Strangest filming history of a movie?

[Vahan]

I think it might have been They Saved Hitler's Brain. The first half of the film was shot in 1968, and the second half of the film was shot in 1961.

Game of Death's filming history was weird, too. The 100+ minutes of footage that Bruce Lee shot prior to his death was in late 1972, and the footage that Robert Clouse shot was five years later in late 1977.

[Torgo]

Originally Posted by Vahan

I think it might have been They Saved Hitler's Brain. The first half of the film was shot in 1968, and the second half of the film was shot in 1961.

I have the DVD set Drive In Cult Classics 8 Movie Collection Vol. 2 and it comes with the original 1963 version The Madmen Of Mandoras which runs 74 minutes, and the 1968 version They Saved Hitler's Brain with the new footage, and it's obvious they were filmed at separate times.


Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women (1968)

According to IMDB trivia:

This is actually a re-edited version of a film previously released in the U.S. as Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet (1965), which itself was an edited and dubbed version of the Soviet film Planeta bur (1962). For this version the already dubbed Russian footage was re-used but the American insert shots of Basil Rathbone and Faith Domergue were removed and new insert shots featuring Mamie Van Doren and other actresses (as inhabitants of Venus) were inserted. Director Peter Bogdanovich did the narration as if he were one of the cosmonauts telling the story in flashback. Some additional special effects shots from another Soviet production, Battle Beyond the Sun (1959), were also added. For this version, the famous shot of the Venusian reflected in the pool of water was removed.


A Night To Dismember (1983)

IMDB trivia:

According to an unverified claim by director Doris Wishman, much of the negative for the movie was destroyed by a disgruntled lab employee. Wishman then spent the next few years re-writing and re-editing the film, mixing new and existing footage and adding a voice-over narration to the soundtrack.



Blood Massacre (1991)

When filming on the movie almost completed, director Don Dohler sent what had been made up until that point to his investors (as a show of progress). The investors then requested that he re-shoot the entire movie on lower-quality film. When Dohler completed the film the second time, the investors took the master-print and disappeared. They (and the film) resurfaced years later, when they attempted to present the film with a different title (and poor-quality editing, as well as unnecessary padding). After that, the director begrudgingly released the film, and made no attempts to fix what the investors ruined; he said in an interview that he wasn't in the mood to, "...shoot the film a third time.".

Don Dohler also talks about this in the documentary that was made about his film career: Blood, Boobs & Beast.

[MRPITT]

White Water Summer

White Water Summer was originally produced as Rites of Summer in 1985, and given its current name upon release in 1987. The film's action is framed by commentary from the now-older character of Alan (Sean Astin), as he remembers a camping trip led by Vic (Kevin Bacon). The narration was filmed two years after the movie itself; Astin is noticeably older.

The film was photographed by John Alcott, a frequent collaborator of Stanley Kubrick. (Alcott died shortly before the release of the movie, which is dedicated to his memory.) Scenes were shot in California's Sierra Nevada mountains, as well as in Canadian and New Zealand locales.

Columbia Pictures released the film theatrically in the Pacific Northwest region of the U.S.; a wider release was planned, but never carried out.

From Wikipedia

[Torgo]

Equinox (1970)

Was originally made as a student film by effects artist Dennis Murin under the title "The Equinox: A Journey Into the Supernatural". Jack Woods shot new scenes, changed the story (slightly) and added new characters and released in 1970 as Equinix.

The Criterion DVD release features both versions.


The Last House on Dead End Street (1977)

According to IMDB trivia:

All credits are pseudonyms, and until 2000, no one publicly admitted to having made this film. 'Roger Michael Watkins' eventually admitted to being the writer, director, and star.

The original version entitled "The Cuckoo Clocks Of Hell" originally ran some 175 minutes in length. The only remaining print of it in that form is thought to be stored in a New York film lab.

The film was made in 1972 and was initially unreleased until 1977 because one of its actresses sued over the use of hardcore loops Watkins shot of her. Watkins did not even know the film ever made its way to the big screen until late 1979, when someone on the street recognized him as "the guy from that movie that was throwing animal guts around".

Due to the use of pseudonyms by everyone involved and the low quality of cameras and film stock, rumors spread in New York's 42nd Street Grindhouse subculture that the film either actually depicted real murders, or that the film was the product of the Mexican mafia (owing to Roger Watkins pseudonym, "Janos", a municipality in the Mexican state of Chihuahua). The film's distributor encouraged the rumors, which resulted in the film's gaining notoriety via word of mouth.

[UMFaninMD]

Curtains (1983)

The first director hired, Richard Cipuka, left halfway into production because he clashed with producer Peter Simpson. Cipuka wanted to make an art-house psychological drama; Simpson wanted a slasher movie for adults. Simpson took over directing after Cipuka mutually left. The movie went through several re-writes and one of the original actresses cast was fired because Simpson alleged she couldn't act.

[Torgo]

Slumber Party Massacre (1982)

IMDB trivia:

Rita Mae Brown wrote a screenplay for a parody of teen/slasher flicks and titled it "Sleepless Nights". However, when she submitted it to the producers, they filmed it as if it weren't a parody and retitled it "Slumber Party Massacre". As a result, the movie displays a lot more humor, both intended and unintended, than others of this genre.

[Torgo]

This happened after filming was complete, but...

