Over the last handful of years has been a one-stop shop