The Horrible Accident That Happened On Set Of Ghostland
Movie stunts are tricky to pull off and can be devastating if anything goes wrong. Infamous examples include the near-fatal car accident on the set of "Kill Bill: Volume 2" that traumatized Uma Thurman, or the malfunctioning "jerk-back" stunt that left "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" stuntman David Holmes paralyzed from the chest down.
A lesser-known on-set accident took place during the production of "Ghostland." The 2018 indie horror film is about two sisters who are stalked, held captive, and tortured by sadistic, doll-obsessed home invaders. The film received mixed-to-negative reviews (via Rotten Tomatoes), but most people are aware of the gratuitous flick because of the real-life horror it caused for one of its young actresses.
Taylor Hickson, who portrayed the young version of Vera in the film, was injured so badly that she sued the film's producers for negligence and is seeking damages for the time she had to take off work along with the various recovery treatments.
So, what horrible accident happened on the set of "Ghostland"?
Ghostland's gore became real
During an intense scene, the then-19-year-old Taylor Hickson was instructed to pound on a glass door harder and harder. Hickson complied, but the glass didn't stay intact and shattered, causing her to fall through the door and lacerate her face. The actress was rushed to the hospital, where she received around 70 stitches. Since the horrific accident, she had "undergone treatment including laser treatment and silicone treatment" but was "left with permanent scarring on the left side of her face," according to the court documents shared by Deadline.
In a 2018 interview with Deadline, Hickson said, "It's been mass amounts of insecurity, conflicted, confused, hurt, angry, and sad that this was my last day on set and no precautions were taken." She also revealed that a crew member held her bloody face together with napkins.
While the lawsuit is not yet settled, Incident Productions pleaded guilty in 2019 to "failing to ensure the safety and welfare of a worker under the Workplace Safety and Health Act" and received a fine of $40,000 (via CBC).