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Blount said "All hell broke loose. We had little golf carts for transportation, and it was an immediate emergency situation of getting out, but these carts didn’t go that fast. We had very sick people, and it was a matter of determining who got in the first car out — youngest ones first. It was just
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Making the film was an unhappy experience for director Don Sharp. He said people were frequently fired during the shoot and he was never given what he was promised in terms of effects. "It wasn't very good," said Sharp, "It wasn't a very good cast." Sharp said he told the producer he felt the film
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Blount recalled the accident happened while her character was captured and tied up on a rise inside the cavern. "All the extras, as the
Lemurians, were out in front of me, and I watched all these people just start silently falling over, fainting, as this wave of carbon monoxide came at them," she
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Sandy Howard produced the film with special effects designer Robert Bailey. "Sandy came to me and said, 'Bob, how'd you like to work on a picture that'll get you out of those darkrooms you've been working in on all those effects?' So I said, ‘Hey, that sounds great'."
343:. When the signal from one of the transmitters suddenly disappears, a team of soldiers led by Major Elbert Stevens (Bottoms) and cave specialists led by Rupert 'Wolf' Wolfsen (Powell) including scientist Leslie Peterson (Blount) are sent in to find out what happened.
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Early indications were that generators used to power lights inside
Cathedral Caverns were the source of the gas that touched off the panic late Saturday night. At least 17 people, many of them actors in the movie Secrets of the Phantom Caverns, were taken to area
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Blount said the cause was "one of those technical problems where the generator running everything backed up and started shooting fumes back into the cave. We had to shut down for a few days because of that, but we got through it."
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Co-producer and special effects designer Robert D. Bailey said "Frankly, I underestimated the difficulty of shooting in the caverns. If I had it to do over again, I would not attempt to do such extensive filming underground."
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Howard wanted to shoot the film in a real cavern to give the film "a special beauty and grandeur that has taken over one million years to develop, and which no
Hollywood set could ever dare hope to recreate."
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Six years after making his initial impact on
American audiences as the star of Franco Zeffirelli's 1977 TV film "Jesus of Nazareth," British actor Robert Powell has just finished his first American-made
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It was the first
American film for Robert Powell, who was cast in October 1983. Powell described it as more than "another pulp movie. It's a romp, a more physical movie, and fun stuff for an actor."
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cave-dwellers who have apparently been isolated from the rest of the world for thousands of years. The cave-dwellers are hurt by radio frequencies and are able to see in
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Lisa Blount said "We would go into the caverns before dawn, stay there all day, and come out at night, so we never saw the sunlight, except for Sunday. "
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What Waits Below: Timothy
Bottoms, Robert Powell and Lisa Blount star in this science-fiction film about an unexplainable horror that waits below
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Filming started August 1983. Principal photography for the film took place in a former limestone quarry and in natural caves. It shot at
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The SANDY HOWARD feature, which goes into production Aug. 8, be filming in
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MAN WHO PLAYED 'JESUS' TO MAKE U.S. FILM DEBUT Mann, Roderick. Los
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723:(Interview). Interviewed by Teddy Darvas and Alan Lawson. London: History Project
620:"Gas blame for illness, panic of set; Caves are being used to shoot sci-fi flick"
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for the video release of the film was "Underground, no-one can hear you die".
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was awful and he left after shooting without taking part in editing.
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location sent at least 17 people, including Sharp, to the hospital.
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total chaos. There were sixty people who went to the hospital."
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for about two weeks, then another two weeks were shot at
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Exploring deep underground, they stumble upon a tribe of
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frequencies, tracking the explorers by their body heat.
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Theatrical release poster using film's original title
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438:Production was briefly halted in late August when
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517:"Unsung Aussie Filmmakers: Don Sharp – A Top 25"
793:"Movies: Secrets of the Phantom Caverns (1985)"
423:in Alabama. Several days were spent filming at
588:"TV series not as profitable as concert dates"
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461:Production wrapped in late October 1983.
311:Learn how and when to remove this message
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327:is running a test for a special type of
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484:in the United States in November 1985.
1235:English-language science fiction films
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649:
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1195:British science fiction action films
1190:British science fiction horror films
235:(initially released under the title
684:Mann, Roderick (27 October 1983).
14:
821:. BadMovies.org. 13 January 2007.
656:Biodowrski, Steve (Spring 1995).
331:, to be used to communicate with
1021:Jules Verne's Rocket to the Moon
748:"Secrets of the Phantom Caverns"
273:
241:) released in 1984. Directed by
719:Sharp, Don (2 November 1993).
