Horror movies are littered with brutal deaths, from slashers stabbing victims to zombies chowing down on the living. A fair number of these kills have reached iconic status, and the stories about the making of these famous scenes are often just as interesting as the onscreen deaths themselves. Here are 10 such stories—which, of course, often feature spoilers.

Related: Top 10 Horror Films That Disturbed the Crew

10 The Sleeping Bag Kill in Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood

There have been many iconic kills in the Friday the 13th franchise, but one of the top fan favorites occurs in Part VII: The New Blood (1988). A woman is camping with her boyfriend near Crystal Lake when Jason Voorhees drags her from the tent while she’s still in her sleeping bag and gives her one hard bash against a tree, killing her instantly.

The sleeping bag kill was initially supposed to involve multiple hits, but the scene had to be cut down for the film to achieve an R rating. Although not as gory as originally intended, Jason managing to kill the woman in just one whack feels brutal. Kane Hodder, who has played Jason many times, says that it’s one of his favorite kills “because you’re killing someone with something that is not a weapon. Anybody can kill with a weapon.”

The kill left such an impact that it even inspired a kill in Jason X (2001). The slasher is plunged into a holographic camp and comes across two girls who offer him alcohol, drugs, and sex. The film then cuts to the two girls in sleeping bags, with Jason using one to hit the other—and this time around, he takes multiple swings.^[1]

9 The Decapitation Scene in Hereditary

The horror in Hereditary (2018) kicks off when 13-year-old Charlie (Milly Shapiro) goes into anaphylactic shock. While driving her to the hospital, her older brother Peter (Alex Wolff) swerves to avoid roadkill, but at that moment, Charlie has her head out of the window to get some air, and she’s decapitated by a telephone pole.

Although the scene is a punch in the gut, Shapiro had a great time while filming it. She was safely tethered to the car and said that “randomly they would swerve and not tell me so I would be startled.” She described the experience as “kind of like a rollercoaster.” Shapiro was even thrilled about seeing the model of her decapitated head and wanted to take it home “to display it and scare people with it.”^[2]

8/span> The Plastic Bag Kill in Black Christmas

Clare (Lynne Griffin) is the first sorority girl to be picked off by Billy, the largely unseen slasher in Black Christmas (1974). After suffocating her with a plastic bag, he puts her body on a rocking chair in the attic. Not only is her corpse creepily shown multiple times throughout the film, but her plastic-wrapped head also appears on the film’s poster.

Although Griffin doesn’t have much screen time as Clare while alive, she had to film numerous shots while dead. Many actors would struggle to play dead with a plastic bag over their head, but it didn’t faze Griffin because, in her own words, she’s “a fairly good swimmer so I could hold my breath for a long time. And I could also keep my eyes open for a long time without blinking.” She said the only real issue was that “when I was breathing, it was making the bag fog up, so they decided to stick it to my face and poke holes up my nose.”^[3]

7 The Dive Out of the Window in The Exorcist

The Exorcist (1973) ends with Father Damien Karras (Jason Miller) sacrificing himself by inviting the demon into his body and then jumping out of the window onto the many steps below the MacNeil’s house. In the film, the house is right next to the top of the steps, but it is further back in real life, so an extension had to be built.

Before stuntman Chuck Waters made the iconic leap, a layer of rubber was put on all of the stone steps to make it slightly less painful. Then it was time for Waters to jump—twice—a feat that was watched from the surrounding buildings by people willing to pay $5 to the Georgetown residents looking to profit from the filming. When Miller asked Waters how he pulled off such a dangerous stunt, he replied, “Complete and total non-resistance, my body becomes totally relaxed.”^[4]

6 The Ending of Night of the Living Dead

When penning Night of the Living Dead (1968), writers George A. Romero and John Russo figured the main character, Ben, would be played by a white actor. That changed when Duane Jones auditioned for the role, but Romero and Russo purposefully didn’t rewrite the script to reference his race. Despite that, Jones being Black changed how the ending of the film—which sees Ben killed by the men who are getting rid of the zombies—was perceived.

