1 00:00:16,755 --> 00:00:18,583 - When the new Hollywood came about, 2 00:00:18,670 --> 00:00:21,021 your Scorseses and your Coppolas and your De Palmas, 3 00:00:21,108 --> 00:00:22,805 and your Friedkins, and your Ciminos, 4 00:00:22,892 --> 00:00:24,546 they really kinda bought into their own press, 5 00:00:24,633 --> 00:00:26,809 this kind of swinging dick, auteur theory, 6 00:00:26,896 --> 00:00:28,854 two-fisted filmmaking. 7 00:00:28,941 --> 00:00:31,422 - The '70s were kind of the wild west. 8 00:00:31,509 --> 00:00:34,034 People love hearing stories about William Friedkin 9 00:00:34,121 --> 00:00:36,297 firing a gun on the set of "The Exorcist". 10 00:00:36,384 --> 00:00:38,734 It would just take one tweet to come out of a production 11 00:00:38,821 --> 00:00:40,518 of someone just firing a gun 12 00:00:40,605 --> 00:00:42,346 to get a reaction from somebody else 13 00:00:42,433 --> 00:00:43,956 and then that director's career would be over. 14 00:00:47,177 --> 00:00:49,136 - They were pushing boundaries. 15 00:00:49,223 --> 00:00:51,355 They were pioneers of cinema. 16 00:00:51,442 --> 00:00:54,228 - There was a lot of belief when these auteurs 17 00:00:54,315 --> 00:00:57,666 were creating beautiful art, but at what cost? 18 00:00:58,884 --> 00:01:01,104 - Certainly, there's a culture that's happening in the '70s 19 00:01:01,191 --> 00:01:03,193 that is letting these guys run wild 20 00:01:03,280 --> 00:01:05,543 and we got a lot of great films out of it, 21 00:01:05,630 --> 00:01:08,198 but you also get a lot of... mishaps. 22 00:01:47,368 --> 00:01:49,326 - The incident on the set of "The Twilight Zone" 23 00:01:49,413 --> 00:01:51,372 always stuck with me. 24 00:01:54,462 --> 00:01:57,639 Film sets are controlled chaos. 25 00:01:58,944 --> 00:02:02,034 I've been here at Blumhouse for about four years now 26 00:02:02,122 --> 00:02:04,515 and I've been on a fair share of sets 27 00:02:04,602 --> 00:02:08,867 and it is really interesting to see, 28 00:02:08,954 --> 00:02:11,435 you know, how many precautions are made. 29 00:02:11,522 --> 00:02:15,135 Someone's gotta take a slight step backwards down a staircase 30 00:02:15,222 --> 00:02:17,963 and we've gotta do a bunch of safety meetings, 31 00:02:18,050 --> 00:02:19,965 and for good reason. 32 00:02:21,097 --> 00:02:23,621 - For all the coincidences that have to be connected 33 00:02:23,708 --> 00:02:26,363 to give life to these cursed legends, 34 00:02:26,450 --> 00:02:28,409 The Twilight Zone accident 35 00:02:28,496 --> 00:02:30,454 sort of lays that all bare, 36 00:02:30,541 --> 00:02:33,588 it's... it's just something horrible that happened. 37 00:02:35,851 --> 00:02:38,375 - I'm Stephen Farber, a film critic 38 00:02:38,462 --> 00:02:42,423 and co-author of the book "Outrageous Conduct: 39 00:02:42,510 --> 00:02:46,253 Art, Ego, and The Twilight Zone Case". 40 00:02:46,340 --> 00:02:49,125 John Landis and Stephen Spielberg, 41 00:02:49,212 --> 00:02:52,998 came up with the idea of this anthology film 42 00:02:53,085 --> 00:02:56,263 inspired by The Twilight Zone TV series, 43 00:02:57,351 --> 00:02:59,266 which had a real cult following. 44 00:03:01,485 --> 00:03:04,009 Narrator: You unlock this door with the key of imagination. 45 00:03:04,096 --> 00:03:05,968 Beyond it is another dimension, 46 00:03:06,055 --> 00:03:08,710 a dimension of sound. 47 00:03:08,797 --> 00:03:10,973 The Twilight Zone. 48 00:03:15,238 --> 00:03:18,241 - The basic idea of Landis' segment 49 00:03:18,328 --> 00:03:22,811 was just for this bigot to experience prejudice 50 00:03:22,898 --> 00:03:25,161 in these different settings 51 00:03:25,248 --> 00:03:29,470 and to get a sense of what the people that he had maligned 52 00:03:29,557 --> 00:03:31,646 would go through. 53 00:03:31,733 --> 00:03:36,041 Vic Morrow who was the leading actor in this segment, 54 00:03:36,128 --> 00:03:39,567 he wasn't that impressed with John Landis, 55 00:03:40,568 --> 00:03:42,047 but he was impressed 56 00:03:42,134 --> 00:03:44,702 that Spielberg was involved with the movie, 57 00:03:44,789 --> 00:03:46,661 and he needed a job, frankly. 58 00:03:46,748 --> 00:03:50,839 His career had not been going that well at that time. 59 00:03:52,144 --> 00:03:56,018 John Landis had had a very big box office success 60 00:03:56,105 --> 00:03:57,889 with "Animal House". 61 00:03:57,976 --> 00:04:01,328 He had a somewhat less but still success 62 00:04:02,459 --> 00:04:04,548 with the "Blues Brothers". 