10 Things You Didn’t Know About Death Wish 3

A special edition Blu-ray of 1985’s Death Wish 3 was at the top of my wish list for many years. That wish finally became a reality thanks to Scorpion Releasing.

Scorpion’s Death Wish 3 release did not disappoint either. In addition to a new 2K scan from the original interpositive, the Blu-ray contained the type of bonus features you’d expect from a special edition release.

With most of the key players from the film no longer with us, Scorpion Releasing turned to Charles Bronson aficionado and author, Paul Talbot, to provide a commentary track chock full of behind the scenes information and details. There is also an interview with The Giggler himself, Kirk Taylor.

The information I learned from these special features served as the source material for this post as I present 10 Things You Didn’t Know About Death Wish 3…

1. Shooting for Death Wish 3 began on April 19, 1985 in New York. In early May the production would move to London. In total, the shoot lasted 47 days.

2. In London, shooting was done on property owned by St. Thomas Hospital that was in the midst of a major renovation. All the interior shots in Death Wish 3 (including the police station, the apartments, the hospital) were filmed in an abandoned hospital building.

3. Death Wish 3 marks one of the rare times director Michael Winner used sets instead of practical locations. A 60 man crew worked for 11 weeks to construct the “neighborhood set” on the land where several of the hospital buildings had already been demolished at the St. Thomas site. 

4. The main villain of the movie was originally supposed to be a Latino character named Alex Perez. Ultimately the part went to Gavan O’Herlihy and the character was no longer a Latino as a result

5. Speaking of O’Herlihy, the scene where O’Herlihy’s Manny Fraker returns to his gang and kills Hector to re-establish himself as the gang’s alpha male had to be cut down to avoid an X rating. The scene originally included a close up of the knife going into Hector’s throat and blood spurting. 

6. There were several deleted scenes in the movie that have apparently made their way to some of the TV cuts of the film. Some of the deleted scenes included a meeting between Richard Shriker (Ed Lauter) discussing the crime statistics with the District Attorney, the police confiscating a Doberman Pinscher that one of the residents had for protection against the gang and Paul Kersey (Charles Bronson) using an old mattress as a punching bag as part of his workout routine.

7. Deborah Raffin, who played Kathryn Davis (public defender/Paul Kersey’s love interest in the film), was at one point a neighbor of the Bronson Family in Vermont. Raffin was close with Bronson’s wife, Jill Ireland, and the two would often go horseback riding together. To prepare for her role as a public defender, Raffin shadowed an actual Los Angeles public defender.  

8. The young actor who plays “The Kid” in Death Wish 3 was actually a street dancer that was discovered by Michael Winner in New York and given the part in the movie.

9. Michael Winner, who edited Death Wish 3 under the pseudonym Arnold Crust, actually edited the film at his home where he had a full edit suite. Winner’s home was only a mile away from Death Wish 3’s London set. 

10. In his interview on the Blu-ray, Kirk Taylor (who played The Giggler) told a story about how Michael Winner was not pleased with Taylor’s tardiness one day. However, Winner did not hold a grudge. Winner actually called Stanley Kubrick, who was in London casting for his film Full Metal Jacket, and put in a good word for Kirk, helping Kirk get the role of Payback in Full Metal Jacket.