“The fact that these redneck posse guys shot him, that became racial, instead of just a mistaken identity, which is really what we intended,” Romero said. He had to fight to keep the dark ending, with Columbia Pictures wanting Ben to survive. Romero said, “None of us wanted to do that. We couldn’t imagine a happy ending.” Jones was in agreement, telling Romero that “the black community would rather see me dead than saved, after all that had gone on, in a corny and symbolically confusing way.”^[5]

5 The Opening Scene in Scream

Scream (1996) opens with Casey Becker (Drew Barrymore) getting a phone call from a killer while she’s home alone. After terrorizing her with questions about horror movies and killing her boyfriend, Ghostface stabs Casey and strings her up from a tree. This scene was inspired by a real—although less bloody—event in screenwriter Kevin Williamson’s life.

“I was house-sitting for a friend of mine, and I walk into the family room, and I see that the window’s open,” Williamson explains. “So I go and I get a butcher knife and I start walking around the house and I call up my friend on the phone and I’m like, ‘okay, I think someone’s in the house.’” Williamson’s friend started doing the “ch ch ch, ah ah ah” sound effect from Friday the 13th, which led to the pair discussing horror movies. But unlike in the movie, thankfully, a killer wasn’t waiting to pounce.

Scream was originally supposed to star Barrymore as the main character, Sidney Prescott, but she requested the role of Casey because “my biggest pet peeve was that I always knew the main character was going to be slugging through at the end, but was going to creak by and make it.” To defy expectations, she took the role of Casey—making the audience initially think that she was the main character—”so we would establish this rule does not apply.”^[6]

4 The Highway Pile-Up in Final Destination 2

Final Destination 2 (2003) starts with a pile-up on a highway caused by the chains on a logging truck snapping, sending tree trunks crashing into the vehicles on the road behind it. As much of the crash as possible was done by a stunt team, with the whole scene taking 11 days to film. But one thing that wasn’t possible to do practically was the logs—and not because it would have been too dangerous!

Jason Crosby, who worked on the film’s CGI, says that the crew “discovered that real logs only bounced about an inch off the road when dropped from a logging truck.” So, to get the right amount of height from the bounce, the logs had to be added with CGI. Thankfully, that means that the chances of a log barreling straight through your windshield are incredibly low.^[7]

3 The First Kill in Jaws

Jaws (1975) starts with Chrissie (Susan Backlinie) being attacked by an unseen shark while swimming in the sea at night. To simulate the attack, stuntwoman-turned-actress Backlinie was tied to ropes, and then, as director Steven Spielberg explains, she was “tugged left and right by ten men on one rope and ten men on the other back to shore.” For the final pull underwater, Spielberg himself tugged on the rope because “he wanted it just a certain way.”

Backlinie had to go through another ordeal to complete the scene, though. Spielberg wanted her screams to sound like she was really drowning so, according to Richard Dreyfuss, who played oceanographer Matt Hooper. “He had her tilt her head back, and he poured water down her throat while she screamed, which is now known as waterboarding, so Steven is actually guilty of a war crime.”^[8]

2 The Shower Scene in Psycho

The scene in Psycho (1960) where Marion (Janet Leigh) is murdered in the shower is an absolute classic. When director Alfred Hitchcock was asked why he wanted to adapt Robert Bloch’s 1959 novel, he said, “I think the murder in the bathtub, coming out of the blue, that was about all.” The murder is actually more brutal in the novel, with Mary (as she’s called in the book) being decapitated.

The short scene took a week to film, which was an enormous one-third of the shooting schedule. Hitchcock wanted perfection and made Leigh film the shot of the camera zooming out from her eye 26 times. However, while editing, they noticed that Leigh took a breath in the only shot deemed usable, which is why there’s a brief cut to the showerhead.

Food also played a crucial part in the scene. A knife slicing through casaba melon and steak was used for the sound of the knife cutting Marion. Thanks to being filmed in black and white, the fake blood didn’t have to be red, so Hershey’s chocolate syrup was used. The shot where it looks like we see the knife pierce Marion was done by putting chocolate syrup on the tip of the knife, placing it against her stomach, and pulling away, with the shot then being reversed.^[9]

1 The Chestburster Scene in Alien

Director Ridley Scott knew that the element of surprise would be crucial for getting the actor’s best reactions to the chestburster in Alien (1979). “If an actor is just acting terrified, you can’t get the genuine look of raw, animal fear,” he said.

The cast knew that an alien creature would burst out of Kane’s (John Hurt) chest, but they didn’t know how it was going to look. Everyone but Hurt left the room, and he got into position under the table with his head sticking through a hole. His prosthetic chest was filled with cuts of meat, along with the alien on a hydraulic ram.

