Trivia: In the days before ubiquitous digital technology, the majority of visual effects in film were "practical" effects using stuntmen and props on wires, springboards, flash-pots, et cetera. In "Ladyhawke" (which was decidedly on the low-end of visual effects budgets), one of the most dangerous practical effects is seen when Matthew Broderick and Rutger Hauer have a heated discussion in the woods and seem about to part company. As Broderick turns to leave, Hauer's 53" longsword sizzles past the boy's left shoulder and embeds in a tree trunk, to Broderick's horror. In fact, the steel sword was real and hurtled to its target on a guide-wire, barely 8 inches from Broderick's back. If you slow-advance the scene, you can see the sword actually changing trajectory in-flight, it was so unstable. The sword came up in a Hollywood memorabilia auction in 2002 but was not sold. http://www.icollector.com/Rutger-Hauer-prop-special-effects-sword-from-Ladyhawke_i169815.
Trivia: Gary Busey ad-libbed a majority of his lines. When director Daniel Attias told Stephen King about this, Stephen said he was OK with it.
Trivia: John Huston was nominated for the Best Director Academy Award for this movie. At the age of 79, Huston became the oldest person to be Oscar nominated for directing.
Trivia: Real counterfeit bills were printed during principal photography. The prop master got in some hot water for this, even though the bills were created specifically for a scene in which Willem Dafoe burns them in a fireplace.
Trivia: The bad guy, Fraker, real name Gavan O'Herlihy, is the lost son "Chuck Cunningham" on the first season of Happy Days in 1974.
Trivia: Mare Winningham, whose storyline revolves around the fact that she's a virgin, was pregnant throughout the filming of the movie. This is the reason she's wearing those baggy clothes.
Trivia: Despite being considered an important piece of film history and being an Academy Award-winning film, "Kiss of the Spider Woman" is notoriously hard to find in many countries (including the US) due to nightmarish rights disputes. It was only available on disc for a brief window, has gone through multiple decade-or-more stretches without any official release and is unavailable to stream legally.
Trivia: The role of Eddie Cusack was originally written for Clint Eastwood.
Trivia: Christopher Lee agreed to appear in the film because he had never made a werewolf movie and wanted to make one. However, he absolutely hated the finished film. He later personally apologized to original "Howling" director Joe Dante (who had no involvement in this sequel) for making the film.
Trivia: The hat that Fletch wears at the end of the movie is the same hat that Harry Dean Stanton wore in the 1979 movie "Alien."
Trivia: Aunty Entity's name is never mentioned in the film. She is only referred to as just "Aunty."
Trivia: Based on a series of novels that began in 1983, written by Hideyuki Kikuchi and illustrated by Yoshitaka Amano. To date, 44 volumes in the series have been released, with Kikuchi writing the majority of them, in addition to manga adaptations, two animated features, video-games and spin-off novels.
Trivia: When Hooks punches Procter, Marion Ramsey actually hit Lance Kinsey in his jaw.
Trivia: Some of the cloud effects were created by dumping colored dyes in tanks of water which were then superimposed into the shot.