63 00:04:04,635 --> 00:04:07,508 This was the auteur era, 64 00:04:07,595 --> 00:04:11,773 where, uh, directors were really granted carte blanche. 65 00:04:11,860 --> 00:04:14,689 There was not much oversight by the studios. 66 00:04:18,040 --> 00:04:21,348 - I met Frank Marshall years and years ago. 67 00:04:21,435 --> 00:04:22,958 I built a relationship with Frank 68 00:04:23,045 --> 00:04:25,395 and he called me up and he says, you know, 69 00:04:25,482 --> 00:04:28,224 I like you to be involved in more of my pictures 70 00:04:28,311 --> 00:04:31,836 and Frank had offered me "The Twilight Zone," 71 00:04:33,664 --> 00:04:35,971 which introduced me to John Landis. 72 00:04:37,320 --> 00:04:39,757 I sat down with John and we started to discuss 73 00:04:39,844 --> 00:04:42,369 how we can create those worlds 74 00:04:42,456 --> 00:04:45,067 and it was very important to be as real, 75 00:04:45,154 --> 00:04:46,808 as realistic as possible. 76 00:04:48,375 --> 00:04:50,202 We found the backlot at Universal 77 00:04:50,290 --> 00:04:52,509 for the European street. 78 00:04:53,945 --> 00:04:56,383 Also, for the, uh, cattle car 79 00:04:56,470 --> 00:04:58,167 and creating that scene. 80 00:05:03,041 --> 00:05:05,392 - The studio felt it would be better 81 00:05:05,479 --> 00:05:08,351 if you learned something from this experience 82 00:05:08,438 --> 00:05:10,832 that would redeem the character, 83 00:05:10,919 --> 00:05:13,313 so Landis came up with the idea 84 00:05:14,357 --> 00:05:17,926 of the Vietnam sequence 85 00:05:18,013 --> 00:05:21,233 where he would save the lives 86 00:05:21,321 --> 00:05:23,410 of two Vietnamese orphans 87 00:05:24,585 --> 00:05:26,630 who were in danger. 88 00:05:28,066 --> 00:05:30,591 I think Landis was considered to be... 89 00:05:31,809 --> 00:05:33,811 talented but erratic 90 00:05:35,726 --> 00:05:39,339 and not the most mature in judgment, 91 00:05:40,731 --> 00:05:43,604 or the most responsible in terms of filmmaking, 92 00:05:43,691 --> 00:05:45,910 and several of the crew people 93 00:05:45,997 --> 00:05:49,349 were concerned about his cavalier attitude 94 00:05:49,436 --> 00:05:51,960 towards safety. 95 00:05:52,047 --> 00:05:53,831 - One of the scenes is Vic Morrow 96 00:05:53,918 --> 00:05:55,572 is running through the jungle, 97 00:05:55,659 --> 00:05:57,966 coming through the greenery of Vietnam, 98 00:05:58,053 --> 00:05:59,881 which I filled in... 99 00:05:59,968 --> 00:06:01,186 - Help me! 100 00:06:01,273 --> 00:06:03,450 - ...and he is being shot at. 101 00:06:03,537 --> 00:06:05,408 - No! 102 00:06:07,367 --> 00:06:10,239 - To get the realistic feel of them being shot at, 103 00:06:10,326 --> 00:06:12,763 before the bullets go off, 104 00:06:13,982 --> 00:06:16,463 he is pulled off out of scene 105 00:06:16,550 --> 00:06:19,640 and the bullets shoot, 106 00:06:19,727 --> 00:06:21,816 and they rip the shit out of the greenery, 107 00:06:21,903 --> 00:06:23,731 the palm fronds and the whole thing. 108 00:06:25,994 --> 00:06:27,996 Well, they used real bullets that night. 109 00:06:29,650 --> 00:06:31,826 That was something that John insisted on doing. 110 00:06:35,177 --> 00:06:37,440 John called me into his office and said, 111 00:06:37,527 --> 00:06:39,137 we're gonna go to Valencia, 112 00:06:39,224 --> 00:06:41,183 and we drove through this area 113 00:06:41,270 --> 00:06:43,533 that did have aspects of a jungle. 114 00:06:44,795 --> 00:06:46,928 So I was walking by myself 115 00:06:47,015 --> 00:06:48,973 and there was a stream, 116 00:06:50,192 --> 00:06:53,456 and a large cliff on the other side of the stream. 117 00:06:55,502 --> 00:06:58,069 I went over to John and I brought him over to the, 118 00:06:58,156 --> 00:07:00,289 to the stream and I said, 119 00:07:00,376 --> 00:07:03,684 John, I see a village over there. 120 00:07:05,773 --> 00:07:07,035 He says, what are you talking about? 121 00:07:08,776 --> 00:07:11,343 So I said to him, if you agree with me, 122 00:07:11,431 --> 00:07:14,303 that we shoot the set in one direction only, 123 00:07:14,390 --> 00:07:16,697 I will build you a village - 124 00:07:17,872 --> 00:07:19,743 if we always angle the camera in one direction 125 00:07:19,830 --> 00:07:21,745 as we dolly back. 126 00:07:26,881 --> 00:07:28,448 He said, he said, yes. 127 00:07:33,017 --> 00:07:34,323 And uh... 128 00:07:35,585 --> 00:07:37,152 I went back, 129 00:07:37,239 --> 00:07:39,197 did a little research, 130 00:07:40,372 --> 00:07:41,896 and I built that village. 