5 Horror Movies That Were Really Cursed
Most scary movies are just that – movies. But over the years, there have been several movies that have had strange and sometimes terrifying things happen surrounding the production, filmmakers or cast members. If the movies themselves didn’t frighten you, these stories might. Here are five scary movies that were really cursed so BE CAREFUL.
The Exorcist
There were many deaths linked to this film starting with Jack MacGowran, the actor that played the role of Burke Dennings, died shortly before the film release as a result of complications from the flu. Valsiliki Maliaros, the woman that played the role of Father Karras’s mother, also died before the release of the movie at age 90 of natural causes. Lee J. Cobb, the actor that played the role of Lieutenant Kinderman, died three years after the film’s release in 1976 at the age of 64 from a heart attack. Max von Sydow, who played the role of Father Merrin, had a brother that passed away in Sweden while filming the Exorcist. Star Linda Blair’s grandfather died during filming as well. In addition, one of the watchmen on the set of the movie died according to star Ellen Burstyn. Jason Miller who played Father Karras had a son named Jordan that was seriously injured during the filming of the movie when he was hit by a speeding motorbike and ended up in intensive care.
Ellen Burstyn, who played the role Regan’s mother was injured on the set during filming during the scene where she thrown away from the bed. She received a permanent injury to her spine because the harness that was used to shoot the scene pulled her too quickly and she landed on her coccyx when she hit the ground. The scream in the movie is real, it’s not just acting. In addition, there were reports of a carpenter being seriously injured while building the sets for the movie and some reports even claim that another carpenter lost some of his fingers. It doesn’t stop there. One of the sets in the movie literally burned to the ground for no reason. No one was around at the time. It pushed back production on the film six weeks. Call it a festival of coincidences, but it’s clear that if any movie ever made was cursed, this is it.
The Poltergeist Franchise
The amount of curse attached to this movie is endless. Firstly, actress Dominique Dunne who played Dana in the first movie was strangled to death by her ex boyfriend at the young age of 22 only a few months after the movies release. Secondly, Carol Anne herself Heather O’Rourke died suddenly and prematurely at the age of 12 while filming the third installment of the film from cardiac arrest and septic shock resulting from a misdiagnosed case of intestinal blockage. In addition, 2 actors from Poltergeist 2, Will Sampson and Julian Beck also died. Will Sampson was a Native American Shaman and performed an exorcist on the set of Poltergeist 2 to “rid the production of alien spirits”. On set, Spielberg used real skeletons in the original movie because they were cheaper then making fake ones. It has been suggested that this could be the cause of the curse, though that’s obviously just a theory. There was also an incident on set where Oliver Freeling who played little brother Robby was nearly killed when that clown doll chokes him in the movie. The prop malfunctioned and nearly cost him his life.
Rosemary’s Baby
Aside from the fact that the film’s composer died of a brain clot one year after making the film (identically to a character in the film), and producer William Castle suffering kidney failure soon after the film was made (swearing the movie was cursed after crying out “Rosemary, for God’s sake drop that knife” while being treated), this curse is a shocking case of life imitating art. Director Roman Polanski and his pregnant wife had the misfortune of buying a house from record producer Terry Melchor. Melchor rejected Charles Manson’s request for him to produce his album after Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys told Charlie that he could make it happen. Because of this, he ordered the Manson Family to go and kill Melchor – but instead, Polanski’s wife and unborn child along with four others were murdered as the family didn’t know he had moved.
The Omen
The tragedies related to the Omen began when the son of Gregory Peck, who had the lead role, committed suicide two months before filming was scheduled to start. In addition, a crew member was in a car accident but he survived. If that wasn’t enough, the scriptwriter’s plane was struck by lightning, then the exact same plane was struck again only eight hours later with star Gregory Peck and the executive producer of the movie on board . Another big tragedy happened when the crew decided to hire a private plane to use in a couple of scenes. However, their flight had to be postponed because it was needed by someone else. Just after takeoff, something went wrong and the plane crashed onto the runway and into the road , hitting a car which then crashed at high speed into another vehicle. Everyone involved in the accident was killed and it is said to have been the pilot’s entire family in one of the vehicles.
Twilight Zone: The Movie
During the filming of the movie, actor Vic Morrow and two child actors, Myca Dinh Le and Renee Shin-Yi Chen, were killed by a helicopter after a stunt went wrong. In addition, 6 other people were injured. The children were employed illegally, and many lawsuits as investigations arised because of this incident. Even criminal charges of manslaughter were laid against director John Landis and several other crew members, though they were all aqquitted.
