Festivals—a hectic schedule of your favorite bands playing live, a pilgrimage into the great outdoors, a chance to meet like-minded new friends, and a lifetime of memories. At least, that’s what promoters would have you believe. So what happens when these expectations are not a reality and the event is plunged into chaos?

SEE ALSO: 10 Frozen Timepieces That Marked Death And Disaster

These following disasters have left furious ticket holders demanding their money back and event organizers red-faced. What was supposed to be the time of their lives became a weekend of hell.

10 Fyre Festival
2017

Anyone who has had access to the Internet in the past couple of years would have heard about the disaster that was Fyre Festival. Located in the Bahamas, it was billed as the most luxurious festival in the world and promoted by the most elite models around the globe.

After paying between $1,200 and $100,000 each, ticket holders were promised flights from Miami, luxury accommodation on yachts, kayaking on the crystal clear waters, and performances from Major Lazer and Blink-182.

When attendees landed on the island, they soon found all they were promised was not coming to them. The accommodations were recycled refugee tents, the food was prepackaged sandwiches instead of gourmet meals, and no medical or event staff was on hand. There was also no cell phone or Internet service and no running water. The festival became the subject of a Netflix documentary, Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened.

Organizer Billy McFarland, then 26, pleaded guilty to fraud and was sentenced to six years behind bars.^[1]

9 Woodstock
1999

To see headliners like Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, The Grateful Dead, and Joe Cocker, half a million people attended the Woodstock festival in 1969. Fast-forward 30 years, and it was a completely different scene as organizers tried to emulate the hippie era. Woodstock ’99, which took place in Rome, New York, was attended by 220,000 people and went wrong from the very beginning.

Organizers had failed to advise attendees to bring enough water, and the dehydrated crowds were met with a $4 charge for a single bottle. The Baltimore Sun reported, “More than 700 had been treated for heat exhaustion and dehydration.”

Crowd control was also a serious issue. Volunteer security was recruited from New York City. But as things became hostile, they ditched their posts and left the police dangerously outnumbered.

Then there was the problem with overcrowding as many were using fake passes to get through the gates. The Syracuse Post-Standard reported, “Security guards said they were confiscating fake passes at the rate of 50 an hour at just one gate.” Far from “peace, love, and happiness,” that was the final Woodstock event.^[2]

8 TomorrowWorld
2015

In 2015, international music festival TomorrowWorld in Chattahoochee Hills, Georgia, devolved into near-riots. Heavy rain turned the fields into a sinking mud pit, and organizers decided to limit transport services back to the surrounding areas which left thousands stranded.

Festivalgoers had two choices: either hike for about 8 kilometers (5 mi) or pay for an Uber that charged a surge price of five times the normal rate. Instead, many decided to sleep on the side of the road. They were not supplied with any food or water.

One attendee told Vice News that he managed to leave the event by sneaking onto a shuttle bus for event staff. He recalled, “By the time we flagged down that bus, we were up to over $100 pooled together to try to buy our way out. The rich and the lucky rode, the poor walked, and the poor and tired stopped wherever they could find open ground.”^[3]

The Belgium-founded festival will always be remembered for this post-apocalyptic atmosphere.

7 Bloc Festival
2012

To call Bloc Festival in 2012 “chaotic” might be an understatement. One of the largest electronic dance music festivals in the UK was shut down due to serious safety fears with overcrowding.

Police were sent to help safely evacuate the attendees at the Royal Victoria Docks venue. Many people still stood in the same queue they had been in for hours as they waited to get in. Disgruntled ticket holders had paid upward of $100 each to watch acts like Snoop Dogg and Orbital perform.

Bloc then began trending on Twitter for all the wrong reasons. People posted photos of attendees stuck behind crowd control barriers and held back by a huge police presence.

One tweet read, “Bloc is um a disaster right now. We’re in the middle of a car crash.” Another tweeted, “Scary, and very nearly led to injuries; all we were told was ‘move back’—where to exactly?”^[4]

After 2016, the founders shut down the annual festival and focused on building their own “super club” instead.

6 Glastonbury
1990 And 2005

It’s a wonder that organizers would allow the Glastonbury festival to descend into chaos after two decades of hosting it. But that’s exactly what happened in 1990. That year, the crowds should have remembered the event for headliners Sinead O’Connor and The Cure, but the risk of “near-asphyxiation” made the headlines instead.^[5]

More than 75,000 people were in attendance at the famous Pyramid Stage, causing a huge crush in the crowd. Bands even had to stop their sets as helicopters landed nearby to tend to the injured.

