by Tanishtha KotianBuzzFeedBuzzFeed Staff I'm not a huge horror fan because the sight of a creepy doll is enough to keep me awake for months. I love reading about paranormal experiences, but watching it is where I cross the line. Tap to play GIF Tap to play GIF Giphy When I found out that there were some really terrifying and cursed events happening behind the scenes AS WELL, I completely flipped out. And now I refuse to be in any room alone and by myself. So to enlighten you too, here are 12 cursed stories from movie sets, which, honestly, scare me more than the actual movie: Disclaimer: There are mentions of death, accidents, and sensitive topics in the following content. Reader discretion is advised. 1. The Exorcist (1973) was believed to be a cursed film due to the number of freak accidents on set and the deaths that followed the release of the film. (C)Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett Collection Regarded as one of the greatest horror movies of all time, there were quite a few disturbing and creepy events that took place while filming and after the release of the film. A fire had broken out on the set that was used for the home of the possessed character, Regan MacNeil. The fire started when a bird flew into a circuit box, and the entire set was almost completely destroyed-except for Regan's bedroom-the room where the exorcism was performed in the film. Apart from the fire, several cast members injured themselves while shooting the film. Actress Ellen Burstyn, who played Regan's mother, injured her lower back while performing a stunt. The wire that pulled her across the floor was pulled too hard, causing her to land on her back. This incident had left her with a long-term injury. (C)Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett Collection The main star of the film, Linda Blair, who played Regan MacNeil, sustained a spinal injury during a scene while thrashing around as she was levitated. This incident left her with scoliosis and chronic pain. The most bizarre incident, however, was the series strange deaths, as Ellen Burstyn says. She revealed that nine deaths occurred during the course of the film. Linda Blair's grandfather passed away; the assistant cameraman's wife had a baby that passed; the man who refrigerated the set passed, and the janitor who took care of the set was shot and killed. Actor Jack MacGowran, who played Burke Dennings in the film, passed away in New York a week after he filmed his final scenes. 2. The Poltergeist set was victim to technical mishaps and tragic deaths following the film's release. (C)MGM/Courtesy Everett Collection This classic horror film was a production that experienced eerie happenings on the set, along with tragic deaths following the film's release. When JoBeth Williams' character, Diane Freeling, falls into a half-empty pool of skeletons in the movie's climactic moment, it turns out that the skeletons weren't made of plastic-they were real human skeletons. The actress revealed in 2022 that she wasn't aware of this fact until she met some of the special effects team members a few years after the film, and found out the truth. Additionally, technical mishaps on the film almost led to actor Oliver Robins being choked by the mechanical doll. The extended arm of the doll was around the actor's neck and almost choked him, until someone saw and pulled the actor away from the doll. (C)MGM/Courtesy Everett Collection But the most tragic part of the film is the deaths that followed. Dominique Dunne, the 22-year-old actress who played Dana Freeling, was murdered by her abusive ex-boyfriend in 1982. She was removed from life support five days after the attack. And the most unexpected death was that of Heather O'Rourke, who played Carol Anne Freeling, the youngest child in Poltergeist. She died due to an intestinal obstruction from an undiagnosed intestinal stenosis in 1988. She was 12 years old. 3. The Omen's creepy on-set story includes lightning strikes and deaths mimicking the ones from the film. (C)20thCentFox/Courtesy Everett Collection The Omen had some of the scariest and most bizarre incidents that had the cast and crew on guard at all times.
Starting with the lightning phenomenon: Gregory Peck, the lead actor, and David Seltzer, the film's writer, both took flights around productions on two completely different days-and both flights were struck by lightning. The freakiest incident, however, was the death of the SFX supervisor of the film. In the film, characters Robert and David are investigating more into Damien's character, and in a freak accident, David gets beheaded by a truck. Eerily, the SFX supervisor who created the beheaded figure of David later met with a car accident in which another person was, unfortunately, killed and beheaded just like the figure in the film. (C)20thCentFox/Courtesy Everett Collection Moreover, during a scene at the zoo, where the animals sense the presence of evil in the car and attack it, the animals seemingly lost control. After a non-featured scene was done fil