In 1973, one of the most terrifying films of its time was released in theaters, The Exorcist. There was such commotion over with some of the scenes that many people suffered from fainting and having panic attacks. Some even claimed to have been possessed after watching the movie, which only increased its horrible reputation.
However, the most eerie thing about the movie is not its plot or the scenes, but a supposed curse that, since the beginning of the movie production was said to be true. And this curse has to do with death.
For those who have not seen it, the movie was a real box office success and it’s about the demonic possession of a little girl who gets worse little by little until her exorcism becomes a real challenge for a priest.
It might sound like a superstition thing by the people involved however, it reached such a point in which it’s unlikely that all those affected could have had such bad luck.
During the first day of filming, Linda Blair’s grandfather (Regan) and Max Von Sydow’s brother (Father Lankester Merrin) lost their lives, as if some kind of demonic force was punishing both in order for them not to make the movie.
Of course, this could have been just a coincidence, but odd things continued to happen while making the film such as the tapes appearing completely empty and clean after shooting with them or the loss of focus without anyone touching the camera.
Some of the creepiest things were the sound recordings in which weird noises and even voices that weren’t there while recording, could be heard.
As time passed by, the odd events increased. Incidents with telephones or objects disappearing without anyone to have touched them and even a fire occurred that reduced a large part of the sets for them film. This delayed the making of the movie by 6 weeks, which in terms of filming, it’s a lot of loss money.
Apart from the fact that during all these accidents, it is said that between 4 and 9 people passed away for different reasons, including actor Jack MacGrowran, actress Vasiliki Maliaros and two team workers were confirmed. All of them during the filming period.
This same curse is attributed to the accident Linda suffered in her levitation scene. The harness that was supposed to lift her, broke while they were filming, so she injured her spine which caused her problems for life. It was after this that the rumor of a possible curse began since such bad luck couldn’t be anything else but paranormal events.
For this reason, a priest was hired to bless the place. However, the opposite of what everyone would have thought, the events didn’t end up there.
Apart from the events that took place during the filming, death reached not only the people who were involved but also those close to them. One of the most notorious and disturbing cases was from Mercedes McCambridge’s son (Mercedes played the voice of the devil in the movie). Year laters, he ended up with the lives of his family and his own.
Much has been speculated about this supposed curse and it has become so well-known that many people invited to participate in the following films decided not to and stated publicly this was the reason. Whether the curse is true or not, the fear surrounding the film is for sure, very real.
And do you think the curse is real?