In 2005, people were at risk again. This time, it was due to 1.2 meters (4 ft) of water flooding the camping sites and performance area. Even the Acoustic Stage wasn’t safe as it was struck by lightning.

The flooding disaster led organizers to eventually fork out millions on a new drainage system before they returned two years later. Despite these bad experiences, Glastonbury is still considered one of the greatest music festivals in the world.

5 Isle Of Wight
2012

In 2011, the Isle of Wight festival promised an epic lineup featuring Tom Petty, Pearl Jam, Bruce Springsteen, Biffy Clyro, and more. Then came the heavy rain, which forced 600 people to sleep in their cars overnight as boats transporting them to the island could not dock due to the severe weather. Others were left gridlocked in traffic for more than 15 hours. Police even opened a local football club for people to take shelter through the night.

The following day, organizers told attendees that they should ditch their cars if they wanted a chance to make it to the festival. Speaking of the experience, one festivalgoer told Sky News, “We’ve gone through some highs and some lows, it’s been 14 hours, and we’re sleep-deprived. Fortunately, we’ve took a lot of food with us, but there were people there that had no food.”^[6]

She added, “There were people with kids, people with dogs, so we tried to remain in high spirits, but it’s been a long slog.”

4 Bestival
2008

Turning up to a festival, you can always expect some mud. But no one at Bestival in 2008 could have predicted how severe the conditions would become. The weather was so bad that year as thunder, lightning, rain, and gale-force winds ripped through the camping grounds.

Many had their tents submerged in the mud. The less fortunate had their camps completely blown away with their belongings. Even the main stages for the performances began to sink into the ground.

Despite the ongoing battle with a furious Mother Nature, Bestival attendees were looking forward to seeing headliner Amy Winehouse perform. That didn’t quite go as planned, either.

Arriving onstage 40 minutes late, Winehouse—who was battling drug and alcohol addiction at the time—staggered around the stage, swilled her drink, and cut the set short by performing for only 30 minutes. The soul singer was met with boos from the crowd.^[7]

Sadly in 2011, she died at age 27 due to alcohol poisoning.

3 Electric Daisy Carnival
2010

During the 1990s, Electric Daisy Carnival (EDC) attracted many festivalgoers thanks to the rise in popular electronic dance music. The event began as a warehouse party held in Austin, San Bernardino, New York City, Los Angeles, and Puerto Rico.

Attendees depended on handouts, which would announce the exact location of the raves until it blew up into something much bigger. Word had leaked out that EDC was the hottest party in town. Unfortunately, that also attracted a lot of minors.

In 2010, the event at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum was overwhelmed by the number of attendees under 18 years old. Heavy drugs were in use among the minors, and tragically, a 15-year-old girl died during the event.

Los Angeles forced EDC out of the area. The organizers stated, “Without an executed contract in place at this time, it has become impossible to guarantee to all of the fans and talent that EDC can be produced at this venue this year.” The event eventually found a new home in Las Vegas, and they hit a record attendance of 700,000 people in 2014.^[8]

2 Sled Island
2013

Sled Island festival in Calgary, Canada, has recovered well from its disastrous attempt in 2013. Acts including The Jesus and Mary Chain, Explosions in the Sky, Divine Fits, and Mac DeMarco were scheduled to appear alongside more than 250 other bands over the four-day weekend in June. That was until severe weather shut down the entire event.

On the second day of the festival, director Maud Salvi received mandatory evacuation orders due to rising floodwaters. The permits for the festival had been revoked, and the event organizers posted on their website: “In light of the current emergency situation, and in line with our commitment to the safety of festivalgoers, all remaining Sled Island festival events are canceled.”

Sled Island festival lost a fortune due to the cancellation. Ticket holders were offered refunds, which amounted to around $200,000. The festival came back the following year, proving that previous severe flooding wasn’t going to dampen their mood.^[9]

1 Powder Ridge Rock Festival
1970

Powder Ridge Rock Festival has become known as “the greatest rock concert that never happened.” Following the success of Woodstock, promoters were hoping to be the next big rock festival that people would flock to in the thousands. In 1970, more than 50,000 people were expected to arrive at Powder Ridge Rock Festival in Middlefield, Connecticut, to see rock royalty Fleetwood Mac and Janis Joplin.