After a false start, Scott got the alien to punch through and the blood to spray just the way he wanted it. The actors were suitably shocked, with screenwriter Ronald Shusett recalling that “Veronica Cartwright—when the blood hit her, she passed out. I heard from Yaphet Kotto’s wife that after that scene, he went to his room and wouldn’t talk to anybody.”^[10]

Discover how contemporary film—and the action genre in particular—evolved from behind-the-scenes antics and production quirks in classic action movies. Heck, an entire college course could be taught on Arnold Schwarzenegger alone. But we’ll focus on a variety of performances and stories in certain action films from the late 1970s to the 1990s.

If you’re a film nerd, we think you’ll love these 10 background stories. If you haven’t seen these masterpieces yet, what are you waiting for?

Spoiler Alert: Obviously, we’ll reveal information about the movies on this list. If you haven’t seen a particular film and don’t want to know what happens, then skip that entry and go to the next one. You’ve been warned.

Top 10 Action Movies To Laugh Out Loud To

10 Mad Max (1979)

Mad Max was way ahead of its time and so audacious that the film was banned in its native Australia upon release. Before delving into the fascinating history of the actual production, we need to talk about Mel Gibson. Although most actors can go from 1 to 10, Gibson has always had a knack for going to 1,000.

Born in Peekskill, New York, he moved with his family at a young age to Australia. At age 23, Gibson was a relatively unknown soap opera actor. Apparently, he got into a violent bar fight and his face was badly bruised.

Before his face healed, Gibson drove his friend Steve Bisley to a Mad Max audition. (Costar Bisley wound up playing Jim Goose in the movie.) Meanwhile, Gibson was quickly cast as a “freak” side character.

Time went by, and Gibson’s wounds healed. When production began, his buddy got booted to a supporting role and Gibson snagged the lead. Additionally, the director, George Miller, was an emergency room doctor who based the movie’s violent car crashes on what he had seen in real life.^[1]

The nitty-gritty relatability of the original film’s dystopia is accidental. It feels so close in time—yet so far away—because Miller and his producing partner, Byron Kennedy, opted to set the plot in the future. A modern version would have needed many more extras, buildings, and permits. It was cheaper and easier to film in the Australian outback.

Although plenty of great car chases came from that film era (Bullitt, The French Connection), Mad Max is in a class of its own with its belligerent, human-driven madness that revs as loud as the drag-style stunt cars. For about 20 years, Mad Max was the most profitable film ever made (based on the ratio of its budget to box office receipts).

9 First Blood (1982)

This movie is often mistakenly called Rambo. However, the technically correct title is First Blood. Based on a book by David Morrell, the film script made the rounds in Hollywood for a decade with names like Al Pacino, Clint Eastwood, Steve McQueen, and Robert De Niro almost signing on.

It took a $3.5 million paycheck and permission to do a rewrite for Sylvester Stallone, still riding high from the massive success of Rocky, to officially get on board. With stellar performances from Brian Dennehy, Richard Crenna, and a cantankerous Jack Starrett, the film dives much deeper than just explosions and violence.^[2]

In fact, John Rambo doesn’t actually kill anyone in the first film. It was a new form of storytelling that touched upon what is now known as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It was called “shell shock” at the start of the 20th century.

First Blood wonderfully weaves together a story of power-abusing cops, the repercussions of coming home from an unpopular war, and the ravages of PTSD, anxiety, paranoia, and outright animalistic self-defense. All the sequels are enjoyable romps with lots of blood and guts, but the original has soul. The veteran just wanted to get some food, cops had to play their games, and the town of Hope, Washington, practically got wiped off the map.

8 Speed (1994)

Before he was Neo or John Wick, Keanu Reeves (the “nicest guy in the world”) started out in 1989 as the goofy Ted Logan from the classic Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure. Then director Kathryn Bigelow cast the young Reeves as the iconic Agent Utah in Point Break. That propelled his career toward the action star that he would eventually become.

Speed, directed by Jan de Bont, was based on a story written by Akira Kurosawa that became the film Runaway Train. As most studio-driven screenplays are constantly changing, the initial versions of Speed have quite an array of differences.

