Scary movie backstories

[Trevor]

Okay, on the TWILIGHT ZONE/CONQUEROR riff, if perhaps somehow less [sic] prolific in its horrible impact:

CLOWNHOUSE (1989)

........One of those Hollywood-adjacent productions that, sadly, lends the tiniest bit of credence to wild/mostly illusory claims that the industry is merely some kind of front for child predation. The perpetrator - writer/director Victor Salva - was charged, convicted, and imprisoned, then released, paroled, and went on to make several more films (many of which have creepy themes of pederasty or pedovorism) and to apparently creep out future collaborators to the extent that he hasn't made a new film in nearly a decade.

But the big (and queasy) picture of how crimes during CLOWNHOUSE were allowed to happen - and initially seemed to have been obscured - has remained opaque, in spite of the ongoing efforts of the victim (CLOWNHOUSE's lead actor, who was 7 or 8 at the time) to keep the story alive.

College age Sam Rockwell co-starred (his debut) and has claimed in retrospect that he had no idea what was happening on set. (I've met Rockwell briefly and know folks who've worked w/ him, and he seems like a nice and genuine guy, but Rockwell's own character in the film is subject to some creepy/sexualized treatment.)

I'm more uncomfortable (vis-a-vis Landis on TZ) by the role that CLOWNHOUSE's producer Francis Ford Coppola played or failed to play during and/or after the lead actor's abuse. It seems like FFC was dismissive of the allegations and more concerned about the impact of the victim's allegations on the film's completion and success. That kind of behavior is to be (sadly) expected of the investor class  in my experience....... but this isn't an anonymous money man, it's one of the most esteemed filmmakers of the 20th century. Coppola should've done better in this case, to the say the least. (Of course, his misadventures making APOCALYPSE NOW would imply that his judgment, historically, has been at times impaired.......)

Speaking as a child abuse survivor, Salva should have been jailed for life. 😖

[Trevor]

I keep meaning to mention the helicopter crash in Hands Of Steel

That was terrible indeed.

The crashes which killed several crew members on the set of TIGER JOE and DELTA FORCE 2 were also horrible 😔😔

[LilCerberus]

I keep meaning to mention the helicopter crash in Hands Of Steel

That was terrible indeed.

The crashes which killed several crew members on the set of TIGER JOE and DELTA FORCE 2 were also horrible 😔😔

The irony of Hands Of Steel, was that John Saxon was was supposed to be on that helicopter, but he refused to film scenes in the USA because of union rules....

[M.10rda]

Rest in Peace Claudio Cassinelli, but I'm relieved that Saxon survived.