True Horrors of Cinema: 8 Cursed Productions and Killer Movies

Rosemary’s Baby

Things were not at peace around and during the time in which Rosemary’s Baby was filmed, and a number of different individuals can, or would have been able to attest to that.

William Castle, who did some amazing things for the genre, and helped to open stylistic doors we still frequent today, produced Rosemary’s Baby. It may have been a mistake. Castle began receiving up to 50 death threats a day. He was tormented, and accused of being an essential weapon of great evil. His health also began to spiral, and continued to do so until his death in 1977.

In Castle’s autobiography, Step Right Up!: I’m Gonna Scare The Pants Off America, he wrote the following:

The story of ‘Rosemary’s Baby’ was happening in life. Witches, all of them, were casting their spell, and I was becoming one of the principal players. [. . .] All my life I had yearned for the applause, approval and recognition of my peers. And when the awards were being passed out, I no longer cared. I was at home, very frightened of ‘Rosemary’s Baby.’

Castle wasn’t the only one who dealt with some nastiness as what may have been a direct result of being involved with the movie.

Composer Krzysztof Komeda did some amazing work for the flick, including gifting us that bone chilling composition “Rosemary’s Lullaby,” but Komeda’s involvement in Rosemary’s Baby may actually have led to his demise.

Months after release, Komeda died unexpectedly of a cerebral hemorrhage. He was 38. He also happened to die in the exact same manner in which Hutch, Rosemary’s friend in the film, died.

Komeda was far from the final victim of the Rosemary’s Baby Curse.

Roman Polanski’s life fell apart shortly after the release of Rosemary’s Baby.

Polanski was happily married to the gorgeous Sharon Tate. The two were expecting a child, a boy. Polanski was in Europe while Tate remained back home in Benedict Canyon in Beverly Hills. She hosted a dinner gathering on the night of August 9^th when Tex Watson, Susan Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkel, and Linda Kasabian, acting on Charles Manson’s orders, broke into the residence, and slaughtered the small group, including the eight-and-a-half-month pregnant Tate.

It remains one of Hollywood’s most infamous crimes, and served as a terrifying public introduction to the insane Charles Manson.

And finally, as if all the death and turmoil we’ve recounted wasn’t enough, Mia Farrow herself suffered a bit during the productions process: Frank Sinatra served Farrow divorce papers while she was on set (yeah, d-bag move there, Mr. Sinatra). As harsh as that is, it seems to be the least damaging sign of doom that permeated this production.

Continue the list on the next page.