Although the script was originally written by Graham Yost, the dialogue was almost completely redone by a young and uncredited Joss Whedon. Jeff Daniels’s character, Harry, was intended to be the bad guy. But his performance was so endearing that the producers thought he would be unbelievable as a villain.^[3]

During test screenings, audience members were so entranced by the nonstop action that they walked backward if they had to use the bathroom. They didn’t want to miss a moment.

Speed solidified Reeves’s status as an action star, while Sandra Bullock charmed the world in her role as Annie Porter. (She learned how to drive a bus before shooting.) And no one can forget the wily, hypnotizing performance by Dennis Hopper as mad bomber Howard Payne.

7 The Terminator (1984)

James Cameron’s first film (he has disowned his actual directorial debut, Piranha II: The Spawning) was inspired by a vivid nightmare he had. With a budget of only $6 million, The Terminator is an impressive film from a production point of view because it was technically an indie at the time.

According to Arnold Schwarzenegger, O.J. Simpson was supposed to be the Cyberdyne Systems T-800 Model 101. But Cameron, notoriously outspoken and occasionally crass, denied it by stating that he had sacked the idea before it even got to the table. Either way, they both acknowledge that O.J. was mentioned at some point.

The special effects are fascinating. The tanker truck explosions scene was composed of dozens of shots with a miniature model. In the opening sequence, the skulls that were crushed to dust were actually as small as marbles.^[4]

Cameron cast mostly unknowns to keep the budget low. (Arnie really only had Conan under his belt at the time.) The relatively unknown Linda Hamilton, playing the unstoppable Sarah Connor, became Cameron’s fourth wife a decade later.

6 Con Air (1997)

When Nic Cage tells you to put the bunny back in the box, you do it. Directed by Simon West, this eccentric 1990s masterpiece has the most impressive cast of any film on this list. John Cusack’s and Steve Buscemi’s roles were explicitly written for them.

However, John Malkovich’s wonderfully psychotic Cyrus the Virus character was almost played by Gary Oldman. Cage also had some tough competition for his role. But doing most of his own stunts throughout the film solidified him as a blockbuster action star.

In the original script, the plane was supposed to hit the White House. However, the producers opted for Vegas for two reasons. First, it was more plausible geographically. Second, you could buy a “dead” casino and thrash it to pieces back then because the Las Vegas Strip was undergoing rapid reconstruction.^[5]

10 Real-Life Costs Of Action Movies

5 Die Hard (1988)

As the first film in one of the finest action franchises, Die Hard is also the best Christmas movie ever made. To top off the accolades, this masterpiece came from a notable director of the 1980s and ’90s, John McTiernan (Predator, The Hunt for Red October).

Based on Roderick Thorp’s 1979 novel, Nothing Lasts Forever, Die Hard just keeps getting better with age. Bruce Willis kills it as John McClane. How can you not love his wisecracking, misanthropic detective character?

However, the true legend of Die Hard is none other than the late Alan Rickman’s villain, Hans Gruber. Rickman meticulously made the character his own, insisting on business attire for Gruber instead of the mercenary clothing worn by his goons. Rickman approached the role thinking that Gruber wasn’t really all that bad. Gruber knew what he wanted and focused on getting it.^[6]

In the famous scene where Gruber falls from the top of Nakatomi Plaza (which was really 20th Century Fox’s corporate headquarters), the stunt coordinators purposely miscounted the drop per McTiernan’s instructions. That way, Rickman would be caught off guard by the fall. The classic expression on his face is genuine.

Then there are the glass scenes. Poor McClane’s bare feet are always cringeworthy, and they should be. Including all the destruction with explosions, gunfire, and painful footsteps, Die Hard’s producers shelled out around $130,000 just on glass.

4 The Rock (1996)

The Rock, one of Sir Sean Connery’s favorite films, is everything an action movie should be. Another 1990s film that used practically every actor available in Hollywood, The Rock is bonkers blockbuster. Nic Cage ad-libs most of his dialogue. Ed Harris shouts his way through a great performance as Connery and Cage complement each other amazingly.

Connery even insisted that a cabin be built on Alcatraz Island during the shoot because he simply could not be bothered with the commute. Famed film scribe Aaron Sorkin was also involved, although he was uncredited. According to sources, Sorkin “wrote great dialogue.”^[7] A fun fan theory suggests that Connery’s Mason character is really a geriatric James Bond.

3 Lethal Weapon (1987)

“I’m getting too old for this sh—t.”