Then, just one month before, the town of Middlefield rejected the application for the festival as local residents took legal action. In a time before the Internet, word did not get back to all attendees that the festival was canceled and 30,000 individuals showed up anyway.^[10]

There was no food, no music, and no water supply. But there were a lot of drug dealers. Doctors volunteered their services to help with the “drug crisis” that took place over the next few days as heavy hallucinogens were being used. By the end of the weekend and many bad drug trips later, the attendees eventually left Powder Ridge.

Cheish Merryweather is the founder of Crime Viral. A true crime and oddities fanatic. Twitter: @thecheish.

Ancient Rome and Greece are often cited as the birthplace of Western culture and the cradle of amazing thinkers and artists to whom we all aspire. Because of this, the less admirable qualities of these ancient civilizations have been mostly forgotten in favor of the beautiful but romanticized view of those countries and governments.

There was more to Rome than art and philosophy, and there was more to Greece than sculpture and debate. Hollywood tends to focus more on the Parthenon and the Roman Senate than the following ten things. What you read below might make you very glad to have never set foot in the world of Socrates or Caesar.

10 Pater Familias, The Family Dictator

The pater familias was the name of the leader of a Roman household, typically the eldest man or most noble birth in the family. The benign duty of protecting the family fell to the pater familias, but the power implicit in the position often led to monstrous consequences for those beneath the patriarch. In efforts to protect the family name, the pater familias had the right to sell any child into slavery, expel wives from the property, and generally control every bit of land and material wealth the family possessed.^[1] This didn’t apply only to the immediate household, either; the familia included extended family, all the way down to servants, clients, and concubines.

This familia was the basic unit of Roman society, and the patriarchal rule of that unit was completely absolute. The pater familias was technically the sole owner of all land and goods the family possessed. This created what was, in essence, a miniature government within each extended family that greatly resembled a dictatorship. Even while dominated by the Roman government, most were doubly ruled by the Roman leadership and their own personal tyrant.

9 The Government Cared About Your Character A Little Too Much

One of the most significant political positions in the Roman government was that of the censor. A censor’s obligations included preserving public morals, keeping the census, and managing finances for the state.^[2] This was a coveted position for people already high up in the hierarchy of Roman society and politics, who saw it as the final and best career for a devoted citizen. The majority of the power of the censor came from their duty to legislate morality. Information could be entered into the census by the censor about the morality of a person or family, which could lead to dire consequences. These accusations, black marks on the name of the accused, could mean loss of the right to vote, expulsion from high society, or overall reduction in rank.

The vices the censor typically punished included anything which would be antithetical to Roman philosophy, namely an overly indulgent lifestyle, mistreatment of slaves, fraud, or general disreputable behavior. Family names could be ruined and people thrown into poverty based on the moral decisions of the censor, who always promoted patriotism to the state. Because morality became interwoven with law, the censor became just another instrument of rule over the people, an untouchable individual with the right to all your secrets and the key to your reputation. This Orwellian system had no space for argument over moral ambiguity or the the privacy of individuals. No one was immune to the censor’s eye, and the stakes were intense. Everyone was under scrutiny at all times, and everyone had everything to lose.

8 Conquest In The Name Of Slavery

Although it’s true that many countries have relied on slaves at different points in their history, the Roman dependence on slave labor is remarkable. As many as 30 percent of the Roman population consisted of slaves at one point, and to exaggerate the issue, slaves died more frequently than they were born.

In order to maintain the slave numbers and keep the labor force, the Romans needed to continually conquer and absorb more slaves. Even this tactic barely sated the need for them. The system, beyond cruel, was terribly inefficient and a waste of human life.^[3]

7 No Mercy From Rome

The Jewish people were in some ways respected by the Romans because of the antiquity of their beliefs, although disliked. Simply put, they were generally manageable, although occasionally problematic, for the Roman Empire. They were an outlier among the polytheistic groups and governments around them, and they refused complete assimilation.

