How the film "The Scarecrows" (1996) was filmed: footage from filming and 19 interesting facts about the film (20 photos)

The comedy horror film The Scarecrows hit the big screen in 1996. The film performed poorly at the box office and failed to make back its budget. It is believed that this happened due to the adult rating of the film.





1. Director and screenwriter Peter Jackson planned to get a PG-13 teenage rating for his film, but the ratings commission did not want to make any concessions. Even after toning down some of the scenes, the ratings committee still assigned the film "The Scarecrows" an R rating (persons under 17 years old can only watch the film in the presence of an adult).



Peter Jackson and Michael J Fox

This decision of the commission angered Peter Jackson, which is why he decided to tighten the film even more. For example, in the original version, FBI agent Milton Dammers died from a shot in the chest. But after the film received an adult rating, Jackson decided to blow up this character's head.

2. The film "The Scarecrows" could have been one of the episodes of the cult series "Tales from the Crypt" (1989-1996), but Robert Zemeckis, who became the executive producer of the film, sharply spoke out against this, since he believed that it should be an independent film, and not part of some third-party series.



3. It was hard not to notice that crazy FBI agent Milton Dammers has hair like Hitler. So, it was actor Jeffrey Combs, who played Dammers, who suggested giving his character this hairstyle to show his dark side.



Jeffrey Combs as Agent Dammers

In addition, Jeffrey Combs wore black contact lenses, as well as special devices for his ears to make them look protruding.

Peter Jackson wanted to get this actor because he really liked his performance in the movie Re-Animator. Peter Jackson didn't know if the actor was currently filming, so he was very happy when Jeffrey Combs accepted the role.



Peter Jackson talks about Jeffrey Combs' protruding ears

4. The ghost of Sergeant Hills (cemetery watchman) is a direct reference to Sergeant Hartman from the movie "Full Metal Jacket", played by actor Lee Ermey. Peter Jackson and Francis Walsh deliberately wanted to make a character that would be something of a parody of Hartman.



Lee Ermey as Sergeant Hills in The Frighteners

But after going through many tests, the writers realized that no one could perfectly embody this image on the screen. And then they turned to Lee Ermey himself to play the role of the ghost of Sergeant Hills. The actor liked this idea and agreed.

5. Despite the fact that Michael J. Fox performed many of the stunts in the film himself, he managed to break his leg during the filming of the simplest scene, which did not involve any stunts.



Peter Jackson later said that this turnaround was a real blessing, since while Fox was recovering, he adjusted the script, since he did not like many scenes.



6. During the filming of the film, Michael J. Fox periodically automatically called the ghost “Judge” Doc. Naturally, you understand what we are talking about. That's what Michael J. Fox's character (Marty McFly) called Dr. Emmett Brown, played by Christopher Lloyd. And here we have an old ghost from the days of the Wild West. Let me remind you that the third part of the film "Back to the Future" took place during the Wild West.



By the way, you can read more about the filming of the film "Back to the Future" in my separate article. I'm sure you'll find it interesting.

7. Peter Jackson didn't consider anyone other than Michael J. Fox for the role of Frank. But if he had turned it down, he would have offered the role to Matthew Broderick or Tom Cruise.

8. Black actor Chi McBride, who played one of Frank's ghost assistants named Cyrus, agreed without hesitation to play the role in the film "The Scarecrows." And alldue to his excitement about one of Peter Jackson's previous films, Heavenly Creatures.



Chi McBride as Cyrus

9. When the ghosts (Frank's friends) attack Lucy and Ray's house at the very beginning of the film, we can see a flying Elvis Presley figurine, after which Ray says: "He's alive!"

It's actually a small and subtle reference. The fact is that the actor Peter Dobson, who played Ray, played the young Elvis Presley in the film Forrest Gump, directed by Robert Zemeckis. Robert Zemeckis is an executive producer on The Scarecrows.



Peter Dobson as Ray Lynskey

10. Peter Jackson often features members of his family in his films. For example, in the film Living Dead he filmed his mother and some other relatives, and in the film The Lord of the Rings he filmed his children in each part of the trilogy.



The film "The Scarecrows" was also no exception. Remember the scene where Frank's ghost friends raise the three kids so that their mother will enlist Frank's services? One of the kids was played by Peter Jackson's three-month-old son, Billy.



11. By the way, Peter Jackson himself also played a cameo role in this film. He played a punk that Frank encountered while leaving the building.



Peter Jackson as a punk in the movie "The Scarecrows"

12. The character Patricia (Paty) Bradley, played by actress Dee Wallace, was named after Patricia (Paty) Hearst, the granddaughter of billionaire William Hearst, who was kidnapped by terrorists. The kidnappers tortured her for almost two months, and then (after powerful brainwashing) Patricia joined the terrorists themselves.

13. With a budget of $30 million, the film earned $29.3 million at the box office. Of course, he could have earned more if not for the R rating, which I talked about at the very beginning.

14. Naturally, the ghosts did not interact with Frank directly. The actors who played the ghosts were filmed separately against a blue background (chromakey).



15. The film "The Scarecrows" was the last film in the career of Michael J. Fox, where he played the main role. Due to progressive Parkinson's disease, Fox was unable to take part in filming for an extended period of time. Therefore, he was mainly limited to small roles ("Mars Attacks", "Route 60", etc.), TV series and voice acting ("Stuart Little").



16. Initially, the gatekeeper of the cemetery was supposed to be a certain angel-like creature. Moreover, some scenes were even filmed with this character. But in the end, Peter Jackson decided that it was better to remove the frankly otherworldly creatures, leaving only the ghosts of people (and dogs). And the role of the watchman, as you already know, was completely assigned to Sergeant Hills played by Lee Ermey. Yes, the sergeant was present from the very beginning, but his role was initially much smaller.



Filming a scene with an angel that was not included in the final version of the film

17. Many scenes were removed from the film, including another ending where Frank talked to the ghost of the judge. The fact is that after filming, the film's running time was 2.5 hours, which was a lot for this film.



18. In order to show a quick flight over the city and cemetery, specially created miniatures of locations were used. And in general, Peter Jackson has always been a fan of this business. We could see something similar in the film "Living Dead", "The Lord of the Rings" and his other projects.



19. The judge's dog, which we see in the frame, is a mixture of animatronics and computer graphics.