131 00:07:43,854 --> 00:07:45,943 The set was unbelievable. 132 00:07:47,336 --> 00:07:48,642 It was Vietnam. 133 00:07:51,253 --> 00:07:54,299 That evening I was approached 134 00:07:54,386 --> 00:07:56,824 by many of the top people in Hollywood, 135 00:07:58,086 --> 00:08:00,741 putting them-- their hands around me 136 00:08:01,916 --> 00:08:04,135 and saying, this is remarkable, 137 00:08:04,222 --> 00:08:06,224 how does it feel to be in the big time? 138 00:08:15,103 --> 00:08:17,105 The scene, basically, to lay it out for you, 139 00:08:17,192 --> 00:08:20,195 was Vic is coming into the village, 140 00:08:20,282 --> 00:08:22,066 a helicopter comes in, 141 00:08:22,153 --> 00:08:24,242 he picks up the children, 142 00:08:24,329 --> 00:08:26,331 comes up to the water's edge 143 00:08:28,333 --> 00:08:31,380 and then runs towards the camera, 144 00:08:33,077 --> 00:08:34,514 saving the children. 145 00:08:41,869 --> 00:08:43,523 Excuse me. 146 00:08:44,828 --> 00:08:47,614 - It was illegal to work children 147 00:08:47,701 --> 00:08:50,051 after, I think, like eight o'clock at night. 148 00:08:50,138 --> 00:08:52,140 They wanted it to be done much later 149 00:08:52,227 --> 00:08:54,359 to have an authentic night scene, 150 00:08:54,446 --> 00:08:57,362 and when the casting directors heard 151 00:08:57,449 --> 00:08:58,973 what the scene entailed 152 00:09:00,017 --> 00:09:02,411 with children... 153 00:09:02,498 --> 00:09:04,631 in the vicinity of explosions 154 00:09:05,675 --> 00:09:08,112 underneath a helicopter, 155 00:09:08,199 --> 00:09:10,114 the casting director said 156 00:09:10,201 --> 00:09:12,203 this sounds like a dangerous scene. 157 00:09:14,466 --> 00:09:17,034 So Landis said, 158 00:09:17,121 --> 00:09:19,776 we'll get them off the street ourselves. 159 00:09:23,214 --> 00:09:25,739 A number of people made remarks 160 00:09:25,826 --> 00:09:28,698 that if they were hiring the children illegally 161 00:09:28,785 --> 00:09:32,093 and if they found out about the explosions, 162 00:09:32,180 --> 00:09:34,574 we're gonna be sent to jail. 163 00:09:38,403 --> 00:09:40,014 - We did a lot of tests 164 00:09:41,015 --> 00:09:43,365 where the helicopter comes down, 165 00:09:44,627 --> 00:09:46,629 how high it is, where it is positioned. 166 00:09:48,109 --> 00:09:49,893 - They had done an earlier scene 167 00:09:49,980 --> 00:09:53,157 without the actors and the children, 168 00:09:53,244 --> 00:09:55,638 just kind of testing some of the things out 169 00:09:55,725 --> 00:09:58,380 with the explosions and the helicopter, 170 00:09:58,467 --> 00:10:01,688 and the helicopter was rocked violently 171 00:10:01,775 --> 00:10:03,907 by these explosions 172 00:10:03,994 --> 00:10:06,562 and the people in the helicopter said, 173 00:10:06,649 --> 00:10:09,260 Gee, that seemed kinda rough. 174 00:10:09,347 --> 00:10:12,350 And John Landis is reported to have said, 175 00:10:12,437 --> 00:10:13,874 you think that was big? 176 00:10:13,961 --> 00:10:15,963 You ain't seen nothing yet. 177 00:10:22,230 --> 00:10:25,059 My name is Kane Hodder. Uh... 178 00:10:26,800 --> 00:10:29,367 Among other things, I've been a stuntman for 40, 179 00:10:29,454 --> 00:10:31,282 almost 42 years, 180 00:10:31,369 --> 00:10:35,547 and played Jason in several of the "Friday the 13th" films. 181 00:10:36,810 --> 00:10:39,726 Sometimes things just happen on sets. 182 00:10:40,770 --> 00:10:42,816 I can tell you any number of times I've done a stunt 183 00:10:42,903 --> 00:10:45,645 where something happened 184 00:10:45,732 --> 00:10:48,996 that I really didn't expect. Like uh... 185 00:10:49,083 --> 00:10:51,389 I did a, a, what's called a pipe ramp. 186 00:10:52,608 --> 00:10:55,567 It's a where you take a car and you hit a pipe like this 187 00:10:55,655 --> 00:10:58,005 and it makes the car go like that - 188 00:10:58,092 --> 00:10:59,528 fly in the air. 189 00:11:01,835 --> 00:11:05,969 I did one of those on "Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3". 190 00:11:09,625 --> 00:11:11,192 As the stunt coordinator, 191 00:11:11,279 --> 00:11:13,063 I placed where the camera would be safe 192 00:11:13,150 --> 00:11:15,805 and just so happened, when I hit the ramp, 193 00:11:20,418 --> 00:11:22,725 it just happened to hit so it kinda flipped like that 194 00:11:22,812 --> 00:11:26,033 and went quite a bit further than I anticipated. 