Let’s start with some trivia. Roger Murtaugh (played perfectly by Danny Glover) never utters that line in the original Lethal Weapon, though he does say it in the sequels. In the first movie, Murtaugh sighs, “I’m too old for this sh—t.”^[8]

Glover costars as the reluctant action hero while Mel Gibson gives a wild dog, tour-de-force performance that justifies all the sequels (even though none were up to par). Although it’s hard to imagine, Gibson’s role of Martin Riggs almost went to Jeff Goldblum or Patrick Swayze.

While shooting the scene where Riggs puts a pistol to his head and contemplates suicide, Gibson in all his glorious madness had a blank in the chamber to make the performance more intense. (Blanks are dangerous; that’s how Brandon Lee died in The Crow.) Meanwhile, Gary Busey channeled the soulless eyes of a shark to perfectly execute his performance as the mercenary Mr. Joshua.

Surprisingly, Leonard Nimoy was offered the director’s chair that wound up going to Richard Donner. Throughout the franchise, Donner made political references in the films to racism and apartheid, which caused him to receive many death threats.

On a lighter note, let’s not forget Gibson’s homage to The Three Stooges. It made his unhinged character somewhat grounded and lovable.

2 The Matrix (1999)

We didn’t want to genre-blend in this list, but The Matrix has to be mentioned. Action movies, and films in general, have never been the same since this masterpiece. The Wachowskis crafted arguably the greatest action movie of all time.

Starting production on a gamble, they wanted an $80 million budget but only got $10 million. Rolling the dice, they spent the entire $10 million on the opening sequence with Carrie-Anne Moss’s Trinity character obliterating several SWAT officers. It took six months of training and four days to shoot. The studio saw it, loved it, and greenlit the rest of the initial budget.^[9]

The revolutionary “bullet-time” effect was created especially for the film and needed 120 cameras to complete. It also took 10 squib-ridden days to shoot the infamous “lobby scene.” And for anyone wondering, no, The Matrix wasn’t shot in the States but in Sydney, Australia.

1 Die Hard With A Vengeance (1995)

“Yippee-ki-yay!”

Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson make for an outstanding pair in the only sequel ever made by the legendary John McTiernan. Willis personally requested Jackson for the part. It’s pure brilliance. Shamefully, you almost forget Hans Gruber in favor of his equally sociopathic brother, Simon Gruber, perfectly played by Jeremy Irons after Sean Connery turned down the role.^[10]

We love most that the New York City featured throughout the film is a remnant of a bygone era when Rudy Giuliani was still mayor there. During this wild shoot, the stunt team really blasted a sideways subway car traveling over 72 kilometers per hour (45 mph) at stunt extras.

Honestly, Die Hard With A Vengeance goes toe to toe with the original . . . just on steroids.

10 Great Cheesy Action Movies of the ’90s

A lot of hard work goes into making a movie, especially when there is hype and anticipation surrounding its release. Long hours and tough conditions often lead to off-screen moments that are in such contrast to the on-camera scenes that they become iconic. On this list are just a few examples of behind-the-scenes moments that are still awesome after all these years.

10 Pictures That Almost Got Their Photographers Killed

10 Cameron in the water

Titanic made a huge splash in 1997, becoming the highest grossing movie in history at that time. The movie features a host of memorable and quotable scenes, including Rose wanting to jump off the ship, Jack shouting that he is the king of the world, the car scene, the band playing in the midst of chaos and the woman who tells her children a bedtime story, knowing they are all going to die.

However, most fans’ favorite scene comes at the end when Rose and Jack are in the water and Jack is unable to clamber onto the floating door. Instead he dies from hypothermia in the icy Atlantic Ocean and sinks down beneath the surface. One of the most iconic ‘on set’ photos shows Cameron getting into the water with Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio during the filming of this scene, highlighting his commitment to getting the job done.

9 Tobe Hooper at work

Poltergeist (1982) was directed by Tobe Hooper and written by Steven Spielberg. The film became a massive commercial success, amassing over 120 million at the box office. The movie also gained the reputation of being cursed after a series of cast deaths.

Poltergeist features a lot of unforgettable scenes such as the ‘spirits in the TV’ and skeletons in the swimming pool. The photo below depicts Tobe Hooper directing another awesome scene: Robbie is yanked through his bedroom window by an ‘evil, possessed tree.’

