A film that uses real corpses!

Hard to believe, but it’s true! There are actually movies in which real human corpses have been used! And you read correctly, FILMS! It’s not just one movie where this is supposed to be the case, but several! And these movies are not unknown flicks either, but movies that many know!

Nowadays, real dead bodies on the set of a film shoot would be basically unthinkable. In the meantime, there are ways and means, not to mention laws, that make these “props” superfluous. Today, no one needs a real corpse to portray a dead person. Or so one would think.

Well, in the meantime other methods are used, but the “youngest” film, in which a real corpse was used, is just from the year 2006. That corresponds to scarcely 14 years. So it really wasn’t that long ago, and this fact is quite frightening. Especially because there are legal regulations in this regard.

In order not to disturb or confuse you too much, not “all” movies will be presented here. We have decided to introduce you to the film that is considered the first. And that is “Apocalypse Now”.

The Corpses in “Apocalypse Now”

In March of this year, you could see the third film adaptation “Apocalypse Now: Final Cut” in theaters. Don’t worry, there were no real corpses in this film! However, in the first film adaptation “Apocalypse Now“! However, the filming of the movie, based on Joseph Conrad’s famous story “Heart of Darkness,” caused an uproar in the late 1970s.

The excitement arose from the fact that the makers are said to have distributed dead rats on the set to spur the actors, by the smell of decay, to top acting performances. Dead rats as a motivational method, so that the emotions (disgust, etc.) could be portrayed realistically.

And then there was the matter of the corpses. There was a rumor among the actors on the film set that the producers actually used real, human corpses. Unfortunately, this was not and is not a rumor. However, the producers were not to blame, because their plan originally looked different!

In the end, the producers of the film “Apocalypse Now” are said to have really found a tent in which some dead bodies were lying. As a result, they confronted the crew member who was responsible for procuring the movie props. It turned out that this very same crew member “slightly” overshot the actual target. Because instead of getting a “normal” prop, he bought these bodies from a man who claimed to provide medical care to the surrounding hospitals. However, it turned out that this man did not work for any hospital. In fact, this man was a wanted grave robber who then sold the bodies to the “Apocalypse Now” film crew.