REVIEW: ‘Cursed Films’, Episode 3 – “The Omen”

Cursed Films is a Shudder original five-part docuseries written, directed, and edited by Jay Cheel. The series is based on the real-life Hollywood urban legends and horror stories. The series explores the myths and legends behind some of Hollywood’s most notorious cursed horror film productions. The series gives audiences behind the scenes look into stories that legendary among diehard fans and filmmakers alike. some of the most famously troubled productions. The second episode of the series explores the original 1976 horror film, The Omen. A series of unfortunate events haunted the cast and crew. From plane accidents and bombings during the making of the film and raised fears that the film could actually be cursed by the devil.

This episode does a fantastic job of discussing how we as humans are drawn to see patterns that could simply be coincidences as curses. Especially when the subject matter is related to or draws from supernatural and demonic themes it is easy for us as humans to believe something is cursed.

After watching this episode and learning of all of the horrific incidents that occurred to various people associated with the film it is easy to see why so many people believe it is a cursed film. It was also fascinating to learn about all of the details in various accidents that happened to cast and crew members during and after the making of the film. 

For example, after the making of the film, the Special Effects Supervisor John Richardson was involved in an automobile accident that resulted in his fiancee’s decapitation and death. The decapitation replicated a decapitation scene in the movie that involved an automobile.  People believe that the real-life accident was more than a coincidence because it occurred near a place called “Ommen” that was 66.6 kilometers away. 

I also enjoyed this episode’s discussion about evil infections and curses. Doug Cowan, a guest in the documentary, discusses the idea of supernatural infection.  He refers to the 2014 film,  It Follows as an example. On one hand, it easy to look at the film as a metaphor for sexually transmitted diseases. However, on the other hand, it is the idea that evil is an infection vector.

Infection vectors describe how the malicious code is automatically transmitted and how the infection occurs. He goes on to explain that it is a common idea that people believe evil can be passed on from one person to another. nd that we can be affected with.

Another fascinating topic that was discussed in this episode was substantial contact. Substantial contact, as explained by Black Magician Nate Bales, is when movies deal with demonic archetypes there is the potential for all types of phenomena to occur and can affect the those involved with the production. He says that The Omen was an active gateway in its own right since the nature of the film crosses the threshold into darker and dangerous subject matter.

In closing, this episode of the Cursed Films was very thought-provoking and piqued my interest in coincidences and curses. I highly recommend checking it out especially if you are interested in hearing more discussion coincidences versus curses.

Now that I know more details about horrific incidents that occurred during and after the production of The Omen, makes even makes me wonder was the film truly cursed because it crossed the threshold into the demonic subject matter. Or is it just our brains’ way of connecting coincidental patterns and explaining the horrific incidents that happened.

The final episodes in this docuseries on The Crow and Twilight Zone: The Movie, will air April 16, 2020, exclusively on Shudder.