Top 10 Creepiest Horror Movie Coincidences

“The Amityville Horror[a]” (2005)
This remake of the 1979 horror classic was plagued by creepy events throughout filming. Loosely based on a true story, it follows George and Kathy Lutz and their three kids, who move into an old house just a year after six gruesome murders took place there. First, the real Kathy Lutz died during the first week of shooting at just 57 years old. Then, a dead body surfaced in the lake next to the property while the cast and crew were filming in the boathouse. According to Ryan Reynolds, several people involved with the film also began waking up at 3:15 a.m., the time when the real murders supposedly took place. The whole experience was no doubt deeply unsettling for everyone involved.

“The Possession” (2012)
Jeffrey Dean Morgan is a self-professed skeptic, but even he was weirded out by the strange things that happened on this set. The movie revolves around an antique wooden box said to house a malicious spirit. Throughout production, bizarre events continually disrupted filming. But that’s not even the strangest part. After the shoot wrapped, the props were put into storage, including the wooden box. Just a few days later, the storage facility burned to the ground. The cause of the fire was later determined to be an accident, but it’s still an extremely eerie coincidence.

“Maximum Overdrive” (1986)
This production must have been cursed. The movie is based on a story by Stephen King, and it’s the only film he ever directed. Not only did he have no idea what he was doing, he later admitted that he was on substances the whole time. Shooting was interrupted when a hurricane hit the set. But the biggest tragedy was what happened to cinematographer Armando Nannuzzi[b]. While filming a scene featuring a killer lawnmower, King insisted on keeping the blades in, even though they weren’t visible in the shot. The mower struck a piece of wood, sending a shard into Nannuzzi’s eye, which was damaged beyond repair. It was a real-life case of a machine seriously injuring someone – exactly what the film is about.

“Resident Evil: The Final Chapter” (2016)
Zombie movies are usually pretty gory, but the injuries aren’t supposed to be real. During filming, Milla Jovovich[c]’s stunt double, Olivia Jackson, suffered a terrible accident. While riding a motorcycle at high speed, she crashed into a crane that didn’t move fast enough. Her face was crushed, and she suffered brain trauma and multiple broken bones. Several nerves were torn out of her spinal cord and her left arm had to be amputated. She spent two weeks in a medically induced coma and later successfully sued the producers. Just three months after her accident, another crew member, Ricardo Cornelius[d], was crushed to death by a Hummer on set. It’s probably a good thing that this was the last movie in the original series.

“Annabelle” (2014)
Plenty of occult enthusiasts think the real Annabelle doll is actually haunted, but what about the replica used for this movie? The cast and crew have good reason to think it might be too, thanks to a freaky occurrence that happened during production. After getting into full demon makeup for the first time, actor Joseph Bishara[e] took the apartment building elevator up to the set. Right behind him was Christopher Shaw, whose character, Fuller the building manager, was eventually cut from the final film. As he and the demon walked down the hallway, a light fixture suddenly fell directly onto Shaw’s head. The really freaky part? In the original script, the demon kills Fuller in the elevator on that floor.

“The Conjuring” (2013)
“Annabelle” wasn’t the only movie in “The Conjuring” universe to have weird things happen during production. Star Vera Farmiga[f] had been researching her character, Lorraine Warren, on the computer before a phone call with director James Wan. When she reopened her laptop immediately after the talk, she found three distinct lines – like claw marks – on the screen. Even creepier, on the day she finished her part in the film, Farmiga discovered three bruises on her leg similar to the marks on her screen. “Annabelle” director John Leonetti also reported finding three claw marks in the dust on a window while prepping a set for shooting that film. [xref] Are we absolutely sure that demon isn’t real?

“Twilight Zone: The Movie” (1983)
This incident was a true tragedy. While filming a scene at night, star Vic Morrow and two young children were killed when a helicopter crashed on top of them. The stunt crew had set off some explosives too close to it, causing the tail-rotor to detach and the helicopter to spin out of control. Worst of all, the kids shouldn’t have even been there. Director John Landis skirted child labor laws to enable them to work at night and around explosives. But what makes this a super creepy coincidence is something that happened nine years earlier. Before filming a helicopter scene in another movie, Morrow reportedly insisted on a million-dollar life insurance policy because he’d always had a feeling he’d die in a helicopter crash.

“The Exorcist” (1973)
An actor dying during production isn’t that unusual, but multiple people connected to the film all dying in a short span of time? That’s weird. Vasiliki Maliaros[g], who plays Father Karras’ mother, died just before the movie was released, and actor Jack MacGowran[h] died shortly after. Both of their characters also die in the movie. Max von Sydow[i]’s brother and Linda Blair’s grandfather also passed away during filming. The set was plagued by accidents and injuries, including a crew member who lost a toe and another who cut off his thumb, plus Blair fractured her spine. On top of all that, a fire burned down the set before shooting even started. The only part that survived was Regan’s bedroom. The cause was never found.

“Poltergeist” franchise (1982-2015)
If I were an actor, I wouldn’t go anywhere near this series. Between the first and third films in the original trilogy, four members of the main cast passed away. First, Dominique Dunne, who plays older sister Dana, was strangled to death by her ex-boyfriend exactly five months after “Poltergeist” was released. Then, Julian Beck, who plays the evil Reverend Kane in “Poltergeist II,” died of stomach cancer just two months after filming wrapped on that movie. About one year after that, the actor who played the Native American shaman, Will Sampson, died from kidney failure at age 53. And star Heather O'Rourke passed away due to a congenital issue four months before the release of “Poltergeist III”. She was only 12 years old.

“The Omen” (1976)
We’d have to make a whole other video to cover all the bizarre things that happened with this movie. For one thing, three different planes were struck by lightning during production, each carrying one of the film’s major players. Far more horrifying is what took place about two months after the movie’s release, on Friday, August 13. Special effects artist John Richardson and his assistant Liz Moore were driving in the Netherlands when they were in an accident. Richardson was mostly unharmed, but Moore was decapitated by a flying tire. The incident bore a disturbing resemblance to a decapitation in the movie. Even more unsettling, it happened right next to a road sign for the town of Ommen[j], which was exactly 66.6 kilometers away.



Which of these coincidences freaked you out the most? Let us know in the comments below.

[b]ar-MAHN-doh nah-NOOT-zee
[c]MEE-luh YO-vo-vitch
[d]rih-KAR-doh kor-NEE-lee-us
[e]JOE-zef bih-SHAR-uh
[f]VEER-uh far-MEE-guh
[g]VASS-il-ih-kee mah-LEE-ah-ross
[h]JAK muh-GOW-ran
[i]MAKS von SEE-dow
[j]OM-men