Although typically obedient, when the Jewish people did demonstrate political dissent, they were crushed. The Romans killed thousands of Jews and destroyed their most sacred temple in AD 70, setting an example for how they treat insurrection and how they would soon treat Christian groups. The Romans did this frequently; every single rebellion was treated with severity, and the offenders were often completely decimated.^[4]

6 Be Patriotic Or Die

It should be noted that the Romans did not discriminate based on religion but rather on patriotism. What this means is the Romans did not care who you worshiped so long as you were a good citizen who payed tribute to the leaders. The problem comes when groups like the Christian sects want to meet in private, are growing in number, and refuse to participate in certain rituals which they deem heretical. The Romans perceived religion as a method of maintaining patriotism in the state and used common religious practices to validate Roman rulers and laws. Outsiders like Christians created division and dissent, which the Romans saw as threatening. In doing so, Christians became a persecuted group.

From Nero to Diocletian, Romans killed and tortured enormous numbers of Christians. They humiliated and murdered them both individually and in groups, in front of crowds or openly in the streets. The Romans demonstrated the level of cruelty they could achieve when desperate to squash a threat to their order and created a dystopia where minority beliefs are punishable in imaginative and horrific ways.^[5]

5 The Price Of High Society Was Consent

Aristocratic Greek boys aged 12 to 15 were often provided with a mentor, an older man who was to teach them how to be successful and cultured. Unfortunately, these pairings frequently became more than tutelage; sexual relationships were actually encouraged between the two and completely accepted by the culture. Rights to the young boy were given to the older man for his prowess and in return for his mentorship.

These relationships, sometimes taking place even before the boys hit puberty, were absolutely not consensual but were not resisted, as it was simply seen as part of the social order. Many Greeks would have claimed love for their partner in this mentoring relationship, but it was never the result of free will for the younger participant. In this way, Greek culture terrorized younger noblemen and exploited them for perverted gain, creating a universe which can only be described as frightening.^[6]

4 Women Lived Like Prison Inmates

The separation of Greek girls and women from society as a whole was akin to a life of solitary confinement. Girls existed entirely within the home until they were married, at which point they moved into their husband’s home for a very similar situation. They could run the occasional errand or attend ceremonies (if accompanied), but the vast majority of their life was spent indoors and nearly alone.^[7] Women could spend time with their children and their servants in rooms designated specially for them and could enter the public area of the house to receive visitors only if their husbands allowed it.

Girls were often married at the age of 14, and slave girls were the sexual property of their male masters, as well as the subject of ire of the master’s wife. No female, slave, poor, noble, or middle class, was free, and each suffered under the philosophy that women were merely poorly made men, disfigured and unintelligent, who should be kept in locked rooms for their own safety. This world was a true nightmare for the many women who lived in it and created what was essentially the life of a prisoner for every single female.

3 Cults Were Abundant

Organizations named “mystery cults” by historians were prevalent in ancient Greece and Rome. They had secret services, initiations, ceremonies, and doctrines which differentiated them from each other. Each cult had their own specifications for diet, burial, and daily life, and each worshiped their own god or goddess, believing that by dedicating their lives to one entity, they were likely to achieve favor with that god or goddess and perhaps ascend to a glorious afterlife.

The cult of Mithras was popular in Rome and celebrated militarism and masculinity as an all male-cult.^[8] Whatever their beliefs, the cults are fascinating to historians and pretty creepy to the modern person.

2 A Spartan Newborn Could Kill You

Beginning at childbirth, Spartan citizens were trained for barbarism. To wage war was the ultimate purpose of every Spartan life, and they were all well-equipped to fulfill that purpose. Remarkably, even the diets of Spartan boys were limited. This was not done for the purpose of maintaining a good physique but to actually encourage stealing. If caught stealing food, the punishment would be harsh, not for the crime of stealing but for being caught in the act.

The Spartans preached only efficiency and might, and morality tended to take a back seat. They turned their children into hardened and effective criminals intentionally in order to prepare them for battle. A man had to serve ten years in the military before being granted citizenship and was forced to sneak out of barracks to visit his own wife (and, again, would be punished if caught).^[9] Being born in Sparta was to be born a soldier, bound forever to your state and with hardly any personal freedoms.

1 The Fall

Perhaps the most terrifying thing about ancient Greece and Rome is their fall into corruption. Both were once great and are no longer. For various reasons, they lost control over their empires and ceded their dominance to others. No matter how strong their governments, they eventually became corrupt and fell into ruin. The death of Socrates could allegorically represent the death of the true ideals of Greece and was an omen of their inevitable downfall. Many of the founding ideas of Greek and Roman society were truly good (excluding all those in this list) but did not last until the end of their empires.

