Arnold Schwarzenegger must have bitten something disgusting in Conan the Barbarian

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“Hercules in New York” The lowest rated Arnold Schwarzenegger film on IMDbis widely considered an all-time stinker, but at least the actor didn’t have to eat dead animals for his maligned acting debut. Conversely, one of The best Schwarzenegger films of all time1982’s “Conan the Barbarian” was a nightmare to film – a hellish experience that required the star to bite a deceased vulture while filming an unforgettable scene. Plus, that’s not the only unpleasant moment the actor had to endure while bringing John Milius’ cinematic interpretation of Robert E. Howard’s barbaric pulp universe to life.

In the scene, Arnie’s Conan finds himself crucified on a tree and must fight off ravenous birds with his mouth – all while burning under the desert sun. Well, it turns out Schwarzenegger had to fight birds that way for real (sort of), as he recalls in his book. “Be Helpful: Seven Tools for Life.” In his own words:

“I bit a real dead vulture, which required me to wash my mouth out with alcohol after every take. (PETA would have a field day with that one). One of the first days of filming, I tore a gash in my back that required 40 stitches.”

Although he had to feast on a dead bird, the “Terminator” star noted that the overall experience allowed him to learn new skills, like riding horses, camels and elephants. In fact, making “Conan the Barbarian” was the ultimate training course for action movie stars, but vulture bite incidents weren’t the only negative experiences Schwarzenegger faced while filming.

“Conan the Barbarian” put Arnold Schwarzenegger on the map and paved the way for him to star in some of the best action movies of all time – “The Terminator”, “Commando” and “Predator”, to name a few. At the same time, the fantasy epic directed by John Milius almost came at a cost to the great man’s health and well-being, as he revealed in the aforementioned book:

“Milius made me do all kinds of terrible shit. I crawled across rocks, grab after grab, until my forearms were bleeding. I ran away from wild dogs who managed to grab me and drag me into a thorny bush.”

Between biting vultures and trying to escape the wrath of dogs, it seems Schwarzenegger didn’t have the best experience with animals while filming “Conan the Barbarian.” However, the incidents did not discourage him from returning for the sequel, “Conan the Destroyer” (which was not directed by Milius, as Richard Fleischer took over the reins for the follow-up). At any rate, Schwarzenegger still wants to make a long-gestating ‘King Conan’ sequelbecause he believes that the fantastic universe of Robert E. Howard has strong franchise potential. But let’s just hope he doesn’t have to eat anything questionable or put his life in danger to make this dream come true.