Horror movies have a reputation for being unlucky, and some are even said to be "cursed,"
that's all cute to say, but when those curses lead to actual fatalities, it's not very "cutesy"
anymore.
It's never great when an actor passes away, but on the heels of a horror film the whole
thing feels extra creepy.
Dominique Dunne
Poltergeist is a classic tale of people who live in a house built on a cemetery, who are
haunted by toy clowns, partially eaten by trees, and sucked into intra-dimensional closets.
In other words, it's a clear metaphor for life in American suburbia.
Anyway, the Poltergeist franchise has been linked to so many fatal illnesses, homicides,
and other tragedies that most people have lost count, and the first was Dominique Dunne,
who played the haunted family's teenage daughter.
Dunne was strangled by her ex-boyfriend in 1982, the same year Poltergeist debuted in
American theaters.
Sadly, It was her first and only big-screen role.
Heather O'Rourke
The star of the original Poltergeist franchise was Heather O'Rourke, the adorable little
girl who got sucked into her closet and then ended up inexplicably inside a television
set.
O'Rourke starred in three Poltergeist movies before passing away suddenly at the age of
12, just before the last movie in the trilogy was released.
According to The LA Times, O'Rourke had an undiagnosed "intestinal stenosis," a severe
bowel obstruction that led to infection and septic shock.
Doctors said O'Rourke's condition had been present at birth, so in other words, way before
the Poltergeist curse and probably not supernatural in origin.
Still, the timing was a little bizarre, which is probably what gave the whole curse thing
its legs.
Julian Beck
The scary evil preacher in Poltergeist 2 wasn't quite as iconic as the terrifying, terrifying,
terrifying clown, but he still registered at least a 9 on the creep-o-meter and for
many people is the most memorable element of the film.
"Are you lost sweetheart?"
Julian Beck, who portrayed the preacher, passed away during post-production, thus proving
once and for all that no one should ever be in a Poltergeist movie, ever.
Except he was actually terminally ill during filming the sunken eyes, the yellowish skin,
and the skeletal frame that helped make the character so terrifying weren't special effects,
they were symptoms of late-stage cancer.
Beck was diagnosed with stomach cancer years before Poltergeist 2 premiered.
So his passing was no great surprise to anyone, and therefore not the result of a curse.
Jack MacGowran
The Exorcist is one of the most terrifying films of all time, and it was also associated
with a ton of bizarre incidents, including a fire that burned down most of the set, and
a lightning strike that took out a 400-year-old cross on church grounds - directly across
the street from where the movie was premiering.
According to The Guardian, the film was also associated with the tragic loss of nine people,
from the night watchman to a special effects professional.
Most notably, actor Jack MacGowran, who played Burke Dennings, succumbed to complications
of influenza during the 1973 London epidemic.
That's not an uncommon way to go, but MacGowran passed away right around the time of the premiere
and eight people followed him, including actress Vasiliki Maliaros, who played Father Damien
Karras' ailing mother.
Bela Lugosi
Actor Bela Lugosi was best known for playing horror villains.
He tried to land other roles, but his Hungarian accent was limiting in an era when audiences
thought all central European accents were Transylvanian.
In 1956, Lugosi shot some test scenes for Ed Wood, who you might remember as the Golden
Turkey Award-winning "worst filmmaker in history."
But just after that, the actor succumbed to a heart attack, and Wood was left with just
a few minutes of footage.
Wood inexplicably decided to turn the shots into a feature length zombie flick called
Plan 9 from Outer Space, and he also put aliens in it because, hey, everyone loves aliens.
There was so little Lugosi footage available that Wood hired a double to fill in for his
deceased star and made him walk around with a cape over his face.
That's the story of how Bela Lugosi became the post-mortem star of the worst movie of
all time.
Aaliyah
Singer Aaliyah had just finished filming Queen of the Damned when she was involved in a plane
crash in the Bahamas.
According to Billboard, the plane was carrying more passengers than it was certified to carry,
it was overloaded by about 700 pounds, and it was operated by a company that wasn't licensed
in the Bahamas.
The pilot had recently been in trouble for possession of crack cocaine.
Investigators believed the plane crashed simply because there was too much weight, which led
to the pilot losing control.
Ultimately, Aaliyah's untimely death wasn't due to any kinds of supernatural forces, but
a tragic case of human error.