The Crow – The Ultimate Snuff Film

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On March 30, 1993, actor Brandon Lee was fatally shot on the set of “The Crow”.   After a great deal of controversy, the film was completed with a body double and digital effects.  Upon its 1994 release, it received praise, especially for Lee’s final performance.

Brandon Lee starred in “The Crow” (1994) – his last film.

What Went Wrong?

Over the years, numerous conspiracy theories have developed.  EricReports.com leaves nothing off the table.  Let us deal with the facts of evidence.

MISTAKE #1

A box of live ammo was brought on set to be used as a prop.

While this ammo was removed and placed in a car, crew members were aware of its existence.

MISTAKE #2

Live ammo was used to make homemade blank cartridges.  

For a 2nd unit scene, blanks were needed for a closeup of a gun firing.  The same aforementioned crew members retrieved this live ammunition and made their own blank cartridges by screwing off the tip of the bullet and tapping out the primer (gunpowder.)  Residue of the gunpowder was left over, enough for the tip of the bullet to be ejected into the barrel of the gun when it was fired.  No one was injured yet, but the bullet’s tip was left behind in the barrel.

MISTAKE #3

No gun expert (armorer) was used for the fatal scene.

While “The Crow” used armorers for earlier sequences that contained semi and fully automatic weaponry, none was used for the .44 caliber revolver.  This was done to save money.

MISTAKE #4

A prop-master was used instead of a gun expert.

The prop-master in question was young and inexperienced.  Two weeks would go by before the fatal scene with Brandon Lee.  In that time, the gun had not been checked or cleaned.

MISTAKE #5

Michael Massee, the actor who fired the gun at Brandon Lee, wasn’t told to point it away from Lee.

Michael Massee


Cost-cutting measures, inexperienced crew members, 18-hour work shifts and constant pressure to finish the movie in eight weeks, led to an unsafe set where somebody was bound to get hurt or killed . . . and that’s exactly what happened.

Actress Sofia Shinas, who played Lee’s fiancée Shelley, stated that she had a premonition someone would be hurt during filming.  She just didn’t know who.

Sofia Shinas

THE LAST SCENE

Brandon Lee (as Eric Draven) enters through an apartment doorway holding a bag of groceries.  Inside, his fiancée Shelley (Sofia Shinas) is being attacked by a gang of thugs.  Funboy (Michael Massee) wildly swings his arm in the direction of Lee, firing the .44 Magnum.

The scene continued on until its conclusion.  Those who witnessed it believed Lee was acting when he fell down.  But, a witness said they heard him say “Cut” and make a hand gesture to stop the scene.  Afterwards, he never regained consciousness.  Lee would die on set, then be revived by a medic performing CPR and an emergency tracheotomy.

Rushed to the hospital, Brandon Lee would die on the operating table early the next morning.  The .44 Magnum tip would be found at the base of his spine.  By the time Lee’s mother and sister arrived he was already dead.

Eliza Hutton and Brandon Lee were engaged to be married the following month.

Officially, the last scene was examined by police and then destroyed.  (If that is true.)

The film company Carolco was fined for carelessness.  Lee’s family received an out-of-court settlement.

It was decided to complete the film: “In honor of the memory of Brandon Lee.”

ALTERNATE THEORIES

Before filming, threats were made by anonymous sources not to make this movie.

Brandon Lee had planned to investigate what really caused the death of his father, Bruce Lee, who died in 1973, from an allergic reaction to Equagesic.  Bruce Lee’s last incomplete film “Game of Death” contains a scene where his character is shot on set.

From “Game of Death”

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The Illuminati is an upper echelon that secretly controls government and business with ties to Satanism.  (Blood sacrifice.)  Often times, their crime is hidden in plain sight.  How much more obvious can it be made to kill your victim on camera, on film, with everybody watching?

Bruce Lee, Brandon Lee – Like father, like son

Family Curse.  Because Bruce Lee taught the martial arts to non-Asians, the Chinese triad placed a curse on the Lee family.  Bruce Lee would die under mysterious circumstances at the age of 32.  Son Brandon would die of a gunshot wound – age 28.

CONCLUSION

Since then, “The Crow” has continued to make money with sequels, a TV series and on home video.  A 4K release is coming this year.

Brandon Lee comments in the “Extras” section of “The Crow”.  “We do not know when we will die.  How many times will we experience a certain event – an event that helped shape our lives?”

Those who were on set said Brandon was having the time of his life before he died and believed “The Crow” would be a new beginning for him.  In a way, it was.

