It’s always unfortunate when any movie – regardless of how good or bad it turns out to be – becomes remembered more for off-camera incidents than what happened onscreen, with 2018’s Ghostland remaining overshadowed by the horrifying incident involving star Taylor Hickson.
An innocuous Reddit thread was merely asking for a consensus on the twist-happy chiller, seemingly oblivious to what went down on set. However, the fact that virtually every single comment and reply without fail makes a point of noting sympathy for the actress while barely passing judgement on the quality of the film itself essentially tells the whole story.
During shooting of a particularly intense scene, Hickson was urged by director Pascal Laugier to “pound harder” on real glass to put across the emotion, only for her to break right through and end up with severe damage and disfigurement to the left side of her face, which resulted in 70 stitches and permanent scarring. In the end, Incident Productions pleaded guilty and paid out $40,000, but Ghostland‘s place in infamy had been secured.
The story itself may not have won over critics and crowds to a huge extent, but it does boast a rug-pulling twist that’s right up there with the best of them, turning everything you thought you knew about the tale of a family returning to the scene of an attack they barely escaped from with their lives 16 years later completely upside down.
Sadly, Hickson’s life-changing injuries continue to be its most notable caveat after the fact, but at least the 25 year-old has since gone on to resume her acting career.