Bribery and self-interest contributed to the collapse of the Roman empire, activities which were not so rampant when the young nation started out. As power increased, truly just government slowly fell away, revealing the corrupt and skeletal remains of the original system.^[10] The prevalence of assassinations and shady dealings made the late Roman government a true, real-life dystopia.

I am a poet and aspiring novelist from Rock Hill, South Carolina. I am attending school to major in English with a creative writing concentration as well as Spanish. I love learning unexpected things and telling others about them, and I hope my lists intrigue.

Have you ever wondered how your favorite foods were invented?

Most of us probably envision a chef or a food company employee experimenting endlessly to craft the perfect concoction for palates that are tired of the same old thing. A pinch of this, a dash of that, and voila! Finally, after days or even months of hard work, a new food is created.

As it turns out, pure dumb luck is often the greatest inventor of all. Here are 10 favorite foods that came about by complete accident.

10 Popsicles

In 1905, Frank Epperson invented the Popsicle. This delicious fruity treat is something that almost everyone has tasted. When it is hot in the summer, it is good to have your fridge stuffed with these treats.

Frank was only 11 years old when he invented these ice pops. This child had received some soda-making equipment and was excited to start producing soda. Accidentally, he left the sugary mixture out overnight.

The night was bitterly cold. By the next morning, the stick he had used to stir the soda had frozen into the mixture.

The young inventor proceeded to lick the soda blend off the stick. He called it the “Epsicle,” naming it after himself. Then he started to sell his concoction to neighbors and friends in his area. They all enjoyed the sweet treat. In 1924, he patented his invention and renamed it as “Popsicle.”^[1]

9 Chocolate Chip Cookies

In 1930, Ruth Wakefield invented the chocolate chip cookie. You may be wondering how such a delicious treat could have been created by complete mistake. But, of course, it was. Surprisingly enough, she and her loving husband owned a tourist lodge called the Toll House Inn.

One day at the inn, she was making chocolate cookies for her many guests and discovered that she had run out of baker’s chocolate, one of the key ingredients. Instead of running to the store to grab more baker’s chocolate, she chopped up some Nestle chocolate and put it into the cookie batter.

She assumed that the Nestle chocolate would spread out to create a whole chocolate cookie when it was baked in the oven. Instead, she invented the chocolate chip cookie.^[2] This one little mistake created greatness in America’s food history.

8 Ice Cream Cones

In 1904, Arnold Fornachou created ice cream cones—with some help from a fellow vendor. Business was booming on that hot summer day, and eventually, Arnold ran out of plastic cups in which to serve his mouthwatering ice cream. Luckily, a pastry chef was selling pastries nearby and came to Arnold’s rescue.^[3]

The pastry chef had some waffles left over. He showed Arnold how to roll them up to form a cone-like shape that would easily hold a good amount of ice cream. This was a delicious way to serve ice cream, and Arnold’s customers loved it.

Today, ice cream is served in wafer cones, waffle cones, kiddie cones, and even waffle cone bowls. We can all thank Arnold Fornachou and the pastry chef for this great invention.

7 The Sandwich

In the 1700s, John Montagu, the 4th Earl of Sandwich, discovered that two slices of bread with lettuce, tomatoes, onion, and mustard inside tasted delicious. His story, you ask? There are many versions that suggest why and how the sandwich was made.

One popular tale is that John Montagu gambled a lot. It took up so much of his time that he could not possibly leave an intense card game. So he often requested that meat be brought to him between two thin slices of bread. That way, he could eat a meal without using a fork or getting his hands dirty by directly touching the meat.^[4]

Another version of the story is that Montagu sat at his desk for hours, trying to create a utensil-free meal that could fill up his stomach and still be easy to eat. Eventually, he came up with the sandwich.

As time went on, people thought of the different types of sandwiches that we eat today. People now fill sandwiches with meat, veggies, sauces, and even different types of sweets.

6 Tofu

Many stories have suggested why and how tofu was invented, but here is one of the most original. According to legend, an ancient Chinese cook accidentally dropped a piece of nigari into a pot of soybean milk. A curdling effect was created, which made tofu.

