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.

Max Von Sydow (1929-2020)

We at the Watchers were saddened to hear of the passing of Max von Sydow. The character actor, who was twice nominated for an Oscar, died on March 8th at the age of 90. 

From his frequent collaborations with Ingmar Bergman to big budget blockbusters (via cult classics and one of the most iconic roles in horror), Von Sydow always gave a performance of great presence and gravitas [even where the script didn't always serve him well]. 

Born in Lund, Sweden, in 1929, he made his film debut as Nils the crofter in Alf Sjöberg's Only A Mother (1949). In 1957, Von Sydow began his association with director Ingmar Bergman, and also featured in one of cinema's most iconic (and pastiched) images: as knight Antonius Block who plays chess with Death in The Seventh Seal. This was the first of thirteen films they would make together: others include Wild Strawberries (1957), The Virgin Spring (1960), Through A Glass Darkly (1961), Hour Of The Wolf (1968), and The Touch (1971). 

During the 1960s, he alternated between starring in Swedish films and also branching out into American films, taking the role of Jesus in The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965), Reverend Abner Hale in Hawaii (1966) [opposite Julie Andrews and Richard Harris] and as Oktober in The Quiller Memorandum (1966). In the early 1970s, he appeared opposite Liv Ullman in Jan Troell's sprawling two-part epic The Emigrants (1971) and The New Land (1972), as a nineteenth-century farmer who emigrates to America to start a new life. 

Arguably one of- if not the- best-known role that Von Sydow will be associated with is that of Father Merrin, the older priest who assists to rid Regan of the demon, in William Friedkin's The Exorcist (1973). He was only in his mid forties at the time but thanks to some sterling work by make-up supremo Dick Smith, he looks much older. He was always director Friedkin's first choice for the role and, despite being the titular character, has the least amount of screentime of the main cast. He was also the only main cast member not to receive an Oscar nomination for his performance (Ellen Burstyn, Linda Blair, and Jason Miller were all given Oscar nods), although he did receive a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Nonetheless, his performance is dignified and subtle, when it could so easily have been the opposite. Von Sydow appears in The Exorcist: Part II in flashbacks. 

Throughout the rest of the 1970s, he appeared in various films, including Three Days Of The Condor (1975) as the assassin Joubert, and as a kind-hearted German ship's captain in star-studded war drama Voyage Of The Damned (1976). 

The 1980s provided Sydow with some of his most memorable roles; as Emperor Ming The Merciless in Flash Gordon (1980), Major Von Steiner in Escape To Victory (1981) and as King Osric in Conan The Barbarian (1982). From here, he appeared in the unofficial Bond film Never Say Never Again (1983) and his performance as supervillain Ernst Stavro Blofeld is one of the very few highlights in this unexciting retread of Thunderball. He dipped back into fantasy for David Lynch's Dune (1984) as Doctor Kynes. 

He gave a strong performance as tormented artist Frederick in Hannah And Her Sisters (1986) and finally gained his first Oscar nomination- for Best Actor- for playing a hardworking Swedish immigrant in Bille August's Pelle The Conqueror (1987). His performance as Lassefar is one of only a few to be recognised by the Academy for a performance not in the English language, although he lost to Dustin Hoffman for Rain Man. He is also (as of 2020) the only Swedish actor to be nominated for an Oscar (there have been several Swedish actresses who have). Rounding off the 1980s was an uncredited voice role as Vigo The Carpathian in Ghostbusters II. 

The 1990s saw him in films as diverse as Awakenings (1990), A Kiss Before Dying (1991), What Dreams May Come (1998), and Snow Falling On Cedars (1999). He puts in a chilling performance as devilish shopkeeper Leland Gaunt in the 1993 adaptation of the Stephen King novel Needful Things, and appears opposite Sylvester Stallone as Judge Fargo in Judge Dredd (1995). In 2002, he played Director Lamar Burgess in Minority Report, before taking roles in The Diving Bell And The Butterfly (2007)- after which he wrote to screenwriter Ronald Harwood to thank him for the quality of the script- and Rush Hour 3 (2007). In 2010, he played the potentially suspicious Dr. Naehring in Shutter Island (2010) and appeared as Sir Walter Loxley in Robin Hood (2010). He also provided the voice of Esbern for the video game Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. 

In 2011, he appeared in Stephen Daldry's adaptation of Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close in which he played a character known as "The Renter", a mute old man who rents a room from Oskar's grandmother, and who helps Oskar to negotiate the city as he goes on his quest to find out who the key belongs to. Communicating only through notes and Yes/No written on his hands, it's a nuanced performance in a film that becomes unrelentingly saccharine. Twenty-three years after his first Oscar nomination, Von Sydow received his second (this one for Best Supporting Actor) for this role. However, he lost to Christopher Plummer for Beginners. 

Fantasy and sci-fi were genres in which Von Sydow performed a lot, so it's perhaps no surprise that a couple of his last roles were in these types of film. In 2015, he appeared as Lor San Tekka, an ally of the resistance, in Star Wars: Episode VII: The Force Awakens (appearing briefly at the beginning of the film). The following year, he took a recurring role in HBO's Game Of Thrones, playing the embodiment of the Three-Eyed Raven in three episodes (and garnering a Primetime Emmy nomination into the bargain). 

Critic Vincent Canby once wrote that Max Von Sydow was "one of the cinema’s great underused resources”. Always reliable, always a joy to watch. Always giving 100% even if, as Canby said, the role didn't "come up to his instep". A consummate professional. He will be missed. 

Our thoughts are with his family and friends at this sad time.

Programme 23: The Watchers Halloween Special

The Watchers' Halloween Special

The Watchers Film Show: Ep 23 - Halloween Special from The Watchers Film Show on Vimeo.



We count down our favourite scary movies and Tez reviews Tim Burton's latest movie Frankenweenie.

Enjoy!