Whether you are a agency believer in Hollywood curses, likelihood is in some unspecified time in the future you truly had goosebumps when listening to tales about eerie stuff taking place in film units. It’s the rationale why a few of these movies are literally legendary.
Part of what made them fashionable comes from gossip and issues the media invented. It’s so simple as that. In truth, the city legends are so engraved in our tradition, the Mandela impact can truly take the reins of your recollections and make you bear in mind movies due to creepy issues happening round them, and never since you bear in mind the movies themselves. Some of them are classics, no matter how they grew to become so.
Horror streaming service Shudderlaunched Cursed Films in 2020. The sequence immediately gained consideration because it promised a deep dive on these legends, and it could absolutely attempt to “solve” no matter mysteries there have been. The first 5 episodes have been good, but felt incomplete. They explored classics, but additionally classics of the “cursed films” discourse. However, author/director Jay Cheel(of Film Junk Podcast) had an opportunity to go deeper with extra obscure movies in season two, launched in 2022. And boy, did he ship.
We went on a binge with Cursed Films to investigate if the sequence truly touched floor on the legends surrounding these movies, or in the event that they have been higher produced content material about information we already find out about. Check out how they stack up, and stick round for a number of surprises.
10/10 The Exorcist and a Vulgar Display of Power We Didn’t Need
The very first episode is definitely its weakest. It’s a doc on already-known information, very quick interviews, and the pointless combine with actuality to make us study in regards to the impact of The Exorcist. It felt a bit awkward, identical to that dreadful documentary that William Friedkin himself directed, The Devil and Father Amorth. The tales in regards to the set of The Exorcist are well-known by now, and Cursed Films sadly would not provide something new.
9/10 Rosemary’s Baby and a Creepy Association
What occurred across the manufacturing of Rosemary’s Baby isn’t as creepy because the affiliation individuals made with the notorious Manson Murders. In this episode of Cursed Films, such affiliation is pressured and works up to a degree, however ultimately, the movie in regards to the start of Satan is powerful sufficient to be legendary by itself. There was no must capitalize on a criminal offense we’ve heard sufficient about. The bit in regards to the significance of William Castle is an effective addition to this episode, nevertheless it feels incomplete.
8/10 The Wizard of Oz and the Horrors of Filmmaking
Discussing the actual manufacturing of Wizard of Oz is when Cursed Films begins being extra a sequence about tough productions than truly cursed movies. From toxic make-up, to precise legends about deaths on set, make for a proving level of including the Victor Fleming traditional to the present. It’s additionally the saddest episode because it goes deep into the Judy Garland drug dependancy concern. The bit about collectible VHS tapes is simply hilarious and insanely fascinating for movie buffs.
7/10 Twilight Zone: The Movie and Deathly On-Set Negligence
It was inevitable to return to the John Landis manufacturing that may finish in a jury trial. The episode is an emotional journey to the previous when units weren’t secure like immediately. The photographs of the solid truly passing away are insufferable to look at. However, to name Twilight Zone: The Movie a cursed movie due to what occurred is simply an excessive amount of. It’s time to name issues by their title.
6/10 The Crow and the Accident That Should Never Have Happened
The unintended homicide of Brandon Lee within the set of The Crow is difficult to revisit on this well-produced episode of Cursed Films. As emotional because it will get, it’s an important cautionary story on a difficulty Hollywood wants to know and adapt itself to. Otherwise, these accidents will nonetheless happen simply prefer it occurred just lately with Rust. The episode properly doesn’t go for the ridiculous hyperlink between “the curse of Bruce Lee” and the loss of life of his son.
5/10 The Omen and a Crew That Should Have Seen the Signs
Things get creepy. Really, actually creepy. The Omen director Richard Donner participates within the interviews and sheds gentle on some obscure incidents associated to the movie. This is without doubt one of the episodes that we’re certain sparked up the thought of the present’s idea. Deaths, deaths, and extra deaths are a part of an aura that now makes The Omen scarier and extra legendary than earlier than.
4/10 Poltergeist, Mala Praxis, and a Hollywood Secret Revealed
The “Curse of Poltergeist” is definitely a factor, and it’s deconstructed on this quick episode about information we will recite by reminiscence. However, issues get fascinating as a story of manufacturing greed sheds gentle on the debacle that was Poltergeist III. Its director, Gary Sherman, is given the chance to discuss Heather O’Rourke (Carol Anne within the movie franchise) and the medical mistake that brought on her loss of life. Also, the episode solutions the query — have been actual skeletons used within the movie productions? Yes. But was Poltergeist the primary?
3/10 The Serpent and the Rainbow and the Crew That Had to Run for Their Lives
The Serpent and the Rainbow was a movie manufacturing “ruined” by a movie crew touring to a location they merely didn’t perceive. The Wes Craven-directed movie wasn’t pretty much as good because it may have been, and maybe the reason being revealed on this thorough doc in regards to the shoot. If there was a movie that might have been cursed by somebody, that is it. Plain and easy.
It was nice to see Wade Davis (the real-life Dennis Alan, principal character of the movie) sharing his opinion of The Serpent and the Rainbow. He makes us a believer in one thing that may’t presumably be true.
2/10 Cannibal Holocaust and Unnecessary Realism
Yes, Ruggero Deodato is unmistakably a tough director who pushed to make the controversial movie Cannibal Holocaust unnecessarily reasonable. That’s fairly apparent from the movie itself. However, this episode’s deep dive into discovered footage movies and advertising and marketing ideas is fascinating sufficient to maintain you hooked. It’s fairly clear that Cannibal Holocaust wasn’t cursed, and maybe its legacy has extra to do with excessive filmmaking than with an excellent movie.
1/10 Stalker and the Painstaking Production of a Masterpiece
This episode is a phenomenal lesson in cinema and the eagerness that it causes. The Andrei Tarkovsky movie Stalker is mysterious sufficient to make you dumbfounded, however how the movie was completed can also be an enigma that maybe you’ll start fixing with the perfect episode of Cursed Films. This is probably the one one within the sequence that can immediately make you need to watch the movie it depicts.
Both seasons of Cursed Films are streaming on Shudder.