The chef served the new, unidentified substance to his customers, and surprisingly, they loved the new food. The cook continued to serve the dish, making many customers very happy.

To this day, people eat tofu as a replacement for meat or just as a healthy vegetarian option. The great thing about it is that it tastes like whatever it is cooked in. Tofu is featured in many Asian dishes.^[5]

5 Potato Chips

In 1853, George Crum worked at Moon’s Lake House near Saratoga Springs. He was a chef and wanted to fulfill his customers’ orders without any flaws. One day, a loyal customer ordered a batch of fried potatoes but did not enjoy their thickness. So he sent them back to the kitchen to be remade—but thinner.

His request was taken seriously, and the cook fulfilled his second order. Unfortunately, the second batch was not to the customer’s standards. This happened one or two times, each batch not being thin enough for the customer’s liking.

Tired of the complaints, George took a potato and sliced it as thin as he possibly could, knowing that this had to be the order that the customer would like to eat. George fried and salted the potato slices, trying his hardest to make them as delicious as possible.

He brought them out to the customer and hoped that this batch would be satisfactory. The customer loved them, and this new food was named the potato chip.^[6]

4 Corn Flakes

In the 19th century, William and John Kellogg invented corn flakes. These two brothers worked at Battle Creek Sanitarium, where vegetarianism and knowing how to be healthy were very important.

One day, the Kelloggs were looking for a substitute for bread. First, they boiled wheat. Unfortunately (but fortunately for us), they boiled the wheat too long. When they rolled it out, it fell into many flakes. Lastly, they baked it—and poof! Out came the bread flakes!

Many people thought that this was delicious, but the Kelloggs knew that they could make it better. The brothers substituted corn for wheat, and corn flakes were born.^[7]

3 Slurpees

In the late 1950s, Omar Knedlik invented the treat we all know and love—Slurpees. You may have had this delicious drink as a refreshment at the movie theater or as a yummy dessert. But did you know the story behind the invention of the Slurpee?

Knedlik owned a Dairy Queen franchise. Compared to today, the shop’s machines were not quite as reliable. One day, the soda fountain wasn’t working so Knedlik stuck bottles of soda in the freezer. He kept them in a bit long, and the liquid became slushy and solid. He served the concoction to his customers, and surprisingly, they loved it.^[8]

Knedlik continued to receive requests for this slushy soda, and he proceeded to call it a Slurpee!

2 Dippin’ Dots

In 1988, microbiologist Curt Jones invented our favorite sweet snack, Dippin’ Dots. Jones was trying to figure out how to feed cows faster and easier while using fewer materials. He froze a batch of cow feed at around -212 degrees Celsius (-350 °F), and the resulting pellets could easily be fed to the waiting cows.

Jones discovered that this same method could be used with human food. He tested it with ice cream and created Dippin’ Dots, the fun summer treat that we all love.^[9]

1 Coca-Cola

In 1886, John Pemberton invented Coca-Cola. He was a wounded veteran who was addicted to morphine. Pemberton wanted to create a replacement for the morphine to alleviate his addiction. He experimented many times until he devised a formula with small amounts of cocaine and kola nut.

To this day, Coca-Cola is a well-known soda brand that is sold throughout the US.^[10] You can get this drink at the movie theater, at a festival, at the store to take home with you, or anywhere else you can possibly think of!

I am a young adult, and I love to write about anything and everything! I enjoy making lists as well, so this combines my two hobbies into one!

Movies filmed on location often add greater realism not found in those shot on sound stages or studio backlots. From the montage of New York City’s iconic landmarks in Manhattan to Rome’s Trevi Fountain in La Dolce Vita, authenticity can greatly enhance the viewer’s cinematic experience. But sometimes looks can be deceiving, as showcased in our top 10 filming locations at odds with the movie. 

10. Body Heat

South Florida served as the backdrop for this 1981 steamy, neo-noir thriller starring William Hurt and Kathleen Turner. However, frigid temperatures in the Sunshine State required the cast and crew to summon all their talents and skills to depict a sweltering heatwave.

Inspired by noir classics such as Double Indemnity and The Big Sleep, Body Heat revolves around a femme fatale (Turner) who plots to murder her wealthy husband with the aid of an unscrupulous lawyer (Hurt). Principal photography began in late November 1980 over a stretch that saw temperatures drop into the low 40s. As a result, the actors had to suck on ice cubes before delivering their lines to prevent condensation, and crew members constantly applied ‘sweat’ with spray water bottles.  

