The Possession (2012)
This movie is about how a cursed Jewish relic attaches itself to the soul of a girl. This demonic possession triggers a series of spooky events... but not only in the movie!
The cast experienced some crazy stuff while they were filming. The light bulbs kept exploding out of nowhere, and at one point, a prop caught on fire and burned to ashes. Also, the relic used in the movie was destroyed.
The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005)
The movie’s lead actress, Jennifer Carpenter, said she saw her radio alarm clock turn itself on repeatedly during the shooting of the film. But this isn't even the worst part!
Every time that happened, the radio would play only one song: Alive by Pearl Jam. Later on, other cast members also reported having heard the same song out of nowhere, so the production crew ended up getting rid of all the radios.
The Conjuring (2013)
The Conjuring follows the story of the Perron family, who was tormented by supernatural entities after moving to a new home in the mid 70s. Some of the Perrons actually visited the set of the film, but the mother refused to do so. Can you guess why?
The woman was convinced that the spirits still weren’t done with them. When her husband and daughters visited the set, strange winds came out of nowhere and a few props mysteriously caught fire. Let's just say she chose to play it safe.
Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983)
During the production of this film, lead actor Vic Morrow was killed. But this isn't even the creepy part! As hard as it is to believe, Morrow had predicted his death less than a year earlier.
The actor had withdrawn $5 million of his life insurance right before joining the film. He told his family and friends that he had had an eerie premonition in his dreams. After filming started, a helicopter crashed on set and decapitated him.
The Amityville Horror (2005)
On this Amityville Horror reboot, filming was delayed when, very close to the set, a dead body washed up onshore. In spite of this, the production crew decided to carry on with the project even though they were pretty shaken.
Later, Ryan Reynolds and other members of the cast and crew started waking up at 3.15 am for no particular reason, and guess what? That was the time in which the murders featured in the film took place in real life!
Poltergeist (1982)
Not only is this is one of the most iconic horror franchises ever, but the tragic stuff that happened behind the scenes are also well-known. Heather O’Rourke, one of the lead stars, died after suffering a cardiac arrest while working on one of the later installments when she was only 12.
What makes this creepy is that her older sister also died during the shooting of the first movie. As if this weren't enough, supporting actress Dominique Dunne was killed by her ex-boyfriend after the movie premiered and the producer died during a surgical operation shortly after.
The Exorcist (1973)
Without a doubt, The Exorcist is the most iconic film of its genre, not only because of its captivating plot, but also because of the events that happened during the production.
Actor Jack MacGowran died unexpectedly just some days after finishing his scenes. After that, an FX worker and a security guard died, too. As if this weren't creepy enough, at one point the entire set had to be rebuilt after it burnt down out of nowhere.
Rosemary’s Baby (1968)
This movie induces a sense of dread and unease, yet without containing any gory or horrifying images. While you're probably familiar with the plot of the film, here's a terrifying behind-the-scenes fact I bet you never knew.
At one point, the producer received a letter that said he was going to die from a painful sickness. A few weeks later, he suddenly collapsed and needed emergency surgery. Apart from that, the musical composer died from a hematoma on the brain after falling down before the film hit the theaters.
Psycho (1960)
While Psycho is one of the most famous films ever made and literally everyone is familiar with its plot, there's a blood-curling behind-the-scenes fact that we were never told. One of Janet Leigh's body double was killed on set.
It was eventually discovered that the crime had been committed by a handyman that was part of the production crew. Allegedly, he killed her to impress director Alfred Hitchcock. Once the truth was uncovered, Hitchcock delivered a rather unusual speech in which he stated that he now felt an even greater motivation to finish the movie.
The Omen (1976)
This movie is about a young boy who seems to be linked to some sort of evil presence, as horrible things happen everywhere he goes. Paradoxically, horrible things happened during production, too!
One day, a crew member almost died in a car accident while driving to the set and the scriptwriter almost crashed his airplane. Right before the film was premiered, several crew members were killed on an airplane accident.