515:Vagg, Stephen (27 July 2019).
442:produced by generators in the
238:Secrets of the Phantom Caverns
1:
1230:English-language horror films
1225:Films scored by Michel Rubini
746:Farmer, Donald (April 1984).
366:– Rupert 'Wolf' Wolfsen
1215:1980s English-language films
692:. p. E1. Archived from
626:. 23 August 1983. p. 3B
372:– Major Elbert Stevens
1200:Films directed by Don Sharp
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1185:1984 science fiction films
594:. 31 July 1983. p. 13
864:
542:Daily News of Los Angeles
28:
795:. Movies & TV Dept.
293:improve the plot summary
1011:The Brides of Fu Manchu
891:The Adventures of Hal 5
378:– Leslie Peterson
961:The Devil-Ship Pirates
390:– Frieda Shelley
335:, in a deep system of
284:needs an improved
58:Robert Vincent O'Neill
1210:Films shot in Alabama
1101:The Thirty Nine Steps
991:Rasputin the Mad Monk
981:The Face of Fu Manchu
1001:Our Man in Marrakesh
592:The Spokesman-Review
66:story by Ken Barnett
1220:1980s British films
1041:Taste of Excitement
941:Kiss of the Vampire
871:The Stolen Airliner
538:"The Latest Hoopla"
931:It's All Happening
856:Films directed by
798:The New York Times
721:"Don Sharp Side 7"
696:on 31 January 2013
417:Cumberland Caverns
384:– Ben Gannon
159:Adam's Apple Films
92:Jeffrey M. Sneller
1205:1984 action films
1180:1984 horror films
1162:
1161:
1141:Tears in the Rain
1091:The Four Feathers
1031:The Violent Enemy
901:The Professionals
754:. pp. 25–28.
690:Los Angeles Times
544:. 8 November 1985
444:Cathedral Caverns
421:Cathedral Caverns
329:radio transmitter
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807:. Retrieved
803:the original
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789:Hal Erickson
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725:. Retrieved
714:
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700:12 September
698:. Retrieved
694:the original
689:
679:
670:
662:Imagi Movies
661:
658:"Lisa Blout"
635:
630:12 September
628:. Retrieved
624:Miami Herald
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598:12 September
596:. Retrieved
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548:12 September
546:. Retrieved
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388:Anne Heywood
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301:October 2019
298:
291:Please help
286:plot summary
283:
237:
236:
224:
223:
222:
189:Running time
166:Release date
142:Denny Jaeger
117:Anne Heywood
88:
80:
77:Sandy Howard
55:Christy Marx
15:
1151:Act of Will
1111:Bear Island
1061:Dark Places
1051:Psychomania
674:Farmer p 25
568:Farmer p 24
505:Farmer p 27
376:Lisa Blount
325:US military
255:Lisa Blount
217:$ 6 million
109:Lisa Blount
71:Produced by
41:Directed by
1175:1984 films
1169:Categories
951:Witchcraft
637:hospitals.
488:References
395:Production
333:submarines
193:88 minutes
152:Production
51:Written by
858:Don Sharp
352:infra-red
243:Don Sharp
131:Edited by
89:associate
86:Mel Pearl
84:Don Levin
81:executive
45:Don Sharp
1131:Tusitala
1081:Hennessy
791:(2008).
434:Accident
206:Language
139:Music by
97:Starring
63:Based on
1144:(1988)
752:Starlog
727:17 July
521:Filmink
473:Release
427:, too.
411:Filming
259:tagline
209:English
198:Country
175: (
154:company
1154:(1989)
1134:(1986)
1124:(1985)
1114:(1979)
1104:(1978)
1094:(1978)
1084:(1975)
1074:(1974)
1071:Callan
1064:(1973)
1054:(1973)
1044:(1970)
1034:(1969)
1024:(1967)
1014:(1966)
1004:(1966)
994:(1966)
984:(1965)
974:(1965)
964:(1964)
954:(1964)
944:(1963)
934:(1963)
924:(1962)
914:(1960)
904:(1960)
894:(1958)
884:(1958)
874:(1955)
809:2 July
450:said.
348:albino
257:. The
253:, and
214:Budget
911:Linda
740:Notes
707:film.
337:caves
228:is a
811:2011
772:IMDb
729:2021
702:2009
632:2009
600:2009
550:2009
358:Cast
323:The
265:Plot
177:1984
173:1984
781:at
770:at
482:VHS
339:in
1171::
750:.
704:.
688:.
660:.
644:^
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308:(
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299:(
295:.
288:.
179:)
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