Cursed Movies

Curses. They’re seemingly everywhere, and movies aren’t safe. There are many films out there that people believe are cursed for one reason or another. Usually it’s thanks to tragic events surrounding the filming or deaths of people involved. Let’s dive into some of these, shall we?

1. Poltergeist series. It’s hard to talk about cursed films and not bring up possibly the most well known “cursed” movie. A total of four people had died within six years of the initial Poltergeist was released. Heather O’Rourke, who played Carol Anne, died tragically at the age of 12 due to a congenital intestinal issue. Dominique Dunne, who played Dana, was murdered by an abusive boyfriend at the age of 22. These two deaths were the start of the curse rumors. Julian Beck, who played Henry Kane in the second movie, died at the age of 60 from stomach cancer. And finally, Will Sampson, who played Taylor in the second film, passed away from a post-op kidney failure at the age of 53.

While all these deaths are tragic and untimely, there are a few things to keep in mind that make this curse questionable. Julian was already diagnosed with cancer when filming for the second film began. Will’s kidney failure, much like with any organ failure, could be called horrible timing. Heather was suffering with some type of illness during the filming of the series, which was very unfortunately misdiagnosed. And when it comes to Dominique’s passing, while tragic and potentially avoidable, an abusive partner can be unpredictable. On top of that, that still doesn’t explain how other key players in the films weren’t affected at all by this curse.

(If you or someone you know is dealing with something like that, here’s a link to resources if you need it.)

2. Cannibal Holocaust. This one isn’t necessarily cursed in the way you may think it’s cursed. There’s no human death related to it. The reason why people may label this as cursed is more so because of the controversy around this found footage film. During filming, there was actual animal cruelty and death on set. The director, Ruggero Deodato, actually did go to court after the release of the film. The actors who were killed in the movie did go into hiding, which led many to believe that this movie was an actual snuff film. They were forced to come out of hiding for the trial to prove that the director didn’t actually murder them. From my understanding, it does seem that he was charged with obscenity and animal cruelty.

3. The Crow. This movie’s curse has less to do with the movie and more to do with Bruce Lee and his family. The curse reportedly goes back generations. If you know about The Crow, you know exactly what happened to Bruce’s son, Brandon, on the set. In case you don’t, a prop gun misfired and a projectile hit Brandon, causing his death. As far as curses go, this can be easily explained: there was very little budget and a lot of corners were cut. To top it all off, there seemed to be a lot of other things going wrong that caused one setback after another. Moral of the story - don’t cut corners when it comes to even prop firearms.

4. Rosemary’s Baby. I feel like you can’t talk about cursed films without bringing up at least one that involves the devil. Much like the Poltergeist movies, though, this one can be chalked up to just very tragic happenings. Roman Polanski directed the movie, and at the time, he was married to Sharon Tate. If that name sounds familiar, you might be familiar with her killers. She was one of the unfortunate victims of the Manson family, being murdered just one year after the release of Rosemary’s Baby. But that brings up the question, why was this supposed curse lying in wait for an entire year?

William Castle, the producer, suffered from super painful gallstones right after the production of the film. It got so bad that he eventually needed to get a series of treatments and surgeries. This comes down to the fact that enough people get gallstones that it’s hard for me to say that the curse is responsible for this one. And finally, the composer, Krzysztof Komeda, unexpectedly died after falling.

Castle later wrote a memoir in which he states that Rosemary’s Baby is coming true, that witches were now after them. Also much like the Poltergeist movies, this doesn’t necessarily explain how other cast and crew were able to get away relatively unscathed.

5. Superman. Now this one is more of a cursed character rather than a cursed movie. Many of the actors who have portrayed Superman have had some tragic some tragic accidents and even deaths. Now, the thing is, plenty of people have portrayed this character since the 1940s, so of course some died and some are still alive and well.

This curse starts with George Reeves. He had played the hero in a film and then a show titled “Adventures of Superman.” Because so many people saw Reeves as the character, it became increasingly difficult for him to find any other work. This seemed to contribute to a deep depression. The official story states that he shot himself one night, but since this was a huge Hollywood scandal there are theories of coverups.

The other big tragedy related to the character comes to us from Christopher Reeve. He played Superman throughout the 1970s and 80s. Eight years after he last portrayed the hero he was thrown from a horse and was severely injured. He became paralyzed from the neck down. But he was able to get back to directing and acting until his death in 2004.

There seemed to be other occurrences, but it seems to be to lesser degrees from being diagnosed with mental illness to just being a minor car crash. Things like that.

So what do you think? Any that you buy? Or can all of these just be chalked up to tragic coincidences?