In the horror genre, there is a tendency to regard certain films as cursed. This title does not refer to the quality of the movie, but more about serious bad luck sustained during production. We are not talking here about little mishaps like lost cameras or costume malfunctions. For a film to be deemed as such, it must have enough off-camera deaths, tragedies, and overall weirdness to make people talk. This is precisely the premise of Shudder’s original documentary series known as Cursed films. In the span of five episodes, we can see why some classic movies gained their reputation as such. It does not matter if you are superstitious or not, this series will make you wonder if evil indeed attracts evil enough to seriously harm the living.
What’s Cursed Films (2020) about?
As its title implies, this series explores all the stories involving tragedies during the filming of cult-classic horror films like The Crow (1994), and The Omen (1976) to name but a few. Each episode focuses on one film and explains the extent of its supposed jinx and how the media as well as fans portrayed it. In between these takes, they usually interview people involved in the production who can offer a first-hand point of view of what happened. Directors, writers, or actors usually demystify many rumors, but, surprisingly, sometimes they confirm it, like the one about using real skeletons in the pool scene from Poltergeist.
Beyond knowing some new juicy backstage info, these interventions have a more honorable intention. They humanize again the people who died during production and remind us that they were more than casualties of a hypothetical curse. The death of Heather O’Rourke or Brandon Lee clearly took an emotional toll on their families and on those who met them on set. The series is very good at putting things into perspective and reminds us they are more than just a capricious death.
On the other hand, Cursed Films also explores why the public tends to latch on so much to urban legends and magical thinking. Experts talk about how humans infuse objects with agency and how these stories help us to cope with the unknown. It sounds morbid but blaming the death of a young actress in the hands of her boyfriend or a tragic accident on cosmical energy is apparently more passable than accepting that life is unpredictable, and often very cruel. All these angles bring balance to a series that, on the wrong hands, could have been a high-production creepy pasta compendium.
Final Thoughts
Fans around the world have always been fascinated by production details regarding their favorite movies. Anecdotes like Viggo Mortensen breaking his foot during that scene in the Lord of the Rings or Tim Curry doing his own Dr. Frank N. Furter makeup are nice pieces of info we just love to share with others over a meal or some drinks. However, sometimes we can lose sight and give the same levity to more serious misfortunes.
We are not saying that having your theories about certain films is bad, but Cursed Films reminds us there is always more to the situation. Without being patronizing, it offers the viewer all the points of view you need to form your own opinion about what could have happened and indeed, some movies were challenging in a more mysterious way.
Cursed Films Season One is available to purchase here.*
*Affiliate Link
More Film Reviews
Regarded by many as Japan’s answer to Brigitte Bardot — both for her glamorousness and vaguely European looks (though, she wasn’t actually mixed-race) — Mari Atsumi became one of… Things Heard and Seen is an unusual, psychological horror film where several tropes are turned on their heads, while the important beats are still captured. Domestic relationships, power dynamics, and… In the summer of 2009, a Korean blogger claimed to have seen a strange creature near Jangsan, a mountain in Busan. The following year, the creature was spotted again. As… Johanna is just twenty years old but struggling with her boring and aimless existence. Disturbing visions start the day she gets fired from her job. Soon Johanna is carried off… Urotsukidoji: Legend of the overfiend is a 1989 Japanese, adult-oriented horror anime film, written by Shô Aikawa and directed by Hideki Takayama. Takayama is well-known as the director of a… An experimental narrative on loss and ghastly visions that hint at sinister forces, The Barn is a dialogue-free short film with a heavy focus on music. Dense on atmosphere, The…
All 6 Films of Mari Atsumi’s Mollusc Series Reviewed – The Cute Devil
Things Heard and Seen (2021) Film Review – Unique Phycological Horror
The Mimic (2017) Film Review – South Korean Urban Legend
Dark Circus (2016) Film Review – The Goths Are Alright
Urotsukidoji: Legend of the Overfiend (1989) Anime Review – Fun For All the Family
The Barn (2021) Short Film Review – Drowning in Raw Chicken
Hi everyone! I am Javi from the distant land of Santiago, Chile. I grew up watching horror movies on VHS tapes and cable reruns thanks to my cousins. While they kinda moved on from the genre, I am here writing about it almost daily. When I am not doing that, I enjoy reading, drawing, and collecting cute plushies (you have to balance things out. Right?)