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)

IMDB trivia:

The film's original distributor was Bryanston Distribution Company, in fact a Mafia front operated by Louis "Butchie" Peraino, who used the movie to launder profits he made from Deep Throat (1972). In return, the production received only enough money to reimburse the investors and pay the cast and crew $405 a piece. The producers eventually discovered that Peraino had lied to them about the film's profits; after Peraino was arrested on obscenity charges when his role in Deep Throat was revealed, the cast and crew filed a suit against him and were awarded $25,000 each. New Line Cinema, which obtained the rights to "Chain Saw" from the bankrupt Bryanston, paid the cast and crew as part of the purchase agreement.

[Torgo]

Evil Town 1977

The decade-and-a-half journey Evil Town took before it was mass distributed is a tale more interesting than the film itself. Noting that there were no less than four different directors on this project; Curtis Hanson, Larry Spiegel, Peter S. Traynor and Mardi Rustam (the latter credited separately as having directed "additional sequences") will immediately clue one in to the fact this is a patchwork film. Footage is weaved in from at least three different shoots from at least three different times, dating way back to October 1973. Much of the footage - and plot - is from a project that began life as God Bless Grandma and Grandpa, which boasted a cast of familiar veteran character actors in supporting roles but was just barely released in 1974. Some sources claim it wasn't released at all, though there are posters, advertising materials and reviews from back then that state otherwise. The film had been re-titled multiple times along the way to add to the confusion. Some sources claim it was known during production as Town of Bloody Horror. It then became Dr. Bless Dr. Shagetz. Several posters were then distributed; one with the "Bless" x'd out and "Damn" added over top to create God Damn Dr. Shagetz and another titled simply Dr. Shagetz. One of the reviews from a sneak preview referred to it as Crazy Dr. Shagetz. The film was submitted to the MPAA for a rating in 1974, which means a completed cut existed at one point. Either way, very few people actually saw this film back then and it was an extremely limited release at best.

Supposedly, future Oscar-winner Curtis Hanson (who opted for the alias "Edward Collins") began this film but either quit or was fired, so producer Peter S. Traynor (who co-owned the production company that financed the project) stepped in and finished it. Traynor was later sued by investors in his company and was indicted for multiple counts of fraud in the late 1970s. The ruling would be overturned because of spotty juror attendance, but I suppose the damage was already done by that point. In the early 80s, Mardi Rustam purchased the completed Dr. Shagetz film and instead of just releasing it as is, he decided to spice it up by adding some nudity and more action to prepare it for home video. Some sources claim that Rustam also used footage from a abandoned, unfinished horror film, which may be Spiegel's contribution. Since there are multiple subplots, it's not a hard story to believe. All of the footage was completely edited together and ready to go by no later than 1984 (several sources say 1983), but it took three more years before the film saw the light of day on VHS. TransWorld decided to bite and issued the film in a box that misled potential renters into thinking they were getting a zombie film.

From: http://thebloodypitofhorror.blogspot...town-1984.html

[Vahan]

I think Boyhood might take the cake. They spent TWELVE years filming the picture.

[Mace Dolex]

Originally Posted by MRPITT

White Water Summer

White Water Summer was originally produced as Rites of Summer in 1985, and given its current name upon release in 1987. The film's action is framed by commentary from the now-older character of Alan (Sean Astin), as he remembers a camping trip led by Vic (Kevin Bacon). The narration was filmed two years after the movie itself; Astin is noticeably older.

The film was photographed by John Alcott, a frequent collaborator of Stanley Kubrick. (Alcott died shortly before the release of the movie, which is dedicated to his memory.) Scenes were shot in California's Sierra Nevada mountains, as well as in Canadian and New Zealand locales.

Columbia Pictures released the film theatrically in the Pacific Northwest region of the U.S.; a wider release was planned, but never carried out.

From Wikipedia

Great movie, when I first saw it I did notice Sean a tad older in the framing sequences but I had no idea it was because of events filmed years apart.

[Mace Dolex]

THE EVIL DEAD (1981)

Filming began in 1979 with a cast and crew of 37 people. Initial shooting finished in six weeks, but it took 1.5 years to edit the picture.

After completing principal photography in the winter of 1979-1980, most of the actors left the production. However, there was still much of the film to be completed. Most of the second half of the film features Bruce Campbell and various stand-ins (or "Fake Shemps") to replace the actors who left.

[Torgo]

The Evil Within (2017)


From Wikipedia - The film was inspired by the childhood nightmares of Getty. According to a post-production producer who had worked on the film and a friend of Getty, Ryan Readenour: "When he was young he would have these really powerful, sick, twisted dreams, and [they were] so shocking to him that he didn’t think they came from him." Getty conceived the idea that it could be a storyteller who created these dreams, and The Storyteller was then used as the first title of the film.[2]

Filming began in 2002, and the film was shot largely in Getty's own mansion. He also converted one of the rooms in his mansion into a post production suite. He made his own unique camera rigs, built expensive sets, and created with his FX team elaborate animatronic robots, including an octopus that can play a drum kit.[4] The production however would stop and start and starts over many years as it was beset with funding issues and conflicts with the cast, including a lawsuit from a studio assistant.[2] The cast and crew also went through a number of changes, and according to Koehler, only he and Michael Berryman made it through to the changes.[5]

Getty continued to work on film for many years after the filming, creating his own special effects and trying to perfect the film. He died in 2015 before the film was finished, with the coloring and editing not completed.[5] Producer Michael Luceri, who had also edited the film, finished the film