195 00:11:27,643 --> 00:11:31,342 You know, unfortunately things, at times, just happen. 196 00:11:33,040 --> 00:11:35,651 So 1977, 197 00:11:35,738 --> 00:11:39,089 a local reporter wanted to do a story on me 198 00:11:39,176 --> 00:11:41,352 for the Reno Newspaper. 199 00:11:42,745 --> 00:11:44,268 And I said, you know, if you want, 200 00:11:44,355 --> 00:11:46,662 I could do a fire stunt for you live. 201 00:11:48,011 --> 00:11:50,361 I still don't know exactly what went wrong, 202 00:11:50,448 --> 00:11:53,800 but I suddenly burst into way more flames 203 00:11:54,931 --> 00:11:56,977 than I was expecting, 204 00:11:57,064 --> 00:11:58,848 uh, I panicked. 205 00:12:01,590 --> 00:12:03,113 I ended up having 206 00:12:03,200 --> 00:12:06,421 what they said was 45% third degree, 207 00:12:06,508 --> 00:12:08,292 which is a lot. 208 00:12:11,556 --> 00:12:14,777 The next five and a half months was spent in the hospital 209 00:12:14,864 --> 00:12:18,563 going through tremendous amounts of pain 210 00:12:18,650 --> 00:12:20,609 and uh... 211 00:12:22,350 --> 00:12:25,440 psychological stuff, I would say. 212 00:12:26,746 --> 00:12:29,705 Later in my career, I started doing fire stunts again 213 00:12:30,837 --> 00:12:33,404 and became kind of known for it. 214 00:12:35,276 --> 00:12:38,845 What you do as best you can as a stunt coordinator 215 00:12:38,932 --> 00:12:41,673 is try to avoid anything that you can think of 216 00:12:41,761 --> 00:12:44,111 that could possibly go wrong 217 00:12:44,198 --> 00:12:47,244 but knowing there's no guarantee of anything. 218 00:12:47,331 --> 00:12:49,029 - Here's what's happening right now. 219 00:12:49,116 --> 00:12:50,465 We are locked down with camera, 220 00:12:50,552 --> 00:12:52,684 the stuntman is prepping, 221 00:12:52,772 --> 00:12:54,338 and then we're gonna light him on fire. 222 00:13:00,257 --> 00:13:01,781 - Action, Friedrick! 223 00:13:15,533 --> 00:13:17,797 - Nothing could be that good. 224 00:13:17,884 --> 00:13:19,886 I think it'd be that unbelievable. 225 00:13:19,973 --> 00:13:21,713 Not since the Vietnam Buddhist priest 226 00:13:21,801 --> 00:13:23,890 was there such a flame out. 227 00:13:23,977 --> 00:13:26,196 - I think that large-scale productions 228 00:13:26,283 --> 00:13:27,894 are kind of a breeding ground for these stories 229 00:13:27,981 --> 00:13:29,852 because there's so many more opportunities 230 00:13:29,939 --> 00:13:31,506 for these weird little things to happen, 231 00:13:31,593 --> 00:13:33,682 these mishaps that take on a life of their own, 232 00:13:33,769 --> 00:13:35,423 or these big accidents, again, that we have to sort of 233 00:13:35,510 --> 00:13:37,555 get our heads around. 234 00:13:37,642 --> 00:13:39,862 The other end of that spectrum is a guy like Lloyd Kaufman 235 00:13:39,949 --> 00:13:41,516 and Troma Studios. 236 00:13:41,603 --> 00:13:43,866 One of these mishaps would end Troma forever. 237 00:13:43,953 --> 00:13:46,347 - I don't want women with tiny babies coming through here, 238 00:13:46,434 --> 00:13:49,176 tripping over wires, bumping into people, right? 239 00:13:49,263 --> 00:13:51,656 You don't want people falling on cables, right, 240 00:13:51,743 --> 00:13:53,310 especially little tiny babies. 241 00:13:56,618 --> 00:13:58,925 Hello, hello, I'm Lloyd Kaufman, 242 00:13:59,012 --> 00:14:00,230 President of Troma Entertainment, 243 00:14:00,317 --> 00:14:02,276 creator of "The Toxic Avenger". 244 00:14:02,363 --> 00:14:04,234 And believe it or not, 245 00:14:04,321 --> 00:14:06,497 Troma Entertainment is the oldest independent movie studio 246 00:14:06,584 --> 00:14:08,238 in the world. 247 00:14:08,325 --> 00:14:11,241 44 years of making movies of the future, 248 00:14:11,328 --> 00:14:13,635 like "The Toxic Avenger", "Class of Nuke 'Em High", 249 00:14:13,722 --> 00:14:15,419 "Tromeo and Juliet". 250 00:14:15,506 --> 00:14:16,812 - Ahhh! 251 00:14:16,899 --> 00:14:19,032 - And now "Shakespeare's Shitstorm", 252 00:14:19,119 --> 00:14:21,773 our version of "The Tempest". 253 00:14:23,036 --> 00:14:26,256 There's nothing more ego oriented or narcissistic 254 00:14:26,343 --> 00:14:28,084 than making an ode to a movie... 255 00:14:28,171 --> 00:14:30,086 Christ Almighty. 256 00:14:32,175 --> 00:14:33,829 I'm sorry, start over. 257 00:14:33,916 --> 00:14:36,310 Uh, that didn't, yeah, acting there's not right. 