20 movies that are supposedly cursed

20 movies that are supposedly cursed Hollywood is full of examples of movies that are thought to be cursed, because of production troubles, ...

20 movies that are supposedly cursed

Hollywood is full of examples of movies that are thought to be cursed, because of production troubles, accidents and misfortunes on set, or strange and terrible events that befall cast and crew members. Whether they’re simply rumours, weird coincidences, or something more sinister, the stories behind these cursed films just might give you goosebumps.

Poltergeist

This 1982 film co-written by Steven Spielberg and directed by Tobe Hooper about a family terrorized by spirits in their suburban home is considered a horror classic. It is also known as one of the most cursed films in cinema history due to four cast members dying soon after the film and its sequels were made. Heather O’Rourke, who played daughter Carol Anne when she was six years old, died at age 12, suffering cardiac arrest during surgery for a bowel obstruction. Dominique Dunne, who played Carol Anne’s older sister Dana, was murdered by a domestic partner in 1982, just five months after Poltergeist premiered. Cast member Julian Beck died of stomach cancer, and another cast member, Will Sampson, died after a heart and lung transplant.

Twilight Zone: The Movie

The last day of shooting Twilight Zone: The Movie was an especially tragic one, when actor Vic Morrow and two child actors, Renee Shinn Chen and Myca Dinh Le were killed on set after a special effects malfunction caused a low-flying helicopter to crash into them. John Landis, director of the 1983 film, and four other men working on the movie were charged with involuntary manslaughter, but were acquitted by a jury after a 10-month trial in 1987.

The Crow

Actor Brandon Lee, son of famed martial artist Bruce Lee, was on the path to stardom until a freak accident on the set of the 1994 film The Crow ended his life. While there are plenty of rumours and conspiracies about how and why the 28-year-old died, the sad reality is that an oversight by an effects tech, who failed to properly check the prop gun before filming, resulted in a round being fired into Lee’s abdomen. At first no one realized the actor had been shot until he failed to get up after director Alex Proyas yelled “cut.” Lee was taken to hospital, but died after five hours of surgery. Digital technology was used to complete the film, and his tragic death was used as a wake-up call for Hollywood to ensure movie sets were made safer.

Rebel Without a Cause

It’s been called “one of the most important American films of the 20th century,” but this 1955 classic gained notoriety due to the untimely deaths of four of its stars. James Dean died at age 24 in a car accident just a month before Rebel Without a Cause opened in theatres. Nick Adams, who played Chick in the movie, died of an apparent drug overdose in 1968. Sal Mineo, who also co-starred with Dean in Giant, was stabbed to death outside his apartment in 1976. Actress Natalie Wood drowned off California’s Catalina Coast in 1981 at the age of 43, and while the death was ruled an accident, questions still remain.

The Conjuring

The fact that this 2013 film about a family who is possessed by demonic spirits is based on the real-life case files of ghost hunters Ed and Lorraine Warren is scary enough, but director James Wan swears unexplainable things happened on set and to the actors. Crew members apparently heard weird noises in the night, or witnessed objects moving on their own. Vera Farmiga, who played Lorraine Warren, kept awaking every night between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m., which was a significant time for the demonic activities in the movie. After she received the script to read, and before filming had even begun, her computer screen was also reportedly damaged with three unexplained scratches.

Quantum of Solace

It seems fitting that anyone playing Bond should be up for some action, but Daniel Craig got more than his fair share while filming the 2008 movie Quantum of Solace. Multiple accidents on set saw Craig suffer bruised ribs, the loss of one of his fingertips, a damaged rotator cuff that led to shoulder surgery, and one particularly hard kick to the face required him to have plastic surgery. Crew members were also plagued by accidents, with one engineer driving one of the movie’s Aston Martin DBS cars into Lake Garda, a stuntman falling from scaffolding and another ending up in the intensive care unit while filming a crash for the film’s opening scene. All of this, plus the film studio catching on fire, has caused many to say the film is cursed.

The Wizard of Oz

The magical 1939 film won two Oscars and is regarded as one of the most influential movies around, but it’s also referred to as one of the most cursed. Many accidents happened on set, including broken wires that resulted in two actors who were playing flying monkeys to plummet to the ground. Betty Danko, stunt double for the Wicked Witch, hurt her leg when the broomstick she was using exploded. Buddy Ebsen, the original Tin Man, was poisoned by the aluminum dust in his makeup and required hospitalization for lung damage just nine days into shooting. When his recovery took longer than producers expected, he was fired and replaced by actor Jack Haley. Needless to say, all of this happened before unions were common for Hollywood actors and crew.

Rosemary’s Baby

The horrible fates and creepy coincidences surrounding those involved in the making of the 1968 horror film Rosemary’s Baby have led many people to conclude it’s as cursed as its impregnated-by-Satan main character. Sharon Tate, the wife of director Roman Polanski, and a background character in the film, was murdered by the Manson family a year after the film’s release. A few months after the movie wrapped, composer Krzysztof Komeda died after falling off a cliff. Star Mia Farrow received divorce papers from then-husband Frank Sinatra while on set, and two of the movie’s producers suffered lifelong health problems. The Dakota, the New York apartment building used as the exterior of the building where Rosemary lived, is the same building where John Lennon later lived, and he was shot right outside.