Hollywood. We all know it, and we all love it, whether you’ve visited, lived there, or just seen the ever expanding collection of movies to have come from such an iconic place, everyone has a connection to Hollywood, after all, you can guarantee your favourite film came from there and is either stored away in the archives or currently being produced.
Have you ever thought about the other side of this glamorous place? By this I mean, the paranormal and cursed sets, the actors who have become subjects of such stories. Not many people know or have even thought about it, but, it takes you one quick sentence into Google and you’ll find out, it’s not all glitz and glam.
Today, I’ll be talking about just two films, you may or may not have heard of these films, but it will give you an insight into what I mean when I say ‘Haunted and Cursed’. Weather you believe in the paranormal or not, it’s still worth a read, and is, at the very least, food for thought.
Firstly we will be talking about the film; Rosemary’s Baby.
Why would I think this film was cursed? Well, Let me give you the facts and you can decide for yourself. The films composer, Krzysztof Komeda sadly died due to a blood clot one year after the film was made. I know what your thinking, it’s sad to hear but it is just a sad part of life that happens. And I would tend to agree with you, but, coincidence or not, The fact that goes along side this is, a character in the film, died exactly the same way. Like I say, that may just be a bit too much of a coincidence for you, or, you may believe, either way please do read on.
Another point to look at, comes from the producer of the film William Castle.
William became deathly ill as a result of uremic poisoning after the film was made. He swore the movie was cursed after yelling ‘Rosemary, for God’s sake, drop that knife!’ while receiving treatment.
Again, you may still not believe, but this brings us on to our second film, with a bit more to go along side, so do hold your judgment until you’ve finished with this article, then, by all means, come to your own conclusions.
So, our second film, I believe to be slightly more well known, this film, as classic as it is, some people still haven’t heard of it or have seen it.
The film in question is of course, Poltergeist. I will be talking about the original, with the original actors and actresses, not the recent remake.
Now, the title says it all I might here you say, or others may think, it’s a film about a ghost, of course people will believe horror stories surround it, but, bare with me here, and just take in what I have to say and again, please, come to your own conclusion.
The thing that makes poltergeist such an interesting film to look into is that many of the cast and crew believed that there is or at least was a ‘Poltergeist Curse’.
The poltergeist curse was believed to have started due to actual human corpses being used in the film rather then the plastic molded skeletons we all know from our school science classes. Why? May you ask, why would they use REAL human skeletons? Well, in its simplest answer, it was cheaper!
One of the first people to become a victim of this curse was Will Sampson. Will played the Shaman (for those of you who have seen the film.) Will attempted an exorcism following the shooting of the film to try to be free from the curse. Sadly, less then one year later, Will died of complications from a kidney transplant.
Another sad tale to tell comes from one of the two young actresses who played one of the sisters in the film, Dominique Dunn. Dominique sadly passed just Six months after filming, strangled to death by her estranged boyfriend. Unfortunately we have a tale to tell of both of the young girls, the second comes from Heather O’Rouke this sad tale comes while filming the 3rd installment of the trilogy. Poor little Heather passed due to a septic infection due to a bowl blockage.
Now, to you readers, this may still all sound like horrible, terrible, coincidences but please, keep reading, I have a few more stories to tell and then I’ll leave it you.
Another sad loss of life from the film comes from Julien Beck. Julien died in 1985 from stomach cancer. Oliver Robbins, although not totally fatal, it was very close, poor Oliver almost lost his life to a mechanical fault on set. For those of you who have seen the film(s) I am talking about the scene where Robbie (played by Oliver) is being ‘strangled’ by a toy clown. No one knew what was happening, they just thought he was acting brilliantly until they realised he was turning blue and jumped into action.
Another story and our last for today comes from JoBeth Williams, although not fatal, it is however, enough to make you think, JoBeth would return home after filming every day to find her pictures hanging crooked, she would, of course straighten them again, but once she returned home from filming, once again, every picture, crooked.
With all that in mind what do you think? Just ghost stories fabricated over the years to make the mind wonder, or, do hauntings and curses really exist?
RSS - Posts