Horror as Hollywood actor decapitated and two children killed in 80s stunt gone wrong

The film industry was left reeling after a devastating accident on the set of Twilight Zone: The Movie, which resulted in the loss of three lives, including actor Vic Morrow. This tragic event casts a long shadow over the history of cinema, particularly poignant due to its connection with the 1980s remake of the beloved 1960s series.

The catastrophe led to the untimely deaths of Vic Morrow and two child actors, causing ripples of shock throughout Hollywood. The Mirror reports that the film was co-produced and co-directed by none other than Steven Spielberg, the creative genius behind blockbusters such as ET, Jaws, and Jurassic Park.

Twilight Zone: The Movie comprised various segments, each helmed by different directors, including Spielberg, John Landis, Joe Dante, and George Miller. Filming took place in 1982, with the project set to feature Vic Morrow, a star of the 1970s who first gained recognition in the 1960s series Combat!

However, Morrow never had the chance to appear in this film.

The New York Times reports that the actor, aged 53, died alongside seven-year-old Myca Dinh Le and six-year-old Renee Shin-Yi Chen during a helicopter stunt that went tragically awry.

John Landis, not Spielberg, was at the helm of the ill-fated segment. The tragedy unfolded in the early hours of 23 July 1982, during the filming of Landis's 'Time Out' storyline.

The scene was being shot on location at Indian Dunes, California, when the helicopter involved met with disaster. Set against a night-time backdrop designed to mimic Vietnam, the film was set amidst the turmoil of war.

Morrow, portraying a character named Bill Connor steeped in prejudice, was tasked with carrying two children across a river from an abandoned village during a US Army pursuit scene, all while a helicopter ominously hovered above.

The New York Times highlighted that the production was "poorly planned" and "barely rehearsed", contributing to a catastrophic accident where one of the scene's intended explosions damaged the helicopter's rotor blades, causing the pilot to lose control. The helicopter plummeted from the sky into the river, resulting in the gruesome decapitation of Morrow and Le, while Chen was crushed to death.

Adding to the horror, the children's parents bore witness to the dreadful incident, having been present on the set.

The six individuals travelling in the helicopter sustained only minor injuries when it plummeted into the riverbed close to the Six Flags Magic Mountain Amusement Park.

In the aftermath of the tragedy, both civil and criminal proceedings were initiated against crew members supervising the filming, with Landis amongst those facing charges.

However, the director alongside four other defendants were cleared of involuntary manslaughter following a lengthy nine-month court case.

A remarkable sixteen prominent directors - amongst them Francis Ford Coppola, Ron Howard, John Huston, George Lucas, Sidney Lumet and Billy Wilder - put their names to a public letter backing the filmmaker.

Notably absent from this show of solidarity was Spielberg, who declared to the Los Angeles Times in April 1983: "No movie is worth dying for. I think people are standing up much more now than ever before to producers and directors who ask too much. If something isn't safe, it's the right and responsibility of every actor or crew member to yell 'Cut!'".

Le and Chen's families pursued legal action and reached an out-of-court settlement for a sum that remains confidential.

Furthermore, the National Transportation Safety Board released its findings in October 1984, determining that the "probable cause of the accident was the detonation of debris-laden high-temperature special effects explosions too near a low-flying helicopter leading to foreign object damage to one rotor blade and delamination due to heat to the other rotor blade, the separation of the helicopter's tail rotor assembly, and the uncontrolled descent of the helicopter.

"The proximity of the helicopter (around 25 feet off the ground) to the special effects explosions was due to the failure to establish direct communications and coordination between the pilot, who was in command of the helicopter operation, and the film director, who was in charge of the filming operation."

Furthermore, investigators uncovered that the youngsters shouldn't have been on set at all, as child labour regulations strictly forbade minors from working during those late hours, let alone being positioned so close to pyrotechnics and aircraft.

In spite of the devastating incident, filming continued and the production was completed for public viewing.

Twilight Zone: The Movie reached cinemas in June 1983.