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Text © 2024 – EricReports

Last Movie Roles – Part 2

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Bruce Lee – Game of Death

Bruce Lee was midway into production with “Game of Death”, when he was called away to star in “Enter the Dragon” (1973.)  After completing “Dragon”, he intended to finish “Death”.  Instead, he was found dead with actress Betty Ting Pei from the drug Equagesic (containing meprobamate.)  This caused cerebral edema (brain swelling.)  Fans insist Lee was killed by rival martial arts leaders for teaching his style of fighting to non-Asians.  “Game of Death” was completed in 1978, using a lookalike actor.

Brandon Lee – The Crow

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Son of Bruce Lee, Brandon was following in his father’s footsteps.  He had already had success with “Rapid Fire” (1992.)  “The Crow”, a dark, goth, revenge drama would make him a star.  Fate would step in, however, when a .44 Magnum revolver was loaded with real bullets instead of blanks during filming.  Brandon Lee was fatally shot on March 31, 1993.  “The Crow” was finished with doubles and digitally-altered images.  [Note:  In “Game of Death”, Lee’s character is shot while filming a scene for a movie.]

John Wayne – The Shootist

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Western star John Wayne stars as J.B. Books – a gunfighter/former Marshall, who has only weeks to live.  A sad and poignant end to a distinguished career.  Wayne died three years later from cancer – probably contracted from radioactive soil near St. George, Utah, while filming “The Conqueror” (1956.)

Richard Burton – 1984

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Richard Burton with co-star John Hurt

Richard Burton’s best film in years as “O’Brien”, the man who held your worst fears in Room 101.  [Based on George Orwell’s classic novel.]  Amazingly, he was nominated seven times for an Academy Award, yet never won.  Cause of death:  cerebral hemorrhage on August 5, 1984.

Montgomery Clift – The Defector

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Montgomery Clift starred in this low-budget, cold-war drama only to prove to Warner Brothers he could still function well enough to perform with Elizabeth Taylor in “Reflections in a Golden Eye” (1967.)  Unfortunately, he died soon after filming from a heart attack.  (Clift had been having health problems for ten years following a near fatal car accident.)  Marlon Brando replaced him in “Reflections in a Golden Eye”.

Edward G. Robinson – Soylent Green

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Edward G. Robinson (deaf and terminally ill) knew he was dying from cancer and used it to great effect in his grand finale with star Charlton Heston.  Robinson would win an Honorary Oscar, posthumously, that same year.  (1973.)

Alfred Hitchcock – Family Plot

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Director Alfred Hitchcock became world famous for his suspense thrillers:  “Psycho”, “Vertigo”, “Frenzy”, “The Birds”, “North by Northwest,” and “The Man Who Knew Too Much”.  Likewise, his celebrity grew through his film cameos.  Additionally, he introduced every episode of “Alfred Hitchcock Presents” (1955-1965.)  His last cameo was as a silhouette.  Hitchcock died in 1980 from kidney failure.

Heath Ledger – The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

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Director-writer Terry Gilliam’s over-the-top ode to the Illuminati:  complete with the death of its star, Heath Ledger.  On January 22, 2008, Ledger was found not breathing in his apartment.  First to be contacted was his girlfriend, Mary-Kate Olsen, and then later 9-1-1.  Eventual cause of death was discovered to be a lethal combination of drugs.  Ledger’s doctors were cleared of wrongdoing.  Olsen refused to speak with police unless granted immunity.  Ledger was replaced with three different actors:  Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell.

Kim Novak – Liebestraum

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Actress Kim Novak is still very much alive, but she has vowed that “Liebestraum” will be her swansong, stating that her best scene was cut.  The movie is a “Twin Peaks”-like mystery without the mastery of David Lynch.  (Mike Figgis directed.)  Maybe, that’s why it wasn’t a hit.  Still, Miss Novak is always worth watching and she’s excellent in it.

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Brittany Murphy – Deadline

Image result for images, brittany murphy in deadline  The pictures say it all, don’t they?  On December 20, 2009, Brittany Murphy was found collapsed in her shower.  She had been suffering from ill health recently and the cause of death was attributed to “pneumonia, anemia, and multiple drugs.”  Strangely enough, her husband Simon Monjack died on May 23, 2010 from pneumonia and anemia.  Police blamed “mold”, then later recanted.  Murphy’s father paid for his own analysis and said she’d been poisoned.

Article Text © 2017 – ERN.  All Rights Reserved.