258 00:14:37,311 --> 00:14:39,226 It's about the art, it's about the movie. 259 00:14:39,313 --> 00:14:40,792 I'm a total narcissist, 260 00:14:40,880 --> 00:14:43,404 but I'm motivated by film. 261 00:14:43,491 --> 00:14:45,449 Yes. 262 00:14:45,536 --> 00:14:47,408 Why are you calling me? 263 00:14:47,495 --> 00:14:49,236 You've got assistant directors to talk to, no joke, 264 00:14:49,323 --> 00:14:51,455 'cause we're in the middle of a shot, I'm sorry. 265 00:14:51,542 --> 00:14:53,327 I never was for the money. 266 00:14:53,414 --> 00:14:55,938 After Yale University, I had a job in California, 267 00:14:56,025 --> 00:14:57,809 I would have taken that. 268 00:14:57,897 --> 00:15:00,334 Instead, I took acid and I decided to stay in New York 269 00:15:00,421 --> 00:15:02,945 and work for a shitty little company called Troma. 270 00:15:03,032 --> 00:15:05,208 Brendon, you know, we're gonna do the car crashing 271 00:15:05,295 --> 00:15:07,994 through the, uh, garage tomorrow? 272 00:15:08,081 --> 00:15:10,213 No, you cannot be there, nor can Caleb, 273 00:15:10,300 --> 00:15:12,041 or that guy, whatever his name is. 274 00:15:12,128 --> 00:15:14,043 This guy's over on a big ladder here, right now. 275 00:15:16,089 --> 00:15:17,568 - Everybody ready? 276 00:15:17,655 --> 00:15:19,222 And action car. 277 00:15:31,408 --> 00:15:33,628 - You all right, Erin? - Yeah, dude. 278 00:15:33,715 --> 00:15:35,978 - Holy shit. - Yes, sir. 279 00:15:36,065 --> 00:15:37,806 - Can I get your view on how that stunt went? 280 00:15:38,850 --> 00:15:40,330 - Um... 281 00:15:41,549 --> 00:15:44,813 The three rules of production - 282 00:15:44,900 --> 00:15:47,033 Troma rules of production - we're not posted. 283 00:15:47,120 --> 00:15:49,774 Troma has three rules of production: 284 00:15:49,861 --> 00:15:52,342 safety to humans, safety to peoples' property, 285 00:15:52,429 --> 00:15:54,040 and make a good film. 286 00:15:54,127 --> 00:15:57,260 We put up signs around the set. Action! 287 00:15:57,347 --> 00:15:59,045 And the words make a good movie 288 00:15:59,132 --> 00:16:01,221 are smaller than safety to humans 289 00:16:01,308 --> 00:16:03,223 and safety to peoples' property 290 00:16:03,310 --> 00:16:05,442 because a movie is only a movie. 291 00:16:05,529 --> 00:16:07,923 Cut! Let's go back and get the close-ups. 292 00:16:10,795 --> 00:16:12,145 Don't run, don't run. 293 00:16:12,232 --> 00:16:13,711 - Don't run, please walk. 294 00:16:19,543 --> 00:16:20,588 - When you think about it, 295 00:16:20,675 --> 00:16:22,111 effects or stunts, 296 00:16:22,198 --> 00:16:23,895 or even film people in general, 297 00:16:23,983 --> 00:16:25,723 we do things that are inherently dangerous 298 00:16:25,810 --> 00:16:29,162 and our safety record would put GM to shame, 299 00:16:29,249 --> 00:16:30,990 or any other industry. 300 00:16:31,077 --> 00:16:33,122 So what I'm doing here is I'm gonna make a fireball. 301 00:16:33,209 --> 00:16:36,299 That's a one-pound propane tank that goes in 302 00:16:36,386 --> 00:16:37,953 and we put a small, uh, 303 00:16:38,040 --> 00:16:40,173 black powder charge in the end 304 00:16:40,260 --> 00:16:42,044 that'll shoot that knife through there, 305 00:16:42,131 --> 00:16:43,785 a spark will go off and uh... 306 00:16:43,872 --> 00:16:45,787 we'll get, uh, some magic happening. 307 00:16:47,397 --> 00:16:50,444 You can never get used to the amount of power you have 308 00:16:50,531 --> 00:16:52,576 as far as the, uh, the explosions 309 00:16:52,663 --> 00:16:55,971 and uh, uh, fireballs, or, you know, bullet hits 310 00:16:56,058 --> 00:16:58,234 and things like uh... of that nature, 311 00:16:58,321 --> 00:17:01,063 or even, you know, air and hydraulics and stuff like that, 312 00:17:01,150 --> 00:17:03,718 'cause it is a lot of power, and if you get too used to it 313 00:17:03,805 --> 00:17:06,329 or you just, you don't respect it enough, 314 00:17:06,416 --> 00:17:09,376 then, uh, generally the, uh, effects God comes down 315 00:17:09,463 --> 00:17:11,987 and has an unusual bowel movement in your Cheerios. 316 00:17:15,034 --> 00:17:18,124 - I was very worried about the kind of explosions 317 00:17:19,299 --> 00:17:21,388 that were gonna be used in this picture. 