8 Movies That Put Their Extras Through Hell

8. Extras Were Burned With Fireballs And Flaming Arrows - Unconquered

The 1947 historical epic Unconquered was, at the time, one of the most expensive films ever made. Director Cecil B. DeMille was known for his lavish productions that usually cost a pretty penny to produce, which explains how he was able to pay for around 4,000 extras to take part in the shoot.

Unfortunately though, not all of these extras had a rollicking good time on set. In fact, for some of them, things got a little too hot to handle. Literally.

During a massive battle scene in the movie, DeMille - in a Christopher Nolan-esque desire for unparalleled realism - opted to use hundreds of real fireballs and flaming arrows. These were rained down on the actors like some sort of fiery plague, and as you'd expect, quite a few people were caught in the crossfire.

In particular, nine extras were injured: eight of them suffered painful burns to their skin, and one of them had their hair burned clean off.

Luckily, nobody's life was seriously threatened, and in the end, the movie was nominated for the Best Special Effects Academy Award. DeMille's direction was certainly dangerous, but it did make for a spectacular visual showcase back in the day.