8 Happy twins

The Shining introduced the world to perhaps the creepiest twins ever when it was released in 1980. Even though there are only glimpses of them throughout the film, it was enough to give audiences nightmares for life. It is therefore good to see that the twins, played by Lisa and Louise Burns, were just regular little girls in real life. Check out this picture of them posing for the camera, smiling and clearly having a grand old time, even if they were still decked out in their creepy twinsies outfits.

7 Masterpiece in the making

Jaws, released in 1975, was a massive hit in theatres worldwide. It grossed over 470 million from a budget of just 9 million and is a classic thriller that people enjoy to this day. As one can imagine, there are tons of behind-the-scenes photos that were taken during filming, but the ones featuring the giant mechanical shark named Bruce are truly iconic. The picture below features Bruce in all his glory during outdoor filming. Not sure what Joe’s doing. Flossing, maybe?

6 Bullet-time

Before there was John Wick there was Neo. The Matrix is a mind-bending sci-fi action film that people either love to love or love to hate. The movie features mind-blowing bullet-time moves, the choice between the red or blue pill, and the Oracle. The image below shows Keanu Reeves in his Neo get-up, ready to make some magic in front of a green screen.

10 Journalists Disciplined For Faking Pictures

5 Getting in on the action

A lot of scenes in Saving Private Ryan received high praise for their graphic depiction of the horror soldiers had to face during World War II. Not to mention the heartbreaking scene where a mother learns that three of her four sons had died during battle. In this image, Steven Spielberg is having a chat to Tom Hanks about the details of the scene they’re shooting.

4 You’ll think a man can fly

In 1951 Lippert Pictures released Superman and the Mole Men, the first Superman feature film. However, whenever anyone talks about Superman, it is impossible not to think of the man who really made the role iconic: Christopher Reeve. Superman: The Movie was released in 1978 and the tagline “You’ll think a man can fly” added to the excitement and anticipation surrounding its release. The movie cost 55 million to make and grossed over 300 million, earning praise and three Academy Awards Nominations.

This picture shows Reeve on set during filming, flanked by Colin Chilvers who was the Director of Special Effects.

3 Have the lambs stopped screaming?

Sir Anthony Hopkins might be famous these days for playing the role of Odin, but in 1991 he brought life to one of the most unnerving characters of all time: Dr. Hannibal Lecter. The Silence of the Lambs had a modest budget of 19 million but grossed over 270 million worldwide, becoming the fifth-highest grossing movie that year. It also earned 5 Academy awards.

Naturally, there were several behind-the-scenes photos taken during filming, but the eeriest of all has to be Hopkins trying to eat a french fry through his toothy mask.

2 Welcome to Jurassic Park

The simple line ‘Welcome to Jurassic Park, still has the ability to send shivers of excitement down one’s spine. Jurassic Park was a super blockbuster in 1993, grossing over 1 billion worldwide. The huge T-Rex stole the show on screen and off. In this image, a stage-hand is preparing the gigantic dino for filming. The animatronic T-Rex was used for the pivotal car scene, while a CGI version was used for other scenes where full-length shots were required.

1 The Empire Strikes Back

The highly recognizable, crawling opening credits of the Star Wars films are almost as iconic as the movies themselves. The crawl is used to give details on the backstory and context of the film. A wall of text against a starry backdrop, this simple ‘scene’ has been replicated by TV shows including The Big Bang Theory and Glee (which references the Star Wars Holiday Special.)

This surprisingly low-tech, behind-the-scenes image reveals how the opening crawl for The Empire Strikes Back was filmed. The Star Wars crawls were inspired by similar ones used for Flash Gordon and the 1940s Buck Rogers film serials.

10 Stories Behind Astounding Space Pictures Of Earth

The festive season is here, and there’s nothing better on a cold December night than settling down with a cup of eggnog or a hot chocolate and watching a Christmas movie. This list features some of the most interesting facts about the making of popular Christmas films, from childhood classics to gruesome horrors. Read on so that the next time you’re watching one of these films with your friends or family, you can dazzle them with your behind-the-scenes knowledge.

