Mini-Countdown: Cursed Movies

There's something about certain types of films that elicit a lot of talk about "curses". Movies which have seen turbulent productions, unexplained on- or off-set happenings, even sudden deaths. As human beings, we seek order and reason, even in the face of seemingly random coincidences. Sometimes, in order to find meaning in chaos, we attribute a supernatural/otherworldly reason. Hence why certain films have been called "cursed". 

This Halloween, here's a countdown of five such movies - including one so cursed, the film has never seen the light of day...

1. The Exorcist (1973)
dir. William Friedkin, starring Ellen Burstyn, Linda Blair, Jason Miller, Lee J. Cobb, Max Von Sydow, and Mercedes McCambridge

There are so many stories of bad fortune attached to the making of this seminal horror film that it could be a full article in itself. It got to the point where William Friedkin asked technical advisor Reverend Thomas Bermingham S.J. (who played the President of the University) to exorcise the set! [Rev. Bermingham did not perform an exorcism, but did give the set a blessing]. But to give you some of the highlights: 

• Ellen Burstyn received a permanent spinal injury, during a scene where she is thrown away from the possessed Regan; the harness was jerked hard and the fall damaged her coccyx. Rumours persist that her scream of genuine pain, as she hits the floor, is in the final cut

• Linda Blair was similarly injured as she was thrown about on her bed in an early scene, when part of the rig broke.

• Vasiliki Maliaros (Karras' mother) and Jack MacGowran (Burke Dennings) both died shortly before the film's release. There were several deaths of crew members as well, including the man who was responsible for refrigerating the set, and a nightwatchman. 

• Paul Bateson, who assists the doctor during the medical scenes, was convicted of the murder of a film critic in 1979, and also confessed to the gruesome murders of six gay men whose dismembered bodies were found in plastic bags throughout (this would inspire the 1980 film Cruising, which was also directed by William Friedkin)

• A mysterious fire razed the MacNeil home set to the ground, apart from Regan's bedroom

• At the Italian premiere at the Metropolitan Theatre in Rome, a lightning strike hit a church nearby and destroyed the 400-year-old cross– which fell to the ground in the centre of the piazza. 

Maybe televangelist Billy Graham was right when he claimed “there is a power of evil in that film, in the fabric of the film itself”?

2. The Omen (1976)
dir. Richard Donner, starring Gregory Peck, Lee Remick, David Warner, Billie Whitelaw, Patrick Troughton, and Harvey Stephens

According to producer Harvey Bernhard, the original idea for The Omen came from an advertising executive named Robert Munger who suggested that a movie about the Antichrist would be cool, but that no one should actually make it because “the devil was at work and he didn’t want that film made.”

The amount of tragedies and bizarre occurrences that took place before, during, and after the film might make even the most rational and level-headed person take pause.  

Prior to filming starting, Gregory Peck's son sadly took his own life. As Peck flew to the UK to begin filming, his plane was struck by lightning. Screenwriter David Seltzer's plane was similarly struck by lightning when he travelled to the set. During filming, the hotel at which director Richard Donner and executive producer Mace Neufeld were staying at was bombed by the IRA. The first day of filming saw two separate car-crashes involving members of the crew (luckily, no fatalities). Terry Walsh, David Warner's stunt double, had to be hospitalised after being badly injured while filming the dog attack scene in the cemetery- despite being properly prepared for the stunt. 

However, one of the most poignant tragedies associated with The Omen didn't happen on set of that film. After working on The Omen- and providing one of the most impressive visual effects with the decapitation of Keith Jennings (David Warner)- special effects designer John Richardson went on to film A Bridge Too Far in the Netherlands. Richardson and his assistant, Liz Moore, were involved in a head-on collision in which Moore sadly died. She was decapitated in the crash. 

3. The Poltergeist trilogy (1982-1988)
dir. Tobe Hooper, Brian Gibson, and Gary Sherman, starring JoBeth Williams, Craig T. Nelson, Zelda Rubinstein, Oliver Robins, Tom Skerritt, and Heather O'Rourke

Mention "cursed films" and the Poltergeist franchise will be soon quickly mentioned. Much like the other films in this countdown so far, the tragedies associated with these films are well-known and (sadly) numerous. 

