Hallucinogens on board the set of "Titanic" (8 photos)

August 8, 1996 was the last day of filming. "Titanic", held in Canada. The mood in the group was festive, and at the end of the work, a sumptuous dinner was organized with various restaurant dishes.





However, shortly after dinner, the participants suddenly became unwell, and then a real bacchanalia began, which almost ended tragically for director James Cameron, who was poked with a pen in face. Almost all members of the film crew ended up in the hospital, suffering from vomiting and dizziness. It remains a mystery who exactly responsibility for this deal. But "the chowder was incredible delicious," as artist Marilyn McAvoy recalled, working on scenery.



Filming location of Titanic

The work went on until late, and only 30 people were allotted for lunch. minutes at the end of the day, so the film crew went to a restaurant salivating from hunger. Suggested clam chowder (cream soup with shrimp and cream) was just amazing, and the participants ate it with huge appetite, taking several servings. All 60 people.





Bill Paxton

But in this soup there was phencyclidine (PCP) - a powerful a dissociative drug capable of causing muscle cramps, depersonalization, aggression, euphoria and hypertonicity. Yeah, that's not what I would like to use to complete my 14-hour intense filmmakers.

Already 30 minutes after dinner, the soup with phencyclidine began act. Actor Bill Paxton recalled: "Some people laughed, some sobbed, some vomited."



Scenery "Titanic"

The poor staff of the hospital, to which 60 people were taken in a state of drug intoxication...

Marilyn McAvoy recalled: "We were all placed in these cubbyholes with curtains, but no one wanted to stay in them. Everyone ran to aisles and jumped into other people's booths. People had an awful lot of energy. Some drove in wheelchairs through the corridors. Well you understand everyone was fucking stoned!"



Caleb Deschanel at work

But James Cameron almost lost his eye: he was hit in the face with a pen, but since he was also under the influence of the substance, he could only laugh, smearing blood on the face: "People moaned and roared, lamented, fell on tables and gurneys. Cinematographer Caleb Deschanel led the film crew down the corridor, beating an African drum. This is simply impossible to invent,” said the director.

But he was more or less lucky, he quickly realized that something not so and rushed to the toilet to induce vomiting. James was sure it's the shellfish and the paralytic neurotoxin that they may contain.



As a result of this incident, several people were held in hospital for a few days. Some participants of the filming stated that they had to miss several days of work to recover from the consequences hallucinogenic dinner.

An investigation was carried out. It is assumed that someone added phencyclidine to cream soup to prank crew members. Of course, suspicion fell on the waiters and catering chefs and the movie food company suffered reputational damage. However, no one was charged or arrested because the police could not prove anything and in In 1999 the case was closed. The head of the company, by the way, in response accused film crew, they say they wanted to have fun and arranged for themselves substance overdose.



James Cameron on the set of Titanic

Cameron stuck to his own version of events: "The day before, we fired one worker because he always created food supply problems. I believe the poisoning was intended by this idiot to take revenge on the waiters, whom we, of course, fired on the next day. So his plan worked."



After this situation, the rules for filing were seriously tightened. food on set. In general, this whole story once again reminded that It is very important to watch what you drink and eat.

Poisonthe fate of so many people was widely discussed in the media and led to the many debates about safety in the workplace.

Paramount Pictures was forced to pay a multi-million dollar compensation to all those who suffered from poisoning, including the film crew, actors and hospital staff. In addition, the company now strictly monitors for the quality of provisions on the set.