Related: 10 Bizarre Christmas Characters From Around The World

10 Tim Allen’s Costume in The Santa Clause

The Santa Clause (1994) begins with Scott Calvin, played by Tim Allen, accidentally causing Santa to fall off of a roof and die, after which Scott has to take his place as Saint Nick. Although a pretty dark way to start a Disney Christmas movie, it was originally a lot darker, with Scott shooting and killing Santa. Though the murder was downgraded to manslaughter, the process of becoming Santa is no less arduous for Scott, but it was also arduous for Allen.

In an interview with ABC News, Allen revealed that it took three and a half hours to get the fat suit and make-up on, and undoing it all took about an hour and a half. Not only that, but he could only shoot scenes in the suit for about six hours before the lack of ventilation forced him to stop. The costume had other problems too. The original version of the Santa suit had bells that jingled as Allen walked and ruined the sound in some shots. This meant that Allen had to re-record some of the audio in post-production. Being Santa isn’t always a barrel of laughs then.^[1]

9 The Tarantula in Home Alone

Part of the joy of the Christmas season comes from watching the Wet Bandits being tortured by Kevin McCallister in Home Alone (1990). The stunt team took the majority of hits dished out by Macaulay Culkin (and he had his own stunt double in the form of 30-year-old Larry Nicholas), but Daniel Stern and Joe Pesci performed less dangerous stunts themselves. While the props department helped lessen the blow, such as providing fake ornaments for Marv to stand on, some things are hard to fake, especially without modern special effects technology.

For example, the tarantula on Stern’s face is real, not CGI or rubber. The actor, obviously not thrilled with having a spider on his face, asked if its stinger could be removed, but he was told it would die, to which he replied, “Yeah, but if you don’t take it out, I’ll die.” He was also concerned about his scream spooking the spider into attacking, but he was told it did not have ears, so there was no need to dub the sound. Thankfully, the shooting went well, and Stern’s blood-curdling scream at the real spider on his face is an iconic moment in the movie.^[2]

8 Chevy Chase Broke A Finger in National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation

It is well known that Viggo Mortensen broke two toes when kicking a helmet on the set of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002), and the resulting shot of him yelling in pain made it into the final cut. But did you know Chevy Chase broke his finger while filming National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989)?

In the scene where Clark Griswold fails once again to get the Christmas lights to work, he takes his frustration out on the plastic decorations in the yard. Poor Kris Kringle was punched in the face, but that punch caused Chase to break his pinky finger. He carried on with the scene but proceeded to kick, rather than punch, the sleigh and reindeer because his finger hurt so much. Like Mortensen with his broken toes, the take of Chevy breaking his finger was used in the final film.^[3]

7 Rubber Feet in Die Hard

Die Hard (1988) is both a classic action movie and a classic Christmas movie (okay, start the debate now!). Early in the film John McClane, played by Bruce Willis, takes off his shoes and socks, but then the action kicks off, and he has to spend the rest of the movie barefoot. The German terrorists use this to their advantage, shooting out all of the glass in an office in the hopes of trapping McClane. But our action hero sprints across the glass, leading to a bloody scene where he has to pull the shards out of his feet.

Of course, Willis did not actually sacrifice his feet for the movie; he wore a pair of specially made rubber feet as protection. (Daniel Stern was also given fake feet to wear for certain scenes in Home Alone.) Willis’s fake feet are convincing in most scenes, but they are occasionally noticeable, such as when he dives for safety as the FBI shoot at him from a helicopter.^[4]

6 A Cameraman Was the Killer in Black Christmas

Sometimes you just need some scares in your Christmas viewing, and Black Christmas (1974) serves that function perfectly. Following a group of sorority girls who are stalked by a killer over Christmas break, director Bob Clark didn’t want the audience to see the killer.

We do, however, get to see from the killer’s point of view. These shots, which sometimes feature the killer’s hands and arms, were performed by cameraman Bert Dunk. Dunk developed a custom-made rig that he could mount the camera onto his body. This gave him greater flexibility with shots and meant that both of his hands could appear in the frame, such as when the killer climbs the trellis and in the bag strangulation scene.^[5]

5 Michael Caine’s Experience in The Muppet Christmas Carol

Being the only human in the cast of The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992) meant that Michael Caine, playing Ebenezer Scrooge, lived in a Muppets world for the duration of filming. The movie set was designed so that the Muppets and their performers had enough space to perform. This meant that Caine had to watch his step on set as he walked along planks set up between the performers.

