Image via Complex Original
When it comes to movies, hauntings and curses are usually saved for the scripts. But in the spirit of Halloween, we've decided to look into some of the real myths about supernatural occurrences that have surrounded film sets and plagued productions.
Expectedly, a lot of the stories surround horror films, but not all of them (unless you consider Tom Selleck's mustache to be horrifying). From crazy audience reactions during screenings of the The Exorcist to radios playing Pearl Jam on their own during the filming of The Exorcism Of Emily Rose, we're taking a look at 8 Movies That Were Cursed. Proceed at your own risk.
Written by Tanya Ghahremani (@tanyaghahremani)
8. The Exorcism Of Emily Rose (2005)
While shooting theis 2005 demonic possession flick, per the actress' own reports, star Jennifer Carpenter's radio kept turning on in the middle of the night, playing one part of the Pearl Jam song “Alive” (specifically, the part that goes, "I'm still alive" over and over). Seems creepy in theory, but we’re pretty skeptical. It was either a ghost who was nostalgic for '90’s rock, or Carpenter needs a new radio. And maybe a new station preset, preferably one that clearly isn't on auto-playlist mode late at night.
7. Three Men And A Baby (1987)
OK, this one's pretty far-fetched, but also a hoot. As can be seen in the above clip, a figure can be clearly seen in the background, by the window. Somewhere along the line, a little urban myth popped up about the figure, stating that it was the ghost of a boy who had died in the house they were filming in, and that he was caught on camera because even ghosts want their 15 minutes of fame.
Which could all be true. Or, more logically, a cardboard cut out of Ted Danson. Either way, not that freaky. Now, the crazy facial hair in this movie? That's the really scary part.
6. The Omen (2006)
In 2006, during production of the Omen remake, director John Moore lost about two days' worth of footage due to a broken camera. Sounds pretty normal, but Moore doesn't see it that way. He attributes the malfunction to an evil spirit, because apparently the broken camera kept displaying the error message "Error 666". When a repairman looked at the camera, he insisted that such an error message number doesn't exist. Cue!
Maybe some spirit was just pissed they were remaking yet another horror remake. It was probably a commentary of sorts on the lack of originality in Hollywood these days; thus, it was a protest! Power to the people!
5. The Crow (1994)
This one's the stuff of tragic cinematic lore. Brandon Lee (the son of Bruce Lee, who also died at a younage; he was 33) met an untimely demise during the filming of The Crow when a dummy bullet actually fired from a prop gun and hit him in the stomach. He was only 28 years old.
Apparently, someone in production had wanted the film to look more real, but didn't know that the bullet would end up dislodging and actually kill someone. What makes this whole situation pretty eerie is the fact that, apparently, Lee believed his family was cursed, because his grandfather had pissed off some Chinese businessmen back in the day.
4. The Omen (1976)
The craziness surrounding this movie didn't really happen on set, but the incident is insane enough to merit a spot here. In 1976, on a Friday the 13th, no less, the set designer from the film, John Richardson, and his assistant, Liz Moore, were involved in a car accident in Holland. Richardson survived, but Moore wasn't so lucky - she was killed by decapitation, much like one of the movie's characters—a death that was designed for the film by Richardson himself.
Even crazier, a sign nearby the crash site read, "Ommen, 66.6 KM". Chills.
3. The Amityville Horror (2005)
Not too long before filming of the 2005 remake of The Amityville Horror began, the body of a fisherman washed up on the shore of the set. Terrible, yes, but not terribly creepy...yet. Next, star Ryan Reynolds reported that he kept inexplicably waking up at the same time his character did in the movie, and since he's clearly not the "method acting" type, that's especailly weird. Also, the man that Reynold's character is based upon, George Lutz, dropped dead four weeks before the film premiered.
The easiest explanation, of course, is to cite weird coincidences. But considering that the film is based on a book that itself is based on a supposed real-life haunting, we're not so sure. Maybe someone was pissed that Reynolds was cast in the title role, because his performance is the worst.
2. The Exorcist (1973)
Widely considered to be the creepiest movie of the ‘70s, The Exorcist also apparently had the creepiest movie set, too. Many of the stories that surround the film aren’t confirmed, though, because some people associated with production discount them while others affirm them. But for the sake of cinematic folklore, we’re going with it.
For starters, nine people died during the film's production; you’d think after the fifth person, they might have been inclined to just say “shut it down” and go home. Apparently there was a fire that destroyed the set, and during screenings of the film, people had strange reactions such as fainting and vomiting. One woman miscarried. Death tolls rose in Georgetown (which is where the movie is set) after the movie was released.
Well, "disturbing" doesn't begin to cover it.
1. Poltergeist (1982)
Behold the epicenter of movie curse myths. The Poltergeist film franchise has so much shit surrounding it, you've got to wonder why anyone ever agreed to be in any of the sequels. Since the original's 1982 release, a handful of people from each of the three films met an untimely demise at some point after the film's release: 22-year-old Dominique Dunn's murder, 12-year-old Heather O'Rouke's death by septic shock, and 53-year-old Will Sampson's kidney failure.
People speculate that the reason the films are "cursed" is because allegedly real skeletal remains were used during the pool scene of the first film, but we're not really buying that.
Creepy addition: Actress JoBeth Williams said that, during filming, she would always return home from set every day to find the pictures hanging on her walls crooked. She would straighten them, only to have them crooked again when she returned home the next day.
How's that for art imitating life?