14 Actors Who Suffered Serious Injuries or Died While Filming Horror Movies

Terminator 2: Judgment Day – Linda Hamilton (1991)

We may have just uncovered the reason we rarely see Linda Hamilton in films these days: she can’t hear her agent calling. Apparently Linda Hamilton suffered permanent hearing damage in one of her ears during filming when she fired a gun inside an elevator without using her ear plugs.

Okay, Linda… you kind of invited that one on yourself.

She also injured her knees from falling on the ground during multiple re-shoots of her character being hit with a nightstick by actor Ken Gibbel. Things went from bad to worse for T2 as a flustered and angered Hamilton took Gibbel’s refusal to hit her with some serious force as an insult, which of course led to her knocking him right the eff out with a broom handle.

Even the mythical figure Arnold Schwarzenegger nearly broke some fingers while twirling his shotgun with one hand. Get this, though, there was a shotgun with a lever loop lengthened to fit Schwarzenegger’s hand there for the taking, he just screwed up and picked up the standard sized gun, obviously leading to the whole finger mishap.

All those injuries and not a single sustained by human train wreck (I don’t care, I’m still a fan), Edward Furlong? Are we in the Twilight Zone?

The Crow – Brandon Lee (1993)

I prefer to keep this breakdown as brief as possible. Brandon Lee, son of Bruce Lee, was a serious talent who died on the set of The Crow when a gun designated to fire blanks somehow fired live .44 rounds. How a “mistake” so colossal can happen is extremely far from my grasp.

Vampire in Brooklyn – Sonja Davis (1995)

Here’s another heart breaker that really slid past the six o’clock news with little attention or sympathy. It’s sad, really. Angela Bassett’s stunt double Sonja Davis fell to her death in a stunt gone wrong while shooting the complete crapper, Vampire in New York. Her death would eventually lead to a $50 million wrongful-death lawsuit against Paramount Pictures. As it should have.

Seven – Brad Pitt (1995)

According to Wikipedia, in a scene where Detective David Mills (Brad Pitt) chased John Doe in the rain, Pitt fell and his arm went through a car windscreen, requiring surgery. This did absolutely nothing to stump screenwriter Andrew Kevin Walker, who simply wrote the accident into the script to justify the cast. Quick thinking, there, fella!

Twilight Zone: The Movie – Vic Morrow, Myca Dinh Le and Renee Shin-Yi (1983)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6C_sKKTTMX4

On 23 July 1982, Vic Morrow and 7-year old Myca Dinh Le and 6 year old Renee Shin-Yi Chen were killed in a horrifying helicopter accident that saw an overhead chopper get tangled up in low hanging pyrotechnics. Morrow was decapitated, as was Le. Chen was crushed to death by the aircraft. Such a horrifying loss.

Maximum Overdrive – Armando Nannuzzi (1986)

Remember that blood thirsty lawn mower seen in the first few minutes of Maximum Overdrive? Well, apparently that mower really had a (evil) mind of its own. During one shot the mower went out of control, collided with a block of wood utilized for camera support. Wooden splinters flew and Armando Nannuzzi ended up taking a wooden explosion in the face. He lost an eye as a result, and later sued Stephen King for $18 million. The suit was settled out of court and now yet another mystery has been solved. It’s no wonder King refuses to try his hand at directing ever again.

Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers – Ellie Cornell (1988)

During a memorable scene that takes place on a rooftop, Ellie Cornell, who played heroine babysitter Rachel Carruthers, accidentally slipped and caught a large nail to the torso while tumbling. Apparently it was serious enough that Cornell lost a significant blood. But that was coming anyway, come on – she’s supposed to save Haddonfield from Michael Myers, anyway!