318 00:17:22,389 --> 00:17:25,131 All of the positions of the explosions 319 00:17:26,349 --> 00:17:28,134 are very, very well laid out 320 00:17:28,221 --> 00:17:30,484 and communicated with everybody, 321 00:17:31,572 --> 00:17:33,052 especially to myself. 322 00:17:36,316 --> 00:17:38,405 - So this is a fairly big lifting charge 323 00:17:38,492 --> 00:17:40,450 for a very small mortar, 324 00:17:40,537 --> 00:17:42,278 but we'll put some debris on top 325 00:17:42,365 --> 00:17:44,715 so we can, you know, throw it up in the air 326 00:17:44,802 --> 00:17:46,804 and put some dust so we get some trails. 327 00:17:48,763 --> 00:17:51,244 - John asked me if I could move one of the huts 328 00:17:51,331 --> 00:17:53,724 more to the center of the village. 329 00:17:54,986 --> 00:17:57,206 I said, fine. So I had my team bring it over. 330 00:17:58,251 --> 00:18:00,514 Things are being said and I'm walking around 331 00:18:00,601 --> 00:18:03,865 and I find that there's an explosion underneath this hut 332 00:18:03,952 --> 00:18:06,520 and I said, get special effects on the phone. 333 00:18:08,130 --> 00:18:09,740 I want him here now. 334 00:18:11,394 --> 00:18:12,874 I was pissed. 335 00:18:14,005 --> 00:18:15,746 So he came over to me and he said, 336 00:18:15,833 --> 00:18:17,444 what's up Rich and I said, 337 00:18:17,531 --> 00:18:19,707 what the hell is this doing here 338 00:18:19,794 --> 00:18:21,404 and why wasn't I told? 339 00:18:22,536 --> 00:18:24,451 So it's just da, da, da, da, da and it's just, 340 00:18:24,538 --> 00:18:26,975 it's, it's angled back at the, uh, hill 341 00:18:27,062 --> 00:18:28,890 and it's, it's okay. 342 00:18:30,500 --> 00:18:32,023 I said, that's not how it works. 343 00:18:34,287 --> 00:18:37,333 If I don't like it, it's not gonna be here, okay? 344 00:18:37,420 --> 00:18:39,640 I'm the man. 345 00:18:41,032 --> 00:18:43,687 So if anything else is on this set 346 00:18:43,774 --> 00:18:45,428 that I don't know about, 347 00:18:45,515 --> 00:18:47,474 you better fuckin' tell me. 348 00:18:53,480 --> 00:18:55,221 It's important for people to know 349 00:18:55,308 --> 00:18:57,832 how much work goes into trying to figure out 350 00:18:57,919 --> 00:19:00,791 and look at every possibility that could come into play 351 00:19:00,878 --> 00:19:03,272 before a big shot like this. 352 00:19:05,318 --> 00:19:06,971 - It was the last night of shooting. 353 00:19:07,058 --> 00:19:09,409 It was the final scene 354 00:19:09,496 --> 00:19:12,151 with the rescue of the two children. 355 00:19:14,762 --> 00:19:16,329 - The decision was made 356 00:19:16,416 --> 00:19:19,288 that we needed all five cameras shooting 357 00:19:19,375 --> 00:19:21,334 to get all five shots. 358 00:19:23,249 --> 00:19:25,164 And I looked-- and I sat there looking at this... 359 00:19:28,863 --> 00:19:30,908 the huey coming in, 360 00:19:31,909 --> 00:19:34,173 the smell of gasoline filling the air, 361 00:19:35,348 --> 00:19:36,827 it was amazing. 362 00:19:38,133 --> 00:19:39,395 John Landis and I... 363 00:19:39,482 --> 00:19:42,616 chose an area upstream, 364 00:19:44,835 --> 00:19:47,708 not too far from where Vic was gonna walk by us. 365 00:19:51,712 --> 00:19:53,844 - The parents of the children asked, 366 00:19:53,931 --> 00:19:55,977 is this dangerous? 367 00:19:56,064 --> 00:19:58,066 And they were told by the producer 368 00:19:58,153 --> 00:19:59,633 who had hired them, 369 00:19:59,720 --> 00:20:02,505 Oh no, it's just like a Disneyland ride. 370 00:20:05,378 --> 00:20:08,337 Vic Morrow felt it was physically demanding 371 00:20:08,424 --> 00:20:11,079 and a little bit overwhelming, 372 00:20:12,950 --> 00:20:14,300 but he felt that 373 00:20:15,388 --> 00:20:18,304 he couldn't afford to be too vociferous 374 00:20:19,435 --> 00:20:22,177 in challenging this powerful, uh... 375 00:20:24,005 --> 00:20:25,485 film director, 376 00:20:25,572 --> 00:20:29,663 so he did it against his better judgment. 377 00:20:30,794 --> 00:20:34,102 - All I can say, what I remember that night, is... 378 00:20:36,409 --> 00:20:38,715 how big the explosions were. 379 00:20:41,588 --> 00:20:45,461 Looking over at Vic coming across the water, 380 00:20:46,984 --> 00:20:48,334 the bombs going off around him, 381 00:20:51,206 --> 00:20:53,469 and, and I said, it's okay, 382 00:20:53,556 --> 00:20:55,428 we all planned this. 383 00:20:55,515 --> 00:20:57,125 We know where the helicopters are gonna be. 384 00:20:57,212 --> 00:20:59,606 The huey comes into play. 385 00:21:01,999 --> 00:21:04,219 And I realize that... 386 00:21:05,438 --> 00:21:08,658 things are getting too close to the helicopter. 