Movie magic is fun and dandy until real life crashes the set. Since the early days of cinema, productions have had tragic accidents. Some are pretty common and easily treated, while others are so bizarre they barely sound real. Stunts gone wrong, bad weather, misfired props, and even animals have turned scenes into disasters.
Here are eight of the strangest and most shocking on-set fatalities, as a grim reminder that making movies can be as risky as it is creative.
Hell’s Angels and the Deadly Quest for Realism (1930)
Howard Hughes wanted authentic aerial combat, so Hell’s Angels used real planes, real stunts, and minimal safety nets. This little detail was essentially what killed Phil Jones, Al Johnson, and C.K. Phillips—the three pilots who died in separate crashes. Hughes himself crashed and fractured his skull. The movie became legendary for its aerial footage, but it came with a horrifying cost, setting an early example of what “getting the shot” can mean when caution isn’t the top priority.
The Viking Ship Explosion (1931)
Filmed in Newfoundland, The Viking was a docudrama about seal hunting that turned into one of the film’s deadliest accidents. The crew had a ship loaded with dynamite for ice-breaking scenes, but it suddenly exploded and sank in minutes, killing more than 25 people. The icy water, the isolation, and the sheer force of the blast made survival almost impossible. To this day, it remains a chilling example of location shoots going catastrophically wrong.
Roar and Its “What Could Go Wrong?” Big Cats (1981)
A family living with 150 untrained lions and tigers for real? What could go wrong, indeed? The production of Roar stretched over a decade and left more than 70 cast and crew members injured with bites, gashes, and broken bones. At least one crew member died during the chaos. The movie has since been nicknamed “the most expensive home movie ever made,” and honestly, it plays like a case study in what happens when enthusiasm outruns basic safety and common sense.
The Twilight Zone Helicopter Disaster (1982)
Explosions disoriented a low-flying helicopter during a Vietnam War scene for Twilight Zone: The Movie, causing it to crash. Actor Vic Morrow and two child actors, Myca Dinh Le and Renee Shin-Yi Chen, were killed in an incident made even worse by the fact that the kids were working illegally and at night. Director John Landis and others were tried and acquitted, and the tragedy forced Hollywood to rethink safety standards, especially around stunts, explosives, and, of course, child labor.
Delta Force 2 Helicopter Crash (1989)
Helicopter stunts in the ’70s and ’80s were a recipe for disaster. The directors basically had a carte blanche and could even fly over crowded streets with zero precautions. However, the tragedy didn’t stem from a mere stunt. While shooting Delta Force 2 in the Philippines, a chopper carrying five crew members crashed in mountainous terrain due to bad weather conditions. Sadly, the crash killed everyone aboard. Lawsuits later accused the production of compromising safety measures. The tragedy underscored that even “routine” aerial units, especially in remote locations, are risking their lives and the lives of their passengers when conditions shift.
Brandon Lee’s Prop-Gun Tragedy on The Crow (1993)
Brandon Lee’s death is one of Hollywood’s most haunting and, at this point, bizarrely iconic deaths in all of Hollywood history. A revolver used for close-ups had “dummy” rounds, but the primers hadn’t been properly deactivated. One bullet got lodged in the barrel. Later, when blanks were fired for a scene, the blank’s explosive charge propelled that stuck bullet into Lee. He was rushed into surgery but didn’t survive. The film finished with a stand-in and early digital effects, and the incident redefined how productions handle firearms.
Conway Wickliffe on The Dark Knight (2007)
During a car-chase test for The Dark Knight, camera operator Conway Wickliffe leaned out of a vehicle to film when the driver missed a turn and struck a tree. This wasn’t some massive, pyrotechnic stunt, just a second-unit pickup in daylight on a controlled course for a major studio. The production was fined for safety failures, and the loss became a stark reminder: danger doesn’t always look dramatic. All it takes is a bad turn.
Sarah Jones on Midnight Rider (2014)
Camera assistant Sarah Jones was setting up a dream-sequence shot in Georgia when a train suddenly came through. The production lacked permission to film on the active tracks, so the crew’s presence was not communicated to the train conductor. They had mere seconds to react, and, unfortunately, Jones didn’t make it. Her death sparked the “Safety for Sarah” movement and led to a rare outcome: director Randall Miller came forward and pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter. He became the first U.S. director imprisoned over an on-set death.