Most cursed horror films – freak beheading, tiger mauling and ‘3-fingered demon’

The only thing more terrifying than cult horror films are the chilling things that happened during and after they were filmed.

With sickening murders, gruesome deaths and “demonic presences” – it seemed like something otherworldly was trying to put a stop to them – or at least punish those involved.

From The Omen, Poltergeist, The Exorcist, The Conjuring to Annabelle, the horrors didn’t end when production did. Instead, it only got worse.

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With Halloween approaching, we take a look at the harrowing string of events that led to these films going down in Hollywood history as the most cursed.

The Exorcist

A staggering nine deaths were connected to the 1973 William Friedkin film which portrays the demonic possession of a 12-year-old girl, Regan and her mother’s attempt to save her with two priests.

During production, a series of accidents and spooky incidents struck the cast and crew. A bird flew into a circuit box and burned down the set – eerily Regan’s bedroom remained unscathed.

The first death was Jack McGowran who played Burke Dennings, Linda Blair’s grandfather, who died one week after the release of the movie as well as actor Vasiliki Maliaros who also tragically died.

Actors Linda Blair and Max von Sydow were also plagued by death after they lost family members during filming.

Meanwhile, Blair and on-screen mother Ellen Burstyn both suffered serious injuries during production due to falls on set.

One of the film’s actors, Paul Bateson, played a small role as a nurse. However, after the movie’s release, Bateson was arrested for the murder of journalist, Addison Verrill.

Bateson confessed to the crime, but he couldn’t provide a clear motive for why he committed it. The bizarre and unexplained nature of the crime added another layer of mystique to the already notorious film.

Poltergeist

Poltergeist tells the story of a family dealing with malevolent spirits in their home. Tragically for cast and crew, the entire franchise was dubbed cursed after all three movies were followed with real-life premature deaths.

Released in 1982, many believe the films tampered with real paranormal forces after real-life corpses were used in the first film as props in the infamous “flooded pool”.

Heather O’Rourke, who played the little blonde girl, Carol Anne died at just 12 years of age.

Shortly after the third film was shown in cinemas, Heather fell ill with what doctor’s described as “flu-like symptoms.”

The young actress passed away on the operating table after suffering a cardiac arrest.

Actress Dominique Dunne, who played Carol Anne’s older sister, also met a harrowing demise at 22 years old.

Dominique died shortly after the film was released after she was strangled to death by her boyfriend John Thomas Sweeney, 27.

During the post-production of the Poltergeist’s second film, Julian Beck, who played the evil preacher, died.

Years after the second film came out, in 2009, actor Lou Perryman, who played a construction worker in the film, came to an extremely gruesome end when he was axed to death in his home by an ex-convict.

The Omen

The Omen from 1976 follows the terrifying story of a child called Damien who is believed to be the Antichrist.

The production was marred by a series of bizarre and tragic events which were detailed in a programme called “The Curse of The Omen.”

Just two months after filming the movie, actor Gregory Peck’s son shot himself in the head.

Months later, Gregory, who played the lead role in the film, was hit by a tragedy once again when he set off by plane in September to go to London, when the plane was struck by lightning.

Just a few weeks after that, lightning struck twice but this time it was the film’s executive producer Mace Neufeld who was flying from Los Angeles.

But the scariest incident was a devastating car crash which subsequently took place.

John Richardson, who was the special effects consultant for The Omen, created the iconic death scenes but tragically went on to witness something even more harrowing in the flesh.

One of the scenes John created in the film showed a photographer called Keith Jennings being beheaded as a plate of glass was thrown at home and separated his head clean from his body.

A few months after The Omen was released, John was in Holland working on A Bridge Too far when he and his assistant Liz Moore faced real-life horror.

The pair were involved in a chilling car accident, which killed Liz as she was cut in half by the other vehicle’s wheel, mirroring the scene of Keith’s death.

An animal handler who helped filmed the scenes with the crazy baboons also came face-to-face with death in a horrifying manner after he was mauled and killed by a tiger shortly after filming was wrapped.

The Crow

The Crow (1994) is a supernatural action film with a tragic backstory.

From the very beginning, filmmakers showed up on set to a voicemail message that said that bad things would happen if they made the movie. Before long, the message was right.

On the first day of shooting, an electrician was backing a cherry-picker truck up and hit the high-tension wire on the powerlines above him. He was electrocuted and caught on fire. He survived but lost an ear.

Then, a hurricane destroyed the set.

Most notably, while shooting a scene where actor, Brandon Lee walks into a room to discover his fiance is being beaten and raped, a character named Funboy shoots him.

But nobody noticed or recognised that a dummy round had become lodged in the barrel of the gun. It was then loaded with blank rounds that would simulate gunfire. However, these rounds were enough to force the cartridge that was lodged in the barrel to fire at nearly the same velocity as a real bullet. It struck Lee and he later died at the hospital.

The Conjuring

The 2013 film, based on an evil force taunting the Perron family, turned out to have a curse of its own as things became “demonic” from day one on the set.

It was based on a real-life family, actually called the Perron’s and the real-life demonologists, Ed and Lorraine Warren, who helped get rid of the demons and starred in the film.

When members of the real-life Perron family first visited the set they said they were met by a “fierce” gust of wind.

While the Perrons were being “attacked” by the wind, mother Carolyn was at home and said she felt a presence seconds before she suffered a bad fall.

Not long after that, the cast and crew had to be evacuated from their hotel due to a fire.

The set was reported to be haunted as screenwriters and Lorraine Warren constantly complained of their phones always suffering from static and often went dead mid-call.

Lead actress Vera Farmiga also reported that she felt there was something spooky going on after she opened her laptop on set and claimed “digital claw marks” appeared on her screen and also on her thighs.

Annabelle

The spin-off film to The Conjuring also appeared to be alight with hauntings.

On the day the film’s demonic doll went into its full creepy makeup there was an on-site injury.

Chillingly, as the actor dressed as the doll walked to the green room, a janitor was struck in the head by a lighting fixture in the exact hallway where a janitor is killed in the 2014 film.

Another bizarre similarity between the hauntings on set and in the film was the three-fingered demon.

Director John Leonetti says he discovered a three-finger marking clawed aggressively across a dusty set window – which he says looked just like the film’s demon.

What makes this film’s curse even creepier is the fact it is based on a real-life demonic doll that is believed to be possessed by evil spirits.

The real-life Annabelle is permanently locked up and lives in Lorraine and Ed Warren’s Occult Museum.

The eerie doll even has a sign to warn visitors not to unlock the door – the same as in the film.

It’s reportedly so haunted that a priest has to often visit the museum to bless the doll regularly.

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