Snakes Weren’t The Only Dangerous Animals On The Set Of Anaconda
Sony Pictures
Longtime film site Film Scouts shares insights on the production of “Anaconda”; therein, executive producer Susan Ruskin recalls the troublesome creatures that made it a nightmare on the set:
“One of these monkeys seemed to find my son to be an attractive playmate and competitor and he got very aggressive with him. He ended up biting him on the ear and I had to get between them. Later that night, I climbed to the top of this rickety 250 foot tower to get above the tree-tops and make a phone call. I turned around and saw this shape coming towards me. It got hold of my hair and started pulling. I can only assume it was the same [woolly monkey] I had done battle with earlier that day. Eventually, I ducked and went totally submissive. Finally, it let go, but it wouldn’t let me pass. I decided to get aggressive and yelled at it and ran down the stairs and got away.”
Monkey business
The film site reports that the more aggressive male monkeys had to be lured away from the set for everyone’s safety, but production was largely fluid and undisturbed due to a joint Brazilian-American crew effort. The result was a box-office success and a critical sigh of disappointment (including six Razzie nominations) — the B-movie sweet spot. Nostalgic nerds can get the popcorn ready soon; a new “re-imagining” of the snake spectacle is in development with franchise reboot maestro Evan Daugherty.
“It was pitch dark and I was walking up the narrow stairwell towards my suite. I was carrying all this stuff when suddenly the lights went out. I put my key in my mouth and tried to feel for the lock and get up the steps. Suddenly, I felt what seemed to be a million things jumping on top of me, running from my ankle to the top of my head at lightning speed. It was very frightening.”
