SkovandOfMitzae
Active Member
- Apr 17, 2022
- 257
- 76
- 36
- Country
- United States
- Gender
- Male
- Faith
- Christian
- Marital Status
- Engaged
I’ve watched cursed films 1 and 2. Ultimately everything had to do with either personal mistakes someone made or just coincidence. You can find things that went wrong with tons of films. None of it has to do with actual supernatural curses though. No more than the same bad stuff that happens to billions of people a year.What concerns me is the stuff that happens to the cast of scary movies.
The Exorcist
The Exorcist is probably the most well-known "cursed" film of all time — and with good reason.
The 1973 flick famously follows the demonic possession of a little girl, but its horror-story production has become as legendarily scary as the movie itself.
Max Von Sydow's brother died on the first day of filming - one of many deaths associated with the filmCredit: Kobal Collection - Shutterstock
A freak fire burned down the set being used as the family home at the heart of the story when a bird flew into a circuit box.
In a creepy twist, the only part to survive the blaze was the bedroom where the exorcisms are performed in the film.
The crew even called in a real Jesuit priest, Thomas M. King, to bless the set after the incident.
But arguably the biggest reason people believe the film is cursed is the number of chilling deaths associated with its cast.
Jack MacGowran and Vasiliki Maliaros, two actors whose characters die in The Exorcist, both died in real life soon after filming was finished.
Jason Miller, right, narrowly cheated death when he was struck by a motorcycle during the making of the filmCredit: Kobal Collection - Shutterstock
And even the stars were affected — Linda Blair's grandfather died during the shoot and Max Von Sydow's brother died the first day Max was on set.
Jason Miller, who played Father Damien Karras, had a brush with death too when he was hit by a motorbike during filming.
The Omen
Just two years after the nightmare of The Exorcist, filming began on The Omen.
The film follows the nightmare of Damien Thorn — an adopted boy who turns out to be the antichrist.
Harvey Spencer Stephens in The Omen (1976) - his antichrist character, Damien, became an icon of horror cinemaCredit: Alamy
Claims the film was "cursed" began two months before filming began in 1975 when lead actor Gregory Peck's son, Jonathan, shot himself dead.
His plane was then struck by lightning, which is an unfortunate and unlikely occurrence in itself.
But then executive producer Mace Neufeld’s plane was also struck in a completely separate incident during filming.
They'd also planned to hire a plane for aerial shots in Israel, but the airline switched the planes at the last minute.
That proved to be a lucky escape, as the original plane crashed on takeoff soon after, killing everyone on board.
But the chilling incident that really cemented The Omen's cursed reputation came in a horrific accident after filming wrapped.
Gregory Peck in The Omen's famous decapitation scene - which would have a horrific real-world recreation in the same year the film was releasedCredit: Alamy
Special effects designer John Richardson, who designed the famous decapitation scene, was in a car crash while sculptor Liz Moore was in the passenger seat.
Richardson survived the smash, but Moore was decapitated.
He even claimed that when he stumbled out of the car, he noticed a road sign saying he was 66.6 kilometres away from the town of Ommen.
The crash took place on 13th August 1976... Friday the 13th.
Poltergeist
Poltergeist (1982) follows the story of a family home being overrun with evil spirits seeking to abduct their young daughter.
The supernatural horror was accused of being cursed as revenge for the film's inclusion of real human remains.
Poltergeist (1982) - Heather O'Rourke stars as a young girl being lured by malevolent ghostsCredit: Alamy
In one scene, the actress JoBeth Williams is dragged into her family's swimming pool.
As she tries to get out, she bumps into decaying corpses and skeletons.
"I assumed that they were prop skeletons made out of plastic or rubber," Williams said.
"I found out — as did the whole crew — that they were using real skeletons, because it’s far too expensive to make fake skeletons out of rubber."
JoBeth Williams spent days filming in a muddy pool filled with real human skeletons that she didn't know were real until afterwardsCredit: Alamy
There were several disturbing deaths associated with the movie — including that of Heather O'Rourke, who delivered the film's most quoted line: "They're here!"
She shockingly died in 1988 aged 12 after suffering cardiac arrest and septic shock.
And 22-year-old Dominique Dunne, who played O'Rourke's character's older sister, was strangled to death by her ex-boyfriend just four months after the film was released.
Many years later, in 2009, Poltergeist actor Lou Perryman was hacked to death with an axe by an ex-convict who stole his car.
Heather O'Rourke died suddenly at the age of 12 after starring in Poltergeist IIICredit: Alamy
The Crow
The Crow (1994) was supposed to be the film that would be the big break for Bruce Lee's son, Brandon.
But Brandon was infamously killed in one of Hollywood's most notorious on-set freak accidents.
The 28-year-old plays a murdered rock musician who returns from the dead to avenge the rape and killing of his fiancée as well as his own slaying.
Brandon Lee starring in The Crow (1994), the movie in which he was tragically killed during filmingCredit: Alamy
Just over a week before the film was finished, Brandon was involved in a scene where another actor had to fire blanks at him from a .44 Magnum.
A dummy bullet from a previous scene was lodged in the barrel of the prop gun without anyone realising.
When the blank round was fired at Brandon, it shot the dummy bullet at him with virtually the same speed as a live round.
Brandon was hit in the abdomen and, despite six hours of emergency surgery, Brandon died on the operating table.
But Brandon's death wasn't the only terrifying accident on set.
Brandon Lee's death was one of several disturbing accidents on the set of The CrowCredit: Alamy
On the first day of shooting, an electrician on a cherry-picker hit power lines and caught on fire.
He survived, but suffered third degree burns and his ears had to be removed.
Shortly after, a hurricane destroyed The Crow's backlot.
With Brandon's family's permission, the film was ultimately finished with a rewritten script and CGI — but it's considered one of the most cursed movies of all time to this day.
Upvote
0
