they were not actually rotting or unsanitary, just made to look that way). Even today natural bones can still be ordered, typically for use in classrooms. Special effects supervisor Craig Reardon has expressed his disgust that the use of skeletons has been used to fuel rumors of a "curse" that he feels make a mockery of the unrelated tragic, untimely deaths of some of the film's actors.

TonyPH

2nd Mar 2021

Poltergeist (1982)

Trivia: Years after the film's release, Zelda Rubinstein went on record that, at least for the six days that she was on set, it was Steven Spielberg who performed all directing duties, possibly because in her observation the credited director, Tobe Hooper, was hampered by an obvious drug problem.

TonyPH

2nd Mar 2021

Halloween (1978)

Trivia: Laurie's final line is often misquoted as "Was that the boogeyman?" Even the subtitles in some video releases have mistakenly transcribed it that way. The line is actually "It was the boogeyman."

TonyPH

1st Mar 2021

Poltergeist (1982)

Trivia: Richard Lawson, who played the paranormal researcher Ryan, would later go on to wed Tina Knowles, Beyonce's mother.

TonyPH

Trivia: This is the only film in which Jason arguably ends up as a "good guy." He's depicted much more benignly than usual (even "aggressive" fan-favorite Kane Hodder lost the role this time), with repeated emphasis that he is an innocent with the mind of a child only trying to please the memory of his psychotic mother. Even his murders in this film are merely him doing the manipulative Freddy's bidding. When the childlike Jason turns on the child-killer Freddy, it's a shockingly poetic justice.

TonyPH

1st Mar 2021

Friday the 13th (1980)

Trivia: In order to attract investors, the producers bought an ad in the industry publication 'Variety' that simply displayed the title along with the text "The scariest movie ever made!" They were bluffing, of course, as they didn't have a script or even fully decided on the story concept at that point in time.

TonyPH

Trivia: Danielle Harris refused to reprise her role as Jamie Lloyd as, among other things, she found the amount they were willing to pay her was insulting.

TonyPH

1st Mar 2021

Halloween 5 (1989)

Trivia: As Michael Myers' mask in the original film had been made from a Captain Kirk costume mask, it seems fitting (even if almost certainly coincidental) that in this film Myers resembles Commander Data, the popular character from 'Star Trek: The Next Generation,' which was running on television at the time.

TonyPH

Trivia: Early posters bore the tagline "There Is No Comparison," which many interpreted as referring to Star Wars. Later advertising carried the slogan, "The Human Adventure is Just Beginning."

TonyPH

Trivia: Saavik was originally written to be a male character, which would explain why her name begins with 'S' when traditionally female Vulcan names start with 'T'.

TonyPH

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