During the filming of the first film, Oliver Robins (Robbie Freeling) was nearly strangled into unconsciousness when the clown arm that was choking him became extremely tight. Both JoBeth Williams (Diane Freeling) and Zelda Rubinstein (Tangina Barrons) experienced supernatural happenings

There have been a number of tragic deaths associated with this film franchise:

• Dominique Dunne: the 22-year old actress who plays Dana Freeling in the original film was murdered by her abusive, jealous ex-boyfriend in November 1982, less than three weeks before her 23rd birthday

• Julian Beck: the gaunt, imposing Reverend Henry Kane is the major antagonist in Poltergeist II, and the actor who played him- Julian Beck- passed away due to stomach cancer in September 1985

• Will Sampson: the actor who played Native American shaman Taylor in Poltergeist II passed away in June 1987 after complications from heart and lung transplant surgery

• Heather O'Rourke: the actress, who played Carol Anne Freeling in all three Poltergeist films, died in February 1988 at the age of 12 due to complications arising from intestinal stenosis, which was originally misdiagnosed as Crohn's disease

• Lou Perryman: the actor who plays construction worker "Pugsley" in the original Poltergeist was murdered in April 2009

But what could be the cause of such tragedy? Well, one theory is that the franchise was cursed due to the use of real human skeletons in both Poltergeist and Poltergeist II. 

In Poltergeist, JoBeth Williams was not informed that the skeletons that emerge in the swimming pool scene were real until after the scene was finished. When cast and crew members of Poltergeist II realised that several of the cadavers were real skeletons, they insisted on an exorcism which was performed by Will Sampson (who was a shaman in real life).

4. The Conjuring (2013)
dir. James Wan, starring Patrick Wilson, Vera Farmiga, Lili Taylor, Ron Livingston, Shanley Caswell, and Mackenzie Foy

Who says that curses and bad luck can only happen to classic movies? There were more than enough spooky happenings on the set of The Conjuring that even they called for an exorcism on set. 

Based on the real-life paranormal investigation conducted by Ed and Lorraine Warren into the Perron farmhouse in the 1970s, Lorraine Warren acted as advisor to screenwriters Chad and Carey Hayes. Their phone-calls were repeatedly interrupted by strange sounds and static before the line would abruptly cut dead.

This is the film that introduced the creepy doll Annabelle. The "real" Annabelle was known for leaving notes on parchment when there was no parchment around but also attacked someone by mysteriously leaving claw marks on his chest. Vera Farmiga, who plays Lorraine Warren, claims she woke up one morning to find three slashes on her laptop screen.

When the Perron family visited the set in North Carolina, they claimed to have been followed by a sudden, intense gust of wind which did not move or shake the trees. 

5. Atuk

Our final film in this countdown is so cursed... it's never been made. Moreover, it's not a horror film. It's meant to be a fish-out-of-water comedy.

The Incomparable Atuk is a 1963 satirical novel by Canadian author Mordecai Richler in which an Inuit poet travels to the big city (Toronto) and has all sorts of shenanigans. The screenplay makes Atuk Alaskan and the big city New York, but otherwise keeps to the original story. Nothing supernatural, nothing paranormal. 

Here's where things start to get a bit freaky. The lead role was offered to four different actors. All four actors died shortly after entering negotiations to star in the film. 

First up, John Belushi. The Blues Brothers and Animal House star was due to take the lead role, but died of a drug overdose in March 1982. The production entered what may be generously described as "production hell" afterwards but a second attempt to make the film saw Sam Kinison (Savage Dawn, Back To School) offered the role. In April 1992, he died in a drink-driving accident.

After Belushi and Kinison, the role was offered to John Candy. The star of Uncle Buck and Cool Runnings entered negotiations - but had a heart attack and sadly passed away in March 1994. Producers then approached Chris Farley (Tommy Boy, Wayne's World 2) to play Atuk - but he passed away in December 1997 (also of a drug overdose). 

Were not all of this tragic enough, there's an added poignancy to this story. Allegedly, Chris Farley gave a copy of the script to a friend who may have been interested in the role. That friend? Phil Hartman (The Simpsons). In May 1998, Hartman was shot and killed by his wife, who went on to take her own life hours later. 



Are such things as curses real? Who knows... but perhaps we would do well to remember this piece of advice from Hamlet:

There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,

Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.

Happy Halloween, everyone.