387 00:21:11,182 --> 00:21:13,359 And I turned around, I said, run. 388 00:21:19,321 --> 00:21:23,369 - The explosions were too close to the helicopter, 389 00:21:26,676 --> 00:21:27,851 damaged it, 390 00:21:27,938 --> 00:21:30,680 brought it down into the river, 391 00:21:36,207 --> 00:21:39,123 killing Vic Morrow and the two children 392 00:21:40,864 --> 00:21:44,564 while their parents were standing watching this. 393 00:21:50,700 --> 00:21:52,398 - I turn, 394 00:21:52,485 --> 00:21:54,922 and there's the helicopter 395 00:21:56,315 --> 00:21:58,229 on the ground. 396 00:21:58,317 --> 00:22:00,406 Silence. 397 00:22:04,627 --> 00:22:06,499 And then there's the words, 398 00:22:06,586 --> 00:22:09,328 where's Vic? Where's the kids? 399 00:22:17,553 --> 00:22:19,512 I don't really remember what I did after that. 400 00:22:19,599 --> 00:22:22,732 All I remember was seeing the children's parents, 401 00:22:24,517 --> 00:22:26,301 one hugging a tree, 402 00:22:27,433 --> 00:22:31,306 realizing that the children and Vic were cut in half. 403 00:22:34,309 --> 00:22:36,355 Newsreel: Five companies involved in the filming 404 00:22:36,442 --> 00:22:39,532 of "The Twilight Zone" have been fined a total of $62,000 405 00:22:39,619 --> 00:22:41,925 for what a California safety board termed 406 00:22:42,012 --> 00:22:43,927 "willful and serious safety violations 407 00:22:44,014 --> 00:22:46,582 in the helicopter crash that claimed three lives". 408 00:22:46,669 --> 00:22:48,758 - And there's still one more question to be considered. 409 00:22:48,845 --> 00:22:51,979 The children who were killed were working without permits. 410 00:22:52,066 --> 00:22:54,634 State labor officials may file criminal charges 411 00:22:54,721 --> 00:22:57,201 against the producers for illegally working the children 412 00:22:57,288 --> 00:22:59,203 at 2:30 in the morning. 413 00:22:59,290 --> 00:23:02,642 - Our office would never have approved children, 414 00:23:02,729 --> 00:23:05,253 six and seven years of age, 415 00:23:05,340 --> 00:23:07,124 to be in that area. 416 00:23:09,605 --> 00:23:12,478 - Well, Landis went to all three of the funerals actually. 417 00:23:16,743 --> 00:23:18,484 He went to the children's funerals 418 00:23:18,571 --> 00:23:21,835 and he went to Vic Morrow's funeral. 419 00:23:21,922 --> 00:23:24,490 And he very much wanted to speak 420 00:23:25,795 --> 00:23:28,624 at Vic Morrow's funeral 421 00:23:28,711 --> 00:23:31,932 and said something to the effect that, 422 00:23:32,019 --> 00:23:35,457 uh, film lives forever, Vic is immortal. 423 00:23:50,516 --> 00:23:52,561 - The trial is just beginning. 424 00:23:52,648 --> 00:23:54,911 At issue, who's responsible for three deaths 425 00:23:54,998 --> 00:23:56,826 on "The Twilight Zone" movie set. 426 00:23:56,913 --> 00:24:00,090 Lawyers for the film's director blame an explosives expert, 427 00:24:00,177 --> 00:24:03,093 but Sandy Kenyon reports prosecutors disagree. 428 00:24:03,180 --> 00:24:05,835 Sandy: The trial got underway with two different accounts 429 00:24:05,922 --> 00:24:07,620 of how the tragedy occurred. 430 00:24:07,707 --> 00:24:10,187 The defense claimed a bazaar accident 431 00:24:10,274 --> 00:24:12,102 led to three deaths. 432 00:24:12,189 --> 00:24:14,583 The prosecution laid the blame on the filmmakers, 433 00:24:14,670 --> 00:24:18,239 accusing them of staging a dangerous stunt. 434 00:24:18,326 --> 00:24:19,806 - You have to use your own common sense. 435 00:24:19,893 --> 00:24:22,156 You cannot mix explosions, a helicopter, 436 00:24:22,243 --> 00:24:24,550 and human beings, let alone children, 437 00:24:24,637 --> 00:24:26,552 and not realize that there's a potential for danger. 438 00:24:26,639 --> 00:24:30,556 - The jury ultimately felt that the prosecutor 439 00:24:30,643 --> 00:24:33,907 had not proved that high standard 440 00:24:35,038 --> 00:24:37,650 of criminal negligence. 441 00:24:37,737 --> 00:24:40,435 - You don't prosecute people for unfore- 442 00:24:40,522 --> 00:24:42,263 foreseeable accidents. 443 00:24:42,350 --> 00:24:44,744 - We, the jury, in the above-entitled action, 444 00:24:44,831 --> 00:24:47,137 find the defendant, John Landis, 445 00:24:47,224 --> 00:24:50,489 not guilty of involuntary manslaughter. 