The Crow (1994)
Because of a tragic accident that happened on set, this movie has become a gothic cult classic. Bruce Lee’s son, Brandon Lee, was killed as a result of a prop gun malfunction during a scene.
The actor died because of the wound and the news became trending topic worldwide. To make things worse, the actor's father had died in a similar way twenty years earlier.
The Passion of the Christ (2004)
As crazy as it sounds,The Passion of the Christ's cast and crew were struck by lightning three times while working on set. What are the odds of that happening?
What's even crazier is that during the first two times, the same guy from the production crew was injured. By the third time lightning struck the set, lead actor Jim Caviezel was the one who fell injured, suffering from hypothermia, pneumonia, hypothermia, and a dislocated shoulder as a result of the accident.
The Innkeepers (2011)
Even though this is not precisely a mainstream film, The Inkeepers is one of horror fans' all-time favorites. While director Ti West wasn't bothered by the set's creepy atmosphere, the crew felt uneasy at all times.
Lights would flicker, TVs would turn on and off on their own out of nowhere, and many members of the crew had weird and disturbing dreams throughout the filming. Yikes!
Anabelle (2014)
Once The Conjuring became such a whopping success, director James Wan decided to film its prequel, Anabelle, a movie about a demonic doll. However, the actors didn't know what they were in for...
The crew would constantly find marks on windows during filming. At first, they figured it had just been a dog based on the shapes of the marks, but everyone went nuts upon realizing that the marks had three claws, just like the ones made by the demon from the movie.
The Lords of Salem (2012)
This Rob Zombie movie is about a female DJ who gets tangled up with a group of Satan-worshiping women. The movie was shot at the Linda Vista Hospital in Los Angeles, which, FYI, is not the most welcoming place there is.
When scenes started being shot in the hospital’s basement, people would get sick for no apparent reason. Also, a buzzer from a nearby hospital room would constantly start ringing even though there were no patients or hospital staff.
Return to Babylon (2013)
This movie originated when two directors found a box of 16mm film on a Hollywood sidewalk. Since they never found its owner, they decided to build a plot based on the pictures. However, when they started combining that old footage with their new footage, weird stuff started happening.
Some actors’ faces would become distorted and some weird figures would appear in some of the shots. What is more, there wasn't a single film expert who was able to provide an explanation to all of this.
Skippy (1931)
Strictly speaking, this movie about a boy and his dog isn't really paranormal, but it's still pretty shocking. Obviously, the lead role was played by a young boy and the director struggled working with him.
One time, the actor had to cry for a scene, but it just didn't come off as believable. As a result, the director decided to have the dog dragged off-set and shot. This obviously did the trick: the child cried for an hour and the director finally got the footage.
Ghost of Goodnight Lane (2014)
Even though this horror film was starred by A-list actor Billy Zane, it turned out to be a box office bomb. However, it did leave its mark in the history of the genre because of the supernatural events that took place behind the scenes.
Rumor has it that several crew members saw weird apparitions more than once and one of them was even assaulted by a "ghostly figure". On top of that, the cast was repeatedly haunted by flickering lights and objects falling to the ground.
Alien (1979)
It goes without saying that Alien became a benchmark for horror films to follow. The scene in which that gooey monster bursts out of the man's body is truly embedded in popular culture, and the reason it's so creepy is because the acting is truly authentic. There's a reason behind that, though.
Apparently, John Hurt, who plays the man hosting the monster, was the only one who knew that the alien would burst out of the body. When that happened, supporting actress Veronica Cartwright was so shook that she fainted. Sigourney Weaver, meanwhile, stated she forgot they were even filming a movie.
Apocalypse Now (1979)
While Apocalypse Now is not actually a horror film, we still thought it deserved to make it to our list, and here's why. To begin with, a member of the crew died during filming, and one of its lead actors, Michael Sheen, had a heart attack on-set followed by an epileptic seizure.
It actually nearly ended in tragedy, as Sheen had to travel nearly a quarter of a mile to find a doctor. Because of all the frightening things that happened on set, director Francis Ford Coppola allegedly contemplated suicide.