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* AlanSmithee: As a result of the infamous and tragic HellishCopter incident, second assistant director Andy House had his name removed from the credits and replaced with the pseudonym Alan Smithee.
* CreatorBacklash:
** Nearly everyone involved in the production was haunted in some manner by the tragedy to take place during filming. Creator/StevenSpielberg in particular was so distressed by the incident that he has never spoken to Creator/JohnLandis since.
** WordOfGod has it that in the offices of Spielberg's production company Creator/AmblinEntertainment the film's ''never'' referred to by name.
* DawsonCasting: Creator/NancyCartwright was 27 when she played a young girl. Her short stature and high-pitched voice help.
* ExecutiveMeddling: With unintentionally tragic consequences. John Landis's original script for "Time Out" simply ended with the VillainProtagonist being punished for his bigotry. Warner Bros. executives suggested that the protagonist should have a HeelFaceTurn, so Landis wrote a new ending where the character helps two Vietnamese children escape from a bombed village while being pursued by a helicopter. This ending could not be used in the finished film due to the helicopter accident, [[LaserGuidedKarma which used a similar ending to the one Landis originally wrote]].
* FatalMethodActing: Creator/VicMorrow and child actors My-Ca Dinh Le and Renee Shin-Yi Chen (both working illegally, without proper work permits and at [=2AM=], far later than the times allowed for child actors), were killed when a stunt helicopter crashed near them during the filming. This was all due to how John Landis kept insisting that the scene was to be as "realistic" as possible, having shot down several suggestions from the crew to make the shooting of the scene somewhat safer, such as filming it at day and then amending it with HollywoodDarkness later, or using dummies or small people as stuntmen instead of child actors. This led to nearly a decade's worth of lawsuits, changes in the law about child actors doing stunts, and fewer helicopter scenes in movies thereafter until CGI made it possible to put them in digitally. Director Creator/JohnLandis was acquitted of manslaughter charges, but his career went into decline after this.
* IronyAsSheIsCast: Jewish actor Creator/VicMorrow played an anti-Jewish bigot.
* ProductionPosse: For Creator/JoeDante's segment, Creator/DickMiller, Kevin [=McCarthy=] and William Schallert all appear. This would also be the director's first collaboration with Music/JerryGoldsmith; the film composer would continue scoring every single one of Dante's films for the rest of his life.
* RealLifeRelative:
** Creator/DanAykroyd (The Passenger) and Donna Dixon (Junior Flight Attendant) are married.
** In "Kick the Can", Priscilla Pointer (Miss Cox) was the soon-to-be mother-in-law of the director Creator/StevenSpielberg.
* RoleEndingMisdemeanor: Prior to this film, Creator/JohnLandis was an up and coming director who was usually put on the same league as Creator/StevenSpielberg, Creator/GeorgeLucas, or even Creator/FrancisFordCoppola, with some of the most beloved comedies of TheSeventies and TheEighties under his belt. Despite the tragedy, he was acquitted of manslaughter over the deaths of Vic Morrow and the two child actors and was ''still'' able to work in Hollywood, making ''Film/TradingPlaces'', the [[Music/MichaelJacksonsThriller "Thriller" music video]], ''Film/IntoTheNight'', ''Film/SpiesLikeUs'', ''Film/ThreeAmigos'', ''Film/ComingToAmerica'', ''Film/BeverlyHillsCopIII'' and so on. However, the incident lingered over him for the rest of his career: Spielberg has refused to speak to him since, and Landis' success and recognition quickly dwindled into absolute nothingness by the end of TheNineties.
* TroubledProduction: The "Time Out" segment was supposed to climax with a scene where Creator/VicMorrow rescues two children during UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar. Creator/JohnLandis chose to use Morrow, My-Ca Dinh Le and Renee Shin-Yi Chen, the two non-professionals hired to play the children for the scene, rather than stunt doubles, despite the presence of helicopters and explosives. In fact, proper work permits had never been obtained for the kids (to circumvent child labor laws; their families were also paid under the table using the production's petty cash fund). The lengthy setup for the scene at the Indian Dunes ranch near Six Flags Magic Mountain on Thursday, July 22, 1982 delayed filming until the early hours of July 23, which also violated laws about work conditions for child actors. Even though the pilot and special effects people were experienced pros, the mix of controlled explosives and a low-flying helicopter was still very risky, and around 2AM the worst happened--shrapnel from an explosive got caught in the copter's rotor, causing it to crash near the three actors, killing them all. This led to nearly a decade's worth of lawsuits, changes in the law about child actors doing stunts, and fewer helicopter scenes in movies thereafter until CGI made it possible to put them in digitally. Landis was acquitted of manslaughter charges in 1987. While the film he signed on to specifically to get a break from the immediate wake of the scandal -- ''Film/TradingPlaces'' -- ended up released the month after ''Twilight Zone'' and became one of his biggest hits, and he would remain a bankable director for the rest of the decade (only ''Film/IntoTheNight'' lost money), the disaster understandably cast a long, dark shadow over his career that remains to this day. It also abruptly ended Landis' friendship with Creator/StevenSpielberg, who was co-producing the film with Landis. The tragedy happened right when ''Film/ETTheExtraTerrestrial'' was dominating the summer box office, so media reports constantly mentioned Spielberg's name in connection with it. There were even reports that he was on-set when the accident occurred, which were quickly debunked.
* UncreditedRole: The voice of the mad doctor/monster in "It's a Good Life" is uncredited. Averted with the creature in "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" this time around, with Creator/LarryCedar credited for the role.
* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
** The original idea for the movie was to adapt a singular story (that concept became the 1988 sci-fi film ''Film/MiracleMile'') before the show's success in syndication led to the decision to make it an anthology.
** The scene with Creator/VicMorrow's tragic accident was supposed to end up with his character pulling a HeelFaceTurn when he rescues two Vietnamese children.
** Also, Creator/StevenSpielberg was to have adapted "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street" before Morrow's death led him to change his mind and adapt "Kick the Can" instead (the former was to have required many effects shots and night shooting with children, similar to the segment with Morrow).
** It was originally intended to have Spielberg's "Kick the Can" be the final segment, but following audience previews the order was changed. (Interestingly, Music/JerryGoldsmith's end credit music [which represents all but the John Landis episode] unintentionally reflected the change, as he composed the music ''before'' that decision had been made.)
** Creator/WilWheaton said he was cast in a role, but a parochial school teacher, who was convinced that ''The Twilight Zone'' was Satanic, talked him out of appearing in the film. Reflecting on that decision decades later, Wheaton said it was the only time he ever regretted passing on an acting role.
** Found among his papers was a script outline for a ''Twilight Zone'' movie written by Creator/RodSerling, using two original stories. One story was adapted for the syndicated version of the first revival series, and both were used for a CBS TV movie a few years later.
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