It’s hard to imagine anyone else in the role, although others were considered, including comedian and actor George Carlin. Part of the reason Caine was cast was that he told director Brian Henson, son of legendary Jim Henson, that he would play the part like he was working with the Royal Shakespeare Company: “I will never do anything Muppety. I am going to play Scrooge as if it is an utterly dramatic role and there are no puppets around me.” He prepared for the role by watching CNN coverage of Wall Street embezzlers, saying they “represented a very good picture of meanness and greed.”^[6]

4 Method Acting in Bad Santa

If you hate the holiday season, then Bad Santa (2003) is the movie for you. The plot follows an alcoholic conman, played by Billy Bob Thornton, posing as Santa to rob department stores. Thornton took a method-acting approach to the role, which meant he was sometimes actually drunk on set.

In an interview on Entertainment Weekly’s Couch Surfing series, Thornton revealed that before one scene where his drunken character works as a mall Santa, he “drank about three glasses of red wine for breakfast.” But that wasn’t all. He then “switched over to vodka and cranberry juice” before having “a few Bud Lights.” By the time he got to set, he stated, “I barely knew I was in a movie.” The scene was supposed to start with him standing on the escalator, but he was so drunk that he fell asleep. When he reached the top, he woke up and was confused for a few moments before realizing where he was and carried on with the scene.^[7]

3 Will Ferrell’s Improvisation in Elf

It is hard to imagine anyone but Will Ferrell as Buddy the elf in Jon Favreau’s Elf (2003). This is for a good reason, as many of the funniest parts of the movie were improvised by Ferrell.

Elf was made on a limited budget, and there was only a small window of time to actually shoot in New York. So the shots of Buddy first arriving in the Big Apple were shot guerrilla style. A small crew followed Ferrell around for the day as he had fun terrorizing actual New Yorkers while dressed as an elf. So the man in the red tracksuit that Buddy thinks is Santa was not an actor.

The improv didn’t end there, though. Ferrell’s overexcited screaming about meeting Santa in Gimbel’s was filmed without much direction. The scene at the beginning where Buddy has to test the jack-in-the-boxes was designed to get an authentic reaction from Ferrell. A crew member had a remote to control when the toy would pop out so that Ferrell had no idea when the scare would come.^[8]

2 The Practical Effects in Gremlins

When you feel sick of the gingerbread sweetness of most Christmas movies, the horror-comedy Gremlins (1984) is the perfect remedy. One of the best things about the film is its reliance on practical effects. The mischievous creatures were created by Chris Walas, who is also responsible for the stomach-churning effects in The Fly (1986).

However, puppetry was not the first thing director Joe Dante, producer Michael Finnell, and executive producer Steven Spielberg tried. They wanted to use monkeys in gremlin suits but realized that it would not work when a test monkey ran riot. To be fair to the monkey, that is what a gremlin would do.

This led to the team going down the puppets route, but that too was fraught with difficulty. The puppets used for Gizmo were particularly challenging because they were so small and broke down often. This frustrated the crew so much that they came up with a “Horrible Things To Do to Gizmo” list. The hard work was worth it, though, because the film was a hit.

Although it was a success, some people thought the PG rating was too lenient (a gremlin does explode in a microwave), but an R rating was too harsh. This led to Spielberg, who faced the same issue with Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), calling for a rating between PG and R. So thank Gremlins and Temple of Doom for the creation of the PG-13 rating.^[9]

1 Peter Billingsley Chewing Tobacco in A Christmas Story

A Christmas Story (1983) is the second Bob Clark movie to make this list, but this one is filled with childhood joy rather than college murders. The daydreams that Ralphie, played by Peter Billingsley, has are one of the best parts of the movie. In one of these sequences, Ralphie dreams about being a tobacco-chewing cowboy who saves his family from robbers with his BB gun. But one thing was real about this dream: the tobacco chewing.

In an interview on the “That Scene with Dan Patrick” podcast, Billingsley explains that he was given Red Man tobacco to chew, and being 12 years old, he went along with it. That is until 15 minutes later when the actor explains that “I start sweating. My stomach starts hurting, and I start throwing up.” When Clark found out that the prop department had given Billingsley real tobacco, he paused filming. Once Billingsley felt better, they restarted but gave him raisins to chew instead.

The incident didn’t put Billingsley off acting in Christmas movies though, as he appears as an elf named Ming Ming in Elf and as a ticket agent in Four Christmases (2008).^[10]