Inside The Horrific Twilight Zone Movie Accident And The Manslaughter Trial That Followed


On July 23, 1982, a helicopter stunt on the set of Twilight Zone: The Movie went horribly wrong, resulting in the gruesome deaths of Vic Morrow and child actors Myca Dinh Le and Renee Shin-Yi Chen.


The helicopter crash resulted in the death of Vic Morrow and two young children.


John Landis was already an established filmmaker when he was hired to direct one of the four segments comprising Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983), based on the original Rod Serling series. But despite helming prior hits like The Blues Brothers and An American Werewolf in London, nothing could have prepared him for the deadly tragedy to come.


On July 23, 1982, Landis’ crew was filming a scene in Valencia, California with lead actor Vic Morrow and his two young co-stars, seven-year-old Myca Dinh Le and six-year-old Renee Shin-Yi Chen. Suddenly, a staged explosion caused an on-set helicopter to dip forward and crash, fatally dismembering all three actors and decapitating Morrow and Le.


Now considered one of history’s most tragic movie set disasters, the Twilight Zone movie accident was so horrific that it led to speculation that the production was cursed. However, investigations soon revealed that Landis had ignored various child labor laws and warnings about safety on set leading up to the accident.


The Twilight Zone incident resulted in a heated manslaughter trial. But it also sparked a dramatic upheaval in Hollywood, inspiring the introduction of several new safety protocols that would change the filmmaking industry for the better.


John Landis Lands Twilight Zone: The Movie

Born in Chicago, Illinois in 1950, John Landis was only eight years old when, after watching The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958), he decided to become a director.


Landis went on to make some of the most iconic American comedies of his generation, including The Blues Brothers (1980), Trading Places (1983) and Coming to America (1988). He also directed one of the most beloved music videos of all time when Michael Jackson himself tasked Landis to helm “Thriller.”


The filmmaker was only 31 when, after agreeing to direct one of the four anthology segments in the highly anticipated Twilight Zone: The Movie, he became the de facto peer of cinema legends Steven Spielberg, Mad Max creator George Miller, and The Gremlins director Joe Dante, who each helmed a segment of the movie.


But before long, crew members would begin to note Landis’ apparent disregard for safety measures on set — an approach that would soon prove fatal.


“It was his attitude,” cameraman Stephen Lydecker later testified in court, according to The Washington Post. “He didn’t have time for suggestions from anybody.”


Trouble On Set

John Landis’ Twilight Zone movie segment, titled “Time Out,” tells the story of a bigoted man named Bill Connor who travels through time to witness the devastating effects of his racist beliefs.


During production, a producer suggested an alternate ending in which Connor, played by Vic Morrow, journeys to wartime Vietnam. There, he rescues two orphans whose village is being bombed by American helicopters.


To make this scene happen, Landis added explosions, a Bell UH-1 Iroquois military helicopter, and two child actors to the production. Some critics later speculated that Landis was aiming to achieve the visual dazzlement of Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now.


Landis reportedly violated a number of child labor laws during the production, casting Myca Dinh Le and Renee Shin-Yi Chen without obtaining the required permits to do so and filming their scenes at night, which is specifically forbidden under California law. Renee’s uncle, Peter Wei-Te Chen, acted as a family representative for the children, accepting a cash deal from associate producer George Folsey Jr. on their behalf without any formal contract.


Neither casting nor on-set firefighters were informed of the decision to hire the children before filming began. At one point, the New York Times reports, a production secretary remembered hearing Landis joke, “We’re all going to jail!”

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