Horror Facts Vol. 10: 1999

For the 10th edition of Horror Facts, we’re travelling back to 1999 and featuring the year’s most iconic horror films like The Sixth Sense, Deep Blue Sea and more.

/ In The Blair Witch Project, the well-known scene with Heather’s face zoomed-in, which was used on the movie poster, wasn’t planned. She didn’t know the camera was so zoomed in when they shot it.

/ The rollercoaster used at the beginning of House on Haunted Hill is The Incredible Hulk ride at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida. I’ve ridden it a few times. 😉

/ Steve Miner, who directed Halloween H20 (1998) the year before, also directed Lake Placid. In the scene where Kelly and Sheriff Hank go to the morgue to inspect the tooth, you can hear a page for Dr Miner.

/ The Sixth Sense is similar to an episode of Are You Afraid of the Dark from 1994 called “The Tale of the Dream Girl”. In the episode, a teenager named Johnny doesn’t realize he’s dead even though the only living person who talks to him is his sister. Much like The Sixth Sense, the audience isn’t privy to the fact he’s dead either.

/ In a scene in Stir of Echoes, a babysitter sits on the couch reading “The Shrinking Man” by Richard Matheson. He is the same author as the book “A Stir of Echoes” which the film is based from.

/ Idle Hands was filmed in the same neighbourhood as Halloween (1978), South Pasadena, California. The school gym where the Halloween dance takes place is the same gym used in scenes in Buffy The Vampire Slayer movie (1992) and Jawbreaker (1999).

/ Samuel L. Jackson was originally offered the role of Preacher, the head chef in Deep Blue Sea. Jackson revealed that he turned it down because his agent felt the role wasn’t big enough. LL Cool J was cast instead and a different role was created for Jackson. LL Cool J was originally supposed to die early on in the film but the filmmakers liked him so much they let him live.

/ Destination Films, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, launched at the start of 1999 and wanted to release its first picture around Halloween. Bats was the companies first film and was shot in just 36 days.

/ At a Fangoria Horror Convention back in 2008, Tony Todd revealed he didn’t care for the 3rd instalment in the Candyman series, Candyman 3: Day of the Dead. The film was considered a flop by fans and critics as well.

/ Patricia Arquette’s character in Stigmata is named Frankie, which is short for Frances, like Saint Francis, who was the first to receive the stigmata. Patricia Arquette and Portia de Rossi starred together in the film. Both actresses also worked with Wes Craven, Patricia in Nightmare on Elm Street 3: The Dream Warriors (1987) and Portia in Scream 2 with Patricia’s brother David Arquette (1997) and Cursed (2005).

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