3 Famous Films With Cursed Movie Sets

By: Keith Mitchell w/Chestpoundfilms

Are you superstitious? Do you believe in ghosts? Demons? Curses? Even if you don’t, you’ll still enjoy this next one. In this next entry with Chestpound’s film blog we examine some of the most bizarre string of coincidences that occurred during the making of 3 Famous Films With Cursed Movie Sets.

Poltergeist:

Attached to the Poltergeist Trilogy, is a rumored curse, a common problem for horror movies around that time. It’s similar in the way that every modern horror movie today is based on a true story. Hell, growing up the neighborhood kids personally led me to believe that every wooded forest I lived by had sightings of The Blair Witch. No wonder the only “real” camping trips I had were about 40 yards from the house.

In the six years, between the releases of the three films, four cast members died. This sparked the popular rumor that, "All of the 'child stars' from the Poltergeist films died suddenly within a few years of the films."(Although, Oliver Robins is still alive.) Or the other extreme version: everyone who appeared in these films died. Which is false.

However, there were tragic ends...

Dominique Dunne: A 22 year old, played the eldest daughter in the first Poltergeist 1982. About 5 months after the release of the film, Dunne ended her abusive relationship with a Los Angeles chef, John Sweeney. Just before Halloween, October 30th, Sweeney decided to drop by and try to rekindle things. Unfortunately, things didn’t go so smoothly, and Sweeney later found his hands tightly clasped around the throat of his ex-girlfriend for what was later discovered to be 4-6 minutes. Panicked, he fled the scene, leaving Dunne in a coma, which eventually led to her death, November 4th, 1982 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.

Julian Beck: A 60 year old, played Harry Kane in Poltergeist II: The Other Side 1986. He was diagnosed with cancer, and after 18 months of battling, he passed away on September 14th 1985 at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York. This was between the time period of the filming and the release of the movie.

Will Sampson: A 53 year old who played Taylor the Medicine Man in Poltergeist II, died on June 3rd, 1987 in a Houston hospital. He had received a heart-lung transplant 6 weeks prior, and passed as a result of post-operative kidney failure, as well as pre-operative malnutrition problems.

Heather O’Rourke: Age 12, who played Carol Anne in all three films, died of septic shock, February 1st 1988 at the Children’s Hospital in San Diego. Believed to have been sick with the flu, Heather fell into cardiac arrest during a drive to the local hospital. After successfully restarting her heart, she was flown by helicopter to the Children’s Hospital for operation. O’Rourke had bacterial toxins that were freed into her bloodstream by bowel obstruction. She passed away on the operating table.

It was believed that the curse was caused by the real skeletal remains that had been used on set during the filming, or the possibility that a fictional entity could actually come to life given enough energy, similar to The Phillip Experiment of 1972.

Not to mention, actress JoBeth Williams claims to have returned home after being on set, to find the pictures on her wall askew. She’d straighten them, only to find them crooked again the next day.

That’s pretty creepy...

The Exorcist:

The movie that sparked people to leave the theaters in tears, vomiting, and even fainting during every showing, is no surprise to have been accompanied by a curse that supposedly lingered on set during its making.

Based on the largely successful novel of the same name by William Peter Blatty, The Exorcist 1976 became a very successful movie during its release.

There were reports linking the film to somewhere between 4-9 deaths (many which aren’t confirmed), as well as a string of unexplainable accidents that seem to happen on set, even causing William Freidken, the director, to call in a real priest for mitigation.

Throughout the filming, many claimed to have felt a presence in the air. There was constant tension, as everyone just wanted the film to be done with. There were several electrical problems. Even a fire mysteriously destroyed the set while no one was there. This caused a six week delay in production.

Jack MacGowan, who played Burke Dennings, died prior to the film’s release on January 30, 1973 due to flu complications at the age of 55. Coincidentally, his character also died while being left alone in the room with the possessed girl.

Ellen Burstyn, the woman that played the mother of the possessed girl (Linda Blair), permanently injured her spine during a scene where she was thrown away from her daughter. Somehow, the harness she was using unfastened itself and Burstyn fell on her coccyx. Her reaction to the pain was kept in the film as it felt more believable.

The Exorcist is said to be based on a true story, specifically, the exorcism of Roland Doe, a young boy living in Cottage City, MD in 1949.

The Omen:

The one movie that would earn our number one spot, if this were a countdown, would be The Omen – released on June 6th, 1976 (in other words, 666). The production behind this movie has some chilling tales. There was even a documentary created specifically for its curse.

The beginning of the long string of events occurred when Gregory Peck, the star that agreed to play the lead in the film, received a call that his son had killed himself just a few months before the start of production. The incident had a lasting effect on Peck, and would later reflect a scene in the movie where he was to kill his own son. Still devastated by the incident, Peck set off on a flight to London in September, when his plane was struck by lightning.

But that was just an isolated event right? Peck may have just been unlucky. At least, that’s what executive producer, Mace Neufeld, tried to convince himself, while boarding on his flight from Los Angeles to London.

But lightning struck twice. Neufield’s plane was also struck by lightning, making both flights to London to have experienced such a rare occurrence. "It was the roughest five minutes I've ever had on an airliner," says Neufeld.

After the casting of Damien, the production crew scheduled to begin shooting the film in October, 1975. It had only been a few weeks of rocky production, and talk amongst the crew was already stirring; some believed there might be something supernatural at work.

In November, another incident occurred that would shake the entire crew. The hotel that Neufeld and his wife were staying in was bombed by the IRA. The two were nearly caught in the blast as the bomb went off just moments after they had exited.

By this point spirits were wavering, and so Gregory Peck invited everyone out for dinner as a way to recollect. Then, literally minutes before they had arrived at the restaurant, it too exploded in a fiery blast of heat.

It was becoming a common thing, vital members of the crew skipping deaths in a way similar to Final Destination. But nonetheless, filming was finally completed in January, 1976 and the crew began to believe that maybe the series of bad events had ended.

However, sadly, the misfortune didn’t end there. In the movie, there’s a beheading scene caused by a sheet of glass being launched from the back of a truck. A year after the release of the film, the man who designed the sequence, John Richardson, had a fatal car accident on Friday, August 13th.

Driving late in the night, on some back-road in Holland, accompanied by his assistant, Liz Moore, a head on collision occurred, sending the car’s front wheel slicing Liz Moore’s frame in half. She died instantly; meanwhile, Richardson was in critical condition.

When he regained consciousness, his eyes locked onto something that sent chills down his spine, an old mile post opposite of the accident, along the route to a road called OMMEN, read 66.6 km.

The movie went on to become a success, and the talk of the curse trailed along with it.

But maybe all these events could have been a bizarre series of coincidences. For example, while writing this blog, internet connection in my area mysteriously went out for several hours, causing a delay in the release of this article. A coincidence right?

After all, tragedy is a numbers game, the more you play, the higher you have of hitting the jackpot...

Then again, maybe, just maybe there is more to mere coincidence - something deeper, something sinister at work here.

We’ve all had those bizarre experiences of feeling something unnatural. Those strange coincidences that you shrug off but deep down the possibility of something more lingers in the back of your mind. Think about it. Coincidence? You decide.

Happy Halloween.