There are certain films that immediately come to mind when it comes to curses. They are the movies that are filled with tragedy and “Did you hear?” stories. The productions are so troubled that the tales of what happened during their making sometimes overshadow the actual movies. The Twilight Zone: The Movie is one of these.
Cursed Films is a docuseries on Shudder that looks at films that some have claimed to have jinxed productions. The Twilight Zone movie may be the most well known of these types of movies. Filled with deaths and accidents, it has continued to live in infamy.
This episode starts off a little differently by looking at the films of the 1970s. It seems like an odd opening. The movie came out in 1983, after all. It does tie into the rest of the show fairly quickly, but it will catch some viewers off guard. Cursed Films does a better job of giving background on director John Landis and star Vic Morrow, however.
Another interesting thing about the episode is how many of the interviewees seem to blame Landis for the infamous on set helicopter accident that resulted in three deaths. This is not new. Steven Spielberg was so upset he ended the pair’s friendship. It is somewhat surprising that many of the comments are based on conjecture and hearsay.
The episode also veers into Tromaville with a talk with Lloyd Kaufman. Troma is known for classics like the Toxic Avengers series. Still, it seems like Kaufman’s inclusion is just to further state how negligent Landis was when filming The Twilight Zone movie.
Cursed Films does its usual good job of digging into the why’s of people’s fears. It is almost human nature to be interested in bad news. The docuseries explores how horror movies tend to feed even more into that feeling.
An episode about the issues on The Twilight Zone: The Movie would seem to be easy. The film is surrounded by death, scandal, and lost friendships. The episode does touch on that, but does not seem to go enough into the “cursed” aspect of the production.
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