Some behind-the-scenes tidbits about your favorite spooky season movies.
1.
The iconic “I see dead people” scene in the Sixth Sense was almost changed because the film’s producer, Frank Marshall, was scared that people would figure out the ending.
Disney
Test audiences never figured it out, so the scene stayed.
2.
The “Can I keep you” scene in Casper is one of the most memorable movie scenes of the ’90s. But it almost didn’t happen; originally Casper wasn’t ever supposed to become a human. The scene was only added after Steven Spielberg — who was producing the movie — brought in J.J. Abrams to do an uncredited rewrite of the script, and he decided to change the ending.
In 2018, Devon Sawa tweeted out a thanks to J.J. for writing the scene he would eventually get cast in:
A young @jjabrams was asked to write an alternate ending for a movie in 94. The ending was approved and a nation wide casting call was launched. I sent a VHS tape down to casting directors and a week later booked the role of Casper. I’ve been working ever since. Thanks JJ.
Twitter: @devonesawa
3.
Danny Elfman actually wrote all the songs for The Nightmare Before Christmas before there was even a script for the film.
Disney
According to Danny, Tim Burton would just show him sketches, some phrases, and tell him what was going on in the story as a jumping-off point for the songs — he and Tim ended up with 10 songs before there was a script. It was actually Danny’s then-girlfriend, Caroline Thompson, who went on to write the script and incorporate the songs into it.
4.
While it’s thought that Alfred Hitchcock shot Psycho in black and white to copy the style of the 1954 French thriller Les Diaboliques (a movie he highly regarded), it was actually, according to him, so that the shower death scene wouldn’t look as gory.
Courtesy Everett Collection / Everett Collection / Everett Collection
And in case you didn’t know, in 1998 there was a shot-by-shot remake of Psycho that was directed by Gus Van Sant (it was a critical and box office flop).
Universal / ©Universal/Courtesy Everett Collection
The film featured an all-star cast including Julianne Moore, Anne Heche, Viggo Mortensen, William H. Macy, and Vince Vaughn (as Norman Bates).
5.
Don Mancini, who wrote Child’s Play, was inspired to write the film by the Cabbage Patch Kids and My Buddy toy crazes of the 1980s.
United Artists / ©United Artists/Courtesy Everett Collection
The movie was meant to be a cynical take on Madison Avenue advertisers and the effects of them targeting kids.
6.
The ending of The Shining we see today is not the original ending.
Courtesy Everett Collection / Everett Collection / Everett Collection
When The Shining was first released into theaters, it had an additional two more minutes (after the current last shot of Jack in the photograph in the hotel). However, after its first week of release, the movie’s director, the legendary Stanley Kubrick, decided the extra two-minute epilogue just didn’t fit the film’s tone. In an unusual move, he decided to re-edit it and asked Warner Bros. that they ask the movie theaters in New York and LA that were showing it to cut the film and mail that footage back to them. The theaters complied, and the extra scene hasn’t been seen since.
7.
If you watch 1931’s Dracula and hear a score with it, then just know that it wasn’t part of the original film. It’s actually relatively new; it was added in 1998 for the film’s release onto DVD.
Universal/ Courtesy Everett Collection
The movie was made in the early days of “sound movies,” so it’s unknown if the decision not to have music was because of technological limitations or a conscious choice by the director.
8.
Anne Rice — who wrote Interview With the Vampire — wrote a version of the script where the two leads were women. In fact, she actually wrote the script with Cher in mind as Louis and Anjelica Huston as Lestat.
Barry King / WireImage, / ©Paramount/Courtesy Everett Collection
In this version of the story, Cher would have played a woman who was dressed as a man in order to legally own her own land and run a plantation. The rest of the film would have followed the same storyline as Interview With the Vampire.
Also, Cher cowrote a song for Interview With the Vampire called “Lovers Forever.” Ultimately, it was cut from the soundtrack:
beautiful Vampire song friend & i wrote 4 Interview w/A Vampire! Jen loves it brought it out so im going 2re-Record it w/2day Sound!Who no’s
Twitter: @cher
She did finally release it in 2013!
