CURSED FILMS (2020)

Cursed Films (2020)
Directed by: Jay Cheel

CURSED FILMS (2020)
Directed by Jay Cheel
A Shudder Original, available on Blu-Ray

If you’re a fan of horror cinema, then you’ll no doubt have heard of the mutterings of cursed productions overs the years. Here, in CURSED FILMS, a five-part documentary series looks at five different movies from yesteryear who’s legend and mythology of on-set and off-set misfortune tars the production to this very day.

The five films up for discussion in the mini-series are Poltergeist, The Exorcist, The Omen, The Crow and Twilight Zone: The Movie. Most of these movies involved a death of a member of the crew or stars of the film which only further fuelled the rumours that some malevolent energy was at work.

Whilst each episode discusses the accidents, incidents, darkness and deaths tied to the respective movies, what I found interesting is how the filmmaker Jay Cheel of CURSED FILMS has reached out to other sources to give their input into the perception and subject matter of the films and how that might have influenced the rumour-mill. In Poltergeist, we look at the idea of real skeletons used in the movie. For The Exorcist and The Omen, links to the church, exorcisms, religion and the devil are investigated to see whether playing with demons and the devil was a wise pursuit to follow. With The Crow and Twilight Zone, we get a deeper insight into the making of the movies, the thought-process and approach before the unfortunate deaths of the stars on each respective film.

Guests sharing their experience of the films include Blumhouse‘s VP of Development, Ryan Turek, Fangoria editor Phil Nobile Jr.,  stuntman and actor Kane Hodder, and even Mr Troma himself, film director Lloyd Kaufman, alongside those who actually worked on the movies themselves, like actor Michael Berryman. Actress Linda Blair provides a bit of an insight into working on The Exorcist whilst other crew members share their experience of working on the movies and the tragic events that occurred around them. Whilst not too in-depth, these 27 minute approx. episodes give a nice bite-sized insight into the movies and their ‘curse’, with the associated crew sharing their interpretation of the public’s hysteria over their productions. Whilst the cursed legacy of The Omen is more detailed on the special features of The Omen DVD itself, CURSED FILMS dips into the whispers and interviews people involved with the film, including director, Richard Donner, who provides plenty of background in a concise manner.

Insightful for anyone with an interest in movies, and eye-opening to see how unfortunate circumstances played into the hands of the ‘cursed’ label, CURSED FILMS is a fascinating, eye-opening watch that not only provides respectable accounts and explanations behind many of the on-set incidents and tragedies, but also looks at why the public may have perceived these films as being fodder for ‘evil’ interference.

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