5 Crazy-Dangerous Film Sets

Including a 'Noah's Ark' set that actually flooded
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 11, 2015 10:59 AM CDT
5 Crazy-Dangerous Film Sets
In this publicity image released by Warner Bros. Entertainment, Linda Blair portrays a possessed Regan MacNeil in a scene from "The Exorcist."   (AP Photo/Warner Bros. Entertainment)

Making a movie isn't always all fun and games. Pixable rounds up nine film locations that were extremely hazardous for cast and crew:

  • The Conqueror, St. George, Utah: The 1956 John Wayne flick was filmed near a government nuclear test site in Nevada. Nearly 100 cast and crew members ultimately got some form of cancer, including Wayne (though he attributed his cancer to his six-pack-a-day smoking habit).
  • Noah's Ark, Chatsworth, Calif.: The 1982 short film used so much water for the flooding scene the set actually flooded and people were injured. Thirty-five ambulances responded to the emergency.

  • Roar, Acton, Calif.: While making the 1981 movie about a family living among wild animals, cast and crew members (including Melanie Griffith) were actually mauled by wild animals.
  • The Exorcist, New York, NY: The set was so cold (sometimes below zero) that snow sometimes built up on set and sweat froze on cast and crew members during filming of the 1973 movie.
  • The African Queen, Belgian Congo, Africa: Most of the 1951 film's cast and crew got dysentery from drinking the local water—but not Humphrey Bogart or John Huston, because they mostly drank whiskey.
Click for the complete list. (More movies stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X