9.
Jamie Lee Curtis was not the first choice to play Laurie Strode; it was actually actor Anne Lockhart (who is probably best known today for starring in the original Battlestar Galactica).
/ Courtesy Everett Collection, Ron Galella / Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images
10.
In The Exorcist, the character of Chris MacNeil (played by Ellen Burstyn) was based on Shirley MacLaine.
Warner Bros./ Courtesy Everett Collection
William Peter Blatty — who wrote both The Exorcist novel and screenplay — was Shirley’s friend and modeled the character after her.
11.
The idea for Final Destination originated from a spec script for The X-Files.
New Line Cinema / ©New Line Cinema/Courtesy Everett Collection
Jeffrey Reddick — who also wrote the film — wrote the spec script titled “Flight 180” in 1994. It would’ve revolved around Scully’s brother having a premonition about a plane crash.
12.
The famous “What are you waiting for, huh?!” line that Jennifer Love Hewitt says in I Know What You Did Last Summer wasn’t in the script. It was thought up by a young horror movie fan who got the chance to be on set and direct a moment.
13.
Tim Burton wanted to cast Sammy Davis Jr. as Betelgeuse in Beetlejuice. However, studio executives were against it.
/ ©Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett Collection, Harry Langdon / Getty Images
Tim grew up a fan Sammy, and pushed to have him cast in the role.
14.
Dan Aykroyd originally wrote Ghostbusters as a movie that would have starred John Belushi and him as futuristic ghost hunters in space.
Columbia Pictures / © Columbia Pictures / Courtesy of Everett Collection
The film’s director and friend of Dan’s, Ivan Reitman, told him the film would work better if it took place in the present day and in a big city. The only concept that didn’t change from the original treatment of the film was the marshmallow man.
15.
In the original script for The Addams Family, it was supposed to be revealed in the end that Uncle Fester truly was an imposter. However, Christina Ricci voiced her concern about that ending to the film’s director, Barry Sonnenfeld, who decided to change the scene after talking to her.
/ ©Paramount/Courtesy Everett Collection
According to Barry, the entire cast was unhappy with that ending during the first table read, except for Christopher Lloyd.
In an interview with Yahoo! Entertainment, Barry explained how, with some nudging from Anjelica Huston, Christina made a really thoughtful case, saying, “Christina explained to me how the audience would be left emotionally adrift if it wasn’t the real Fester. Does that mean the real Fester is still out there? And how could Gomez just give up his search for his brother after all these years just because this imposter came into their family?”
16.
Drew Barrymore requested that her blonde wig in Scream be modeled after Michelle Pfeiffer’s character’s hair in Scarface.
Dimension Films / ©Dimension Films/Courtesy Everett Collection
17.
And reportedly, after the release of the movie, sales of caller IDs — which in 1996 was not standard on landlines or a common feature on phones — tripled:
Another fun fact… caller ID use tripled after SCREAM premiered! @DrewBarrymoreTV #DrewsMovieNite https://t.co/K6SM5VrZXm
Twitter: @drewbarrymore
18.
Hocus Pocus was originally a short story that the film’s producer, David Kirschner, submitted to Muppet Magazine in the early ’80s. He based it on a bedtime story he told his kids.
Buena Vista Pictures / ©Buena Vista Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection
19.
And finally, contrary to popular belief, Leonardo DiCaprio did not turn down the role of Max in Hocus Pocus. However, he was asked to come in to read for it, but with the director being fully aware that he was unavailable to do the movie because he was already committed to filming What’s Eating Gilbert Grape and This Boy’s Life.
Kevin.mazur / WireImage, Buena Vista Pictures / ©Buena Vista Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection
According to Kenny Ortega, who directed Hocus Pocus, Leo was brought in to read for the role because the casting people knew he would be good and that it would inspire Kenny to find the right guy to play Max.
TV and Movies
Get all the best moments in pop culture & entertainment delivered to your inbox.