446 00:24:50,576 --> 00:24:53,056 - Outside the courtroom the director's victory statement 447 00:24:53,143 --> 00:24:55,798 was tempered with remorse. 448 00:24:55,885 --> 00:24:59,106 - Almost five years ago an accident happened on the set 449 00:24:59,193 --> 00:25:02,413 of one of my films that killed three people 450 00:25:02,501 --> 00:25:04,851 and that nothing, none of this changes that. 451 00:25:04,938 --> 00:25:07,070 - They had had to pay fines already 452 00:25:07,157 --> 00:25:09,943 for hiring the children illegally, 453 00:25:10,030 --> 00:25:13,599 but they were not convicted of crimes. 454 00:25:14,687 --> 00:25:17,428 - This is a terrible, terrible accident that, 455 00:25:18,734 --> 00:25:21,694 obviously, will cause pain and anguish to all of us 456 00:25:21,781 --> 00:25:24,044 for the rest of our lives. 457 00:25:24,131 --> 00:25:26,133 - They found him innocent. 458 00:25:26,220 --> 00:25:28,614 And I was married, two young kids, 459 00:25:30,224 --> 00:25:31,617 working hard in my career - 460 00:25:31,704 --> 00:25:33,532 at the, at the prime of... 461 00:25:33,619 --> 00:25:37,274 of one of the biggest producers in Hollywood 462 00:25:37,361 --> 00:25:38,841 putting his, his hand around me and says, 463 00:25:38,928 --> 00:25:40,582 how does it feel to be in the big time - 464 00:25:40,669 --> 00:25:43,498 and my career was over in a blink of an eye. 465 00:25:45,979 --> 00:25:48,416 - I wasn't there at "The Twilight Zone" incident 466 00:25:48,503 --> 00:25:52,376 but sometimes it's nobody's fault in particular. 467 00:25:52,463 --> 00:25:55,075 Everybody wants to point a finger at, 468 00:25:55,162 --> 00:25:57,077 at whose fault it was, 469 00:25:57,164 --> 00:26:01,385 but there's not always an obvious person to blame. 470 00:26:02,822 --> 00:26:04,998 Things happen. That's the nature of doing stunts. 471 00:26:07,522 --> 00:26:09,437 - If I was responsible for somebody 472 00:26:09,524 --> 00:26:11,265 getting seriously injured... 473 00:26:11,352 --> 00:26:12,962 It's just a fuckin' movie, 474 00:26:13,049 --> 00:26:14,660 that's why you don't... you don't do those things, 475 00:26:14,747 --> 00:26:18,185 you don't... it's just not worth it. 476 00:26:18,272 --> 00:26:20,013 I would stop making movies. 477 00:26:20,100 --> 00:26:22,276 I would be selling shoes, or hot dogs, or whatever, 478 00:26:22,363 --> 00:26:24,670 or maybe blowing my fuckin' brains out. 479 00:26:24,757 --> 00:26:26,454 I couldn't live with it. 480 00:26:26,541 --> 00:26:29,588 So I'm, I'm, it's a dangerous profession moviemaking. 481 00:26:31,851 --> 00:26:33,679 - We're making a movie here, 482 00:26:33,766 --> 00:26:35,506 we're not, uh, you know, 483 00:26:35,594 --> 00:26:38,205 saving the world, or splitting the atom or, you know, 484 00:26:38,292 --> 00:26:41,338 taking a, a, a shot at the moon or something, you know. 485 00:26:42,775 --> 00:26:45,299 - I think that Landis can't be held fully accountable 486 00:26:45,386 --> 00:26:47,257 for everything happening on that set, 487 00:26:47,344 --> 00:26:49,477 but you have to blame somebody, right? 488 00:26:49,564 --> 00:26:52,088 There has to be a reason for something terrible happening. 489 00:26:52,175 --> 00:26:54,264 That's the crux of all this cursed thinking. 490 00:26:55,657 --> 00:26:57,790 I think that the age of curses is ending 491 00:26:57,877 --> 00:27:01,097 because of the way our lives are recorded 24/7. 492 00:27:01,184 --> 00:27:04,448 We are moving away from this sort of urban legend, 493 00:27:04,535 --> 00:27:06,320 word-of-mouth stories 494 00:27:06,407 --> 00:27:08,801 because too of our lives is word-of-mouth anymore. 495 00:27:09,976 --> 00:27:11,760 I think seeing these things changes 496 00:27:11,847 --> 00:27:14,545 how our minds process them. 497 00:27:14,633 --> 00:27:16,547 So it seems like an accident like on the set 498 00:27:16,635 --> 00:27:18,724 of "The Twilight Zone" is not the result of a curse 499 00:27:18,811 --> 00:27:21,640 but maybe that accident is a curse. 500 00:27:23,250 --> 00:27:25,774 It's something that the effects guy has to live with; 501 00:27:25,861 --> 00:27:27,863 it's something that the casting director 502 00:27:27,950 --> 00:27:29,865 who hired those kids has to live with. 503 00:27:29,952 --> 00:27:33,216 Everybody on that set has been given a life sentence 504 00:27:33,303 --> 00:27:36,567 of having that accident in their brain pan 505 00:27:36,655 --> 00:27:38,091 for the rest of their lives.