Despite frigid conditions, the clever stagecraft proved convincing and helped launch the careers of the lead performers — both relatively unknown at the time. Fellow newcomers Ted Danson and Mickey Rourke also appeared in supporting roles, adding heft to the critically acclaimed film.

9. Saving Private Ryan

Although Ireland remained neutral throughout WWII, the country saw plenty of action thanks to Steven Spielberg’s epic masterpiece in 1998. For starters, there’s the stunning 20-minute long battle sequence, capturing the intensity and carnage of the Normandy Invasion — better known as D-Day. But instead of the beaches of northern France, cast and crew invaded the southeastern Irish coast to re-create the largest amphibious operation in military history.

Due to various issues, including the actual site’s status as a historical landmark, filming there simply wasn’t possible. Fortunately, Ballinesker Beach in County Wexford, about 70 miles south of Dublin, provided a close match to stage the brutal combat that occurred at Omaha Beach on June 6, 1944.

Over $11 million was spent transforming the usually serene Irish shores into a war-torn battlefield. Spielberg’s keen attention to visual detail meant the meticulous construction of Nazi “pillboxes” and barbed wired barricades and splattering thousands of gallons of fake blood. 

Bolstered by a stellar ensemble of actors that included Tom Hanks, Matt Damon, Edward Burns, Tom Sizemore, and Barry Pepper, the war epic went on to gross $481,840,909 worldwide and earned Spielberg the Oscar for Best Director.

8. Lone Survivor

New Mexico’s Sangre de Cristo Mountains (Blood of Christ), the southernmost subrange of the Rocky Mountains, owes its name to the reddish glow that occurs at sunrise and sunset. In 2013, a cacophony of hellfire explosions and gunfire replaced the celestial atmosphere during the making of Lone Survivor.

Based on Marcus Luttrell’s biographical book of the same name, the movie chronicles the exploits of a Navy SEALS team ambushed in the Hindu Kush mountains of Afghanistan. The film stars Mark Wahlberg in the role of Lutrell, who managed to survive a ferocious siege and subsequent failed rescue attempt, resulting in the deaths of 19 U.S. soldiers.  

In real life, Luttrell stands 6’5″ tall. Walhberg doesn’t (more like 5’6”), and northern New Mexico lies roughly 7,500 miles from the battle-scarred terrain of central Asia. No matter. Director Peter Berg relied on combat veterans to serve as technical advisors, whose duties included whipping the actors into shape. Furthermore, a small army of stuntmen took their lumps (and several broken bones) to create an avalanche of falling bodies — action that film critic Andrew O’Hehir described as “war porn.” 

7. Good Will Hunting

This 1997 coming-of-age tale shines a spotlight on Will Hunting (Matt Damon), a young blue-collar math whiz from the tough streets of south Boston. But Canada’s biggest city served as the primary filming location, with the University of Toronto and Central Technical High School standing in for MIT and Harvard University.

In one of the film’s most memorable scenes, Will tells a condescending Harvard student, “How you like them apples?” The location is supposed to be the Bow and Arrow bar in Beantown – but it was actually Toronto’s Upfront Bar and Grill. Sadly, both are now shuttered. 

Movie fans, however, can visit the park bench where Will has a heart-to-heart discussion with his therapist (Robin Williams) at Boston Public Garden. The site has become a memorial of sorts to honor Williams, who won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, and died in 2014.  

6. Cold Mountain

Set during the American Civil War and loosely based on Homer’s Odyssey, Cold Mountain stars an Australian actress (Nicole Kidman), a British actor (Jude Law), and was filmed in Romania. But who needs the authenticity when enticing tax incentives can be had?

Disgraced mogul Harvey Weinstein and his company, Miramax, green-lit the production after securing a 10% rebate to shoot in the former communist country. To be fair, the Carpathian Mountains proved to be a worthy substitute for North Carolina’s Appalachians, where much of the story takes place. Moreover, the Transylvania region also had less infrastructure at the time, such as power lines and paved roads, creating an underdeveloped, rural setting. 

The film also benefited from the talents of director Anthony Minghella (“The English Patient”) and an Oscar-winning performance by Rene Zellweger, whose spot on southern accent reflected her upbringing in Texas. 

5. Braveheart

Directed by and starring Mel Gibson, Braveheart tells the story (or, rather, a story) of Scottish national hero William Wallace. Aside from a few scenes filmed in Bonnie Scotland, the historical drama was shot almost entirely in Ireland, which included the medieval Anglo-Norman fortress, Trim Castle. Additionally, more than 1,000 members of the Irish Defense Forces were featured in the large-scale battle scenes. 

Substituting the Emerald Isle for Scotland was congruent with a narrative rife with inaccuracies, such as anachronistic clothing and military tactics, as well as Gibson’s paltry Scottish accent. The Aussie movie star later justified his vision for the 13th-century warrior: “Some people said that in telling the story, we messed up history. It doesn’t bother me because what I’m giving you is a cinematic experience, and I think films are there first to entertain, then teach, then inspire.”

4. Dallas Buyers Club

Despite having the city’s name in its title, this biopic about AIDS patient Ron Woodruff replaces “Big D” with the “Big Easy” of New Orleans. Matthew McConaughey stars as Ron Woodruff, a womanizing, homophobic cowboy who establishes a drug distribution network, providing AZT to fellow patients afflicted with the deadly disease. 

The demanding role saw McConaughey lose 47 pounds (a quarter of his body weight), and co-star Jared Leto shed 30 pounds. For their efforts, both men would take home Oscars. 

The movie’s low budget greatly benefited from Louisiana’s hefty 30% tax incentive program. Filming took place over a twenty-five-day period, during which rehearsals were largely excluded, and scenes given limited takes.

McConaughey, a native Texan, provided this insight on the disguised location: “You have to watch the tropical foliage; that ain’t in Dallas. In some places you can see the humidity and the mildew and the overgrowth where Mother Nature takes over in New Orleans.”

3. Titanic

While attempting to circumnavigate the world, legendary Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan named the western reaches ‘Mar Pacífico’ (‘peaceful sea’). Nearly 400 years later, director James Cameron also made history, transforming these waters into the treacherous North Atlantic during the making of Titanic. 

In 1996, 20th Century Fox built a 17 million gallon outdoor tank that adjoined and overlooked the Pacific Ocean near Playas de Rosarito, Mexico. A demanding shooting schedule followed, creating a hostile environment that further cemented Cameron’s tyrannical reputation.

Several members of the cast and crew fell ill due to spending long hours in cold water and turning the tank into a giant toilet. Kate Winslet suffered several bruises and nearly drowned during a scene in which her coat got caught on a gate while underwater.

Titanic would eventually emerge as the highest-grossing movie of all time, raking in $1.8 billion worldwide. As for his temperamental behavior, Cameron shrugged it off as merely doing his job: “Film-making is war. A great battle between business and aesthetics.”

2. Elf

Christmas movies typically feature heart-warming themes such as love, family unity, and Santa Claus. In 2003, Elf managed to tick all these boxes and more, even though several scenes took place at an abandoned mental institution near Vancouver, British Columbia.

For nearly a century, Riverview Hospital operated under the governance of BC Mental Health & Addiction Services before closing its doors in 2013. The expansive complex later became a popular location for film and TV projects, including Supernatural, The X-Files, and Halloween: Resurrection. 

For Elf,  a comedy starring Will Ferrell as a fully grown elf in search of his real family, the hospital interiors were used to create a wide variety of sets ranging from a police station to an orphanage. According to the film’s production designer Rusty Smith, “It is one of the creepiest places I’ve ever been in my life.” 

1. Journey to the Center of the Earth

Based on the best-selling Jules Verne novel, this 1959 sci-fi movie stars James Mason, Pat Boone, Arlene Dahl, and “Gertrude the Duck.” The filmmakers at 20th Century Fox selected Carlsbad Caverns in southeastern New Mexico to stage several of the underground sequences. Although the renowned caves provided an exotic setting for the earth’s core, it’s a safe bet that neither humans, reptiles, nor waterfowl could survive in an environment with temperatures hotter than the sun.

Studio executives, eager to match the success of previous Verne adaptations, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, and Around the World in 80 Days,  invested heavily in the project and “filmed in the incomparable magic of CineScope.” The gamble would pay off in spades as audiences flocked to “monstrous” creatures, which in reality, were iguanas with prosthetics glued to their backs and a painted Tegu lizard.