10 Fun Horror Movie Facts

One of my tricks for by-passing viewer apprehension with horror films, is filling their minds with Easter Eggs to keep them occupied. Next time somebody tells you they’re afraid to watch A Nightmare on Elm Street, play a drinking game and take a shot every time Nancy’s mom pulls out a bottle of vodka. Works every time. Here are some more of my favorites:

Tom Savini, the special effects makeup artist for the first Creepshow, plays The Creep in Creepshow 2.

Stanley Kubrick considered Robert De Niro and Robin Williams for the role of Jack Torrance in The Shining. He also considered Harrison Ford before meeting Jack Nicholson. Stephen King tried to talk Kubrick out of casting Jack Nicholson suggesting, instead, Michael Moriarty or Jon Voight.

Joe King, son of Stephen King, plays Billy, the young boy featured in the Epilogue and Prologue segments of Creepshow.

The first studio to show interest in A Nightmare on Elm Street was The Walt Disney Company. They wanted Wes Craven to tone down the content to make it suitable for children and pre-teens. Craven declined and moved on to make one of the highest grossing horror movies of all time with New Line Cinema.

In addition to directing it, John Carpenter also composed the theme for Halloween. He composes the themes for almost all of his films.

Pennywise from Stephen King’s IT was inspired by John Wayne Gacy a real serial killer who would dress up as a clown when entertaining children.

The rollercoaster used in Final Destination 3 is the Corkscrew at Playland in Vancouver, Canada. The actors had to ride the Corkscrew 26 times in order to film the premonition scene.

Charles Manson, Lee Harvey Oswald, and James Earl Ray are indirectly responsible for the naming of the infamous Chuckie in Child’s Play, whose full name in the film was Charles Lee Ray.

Before inking Friday the 13^th, Victor Miller wrote for soap operas “All My Children,” “Guiding Light,” and “One Life to Live.”

 Final Destination, aka “Flight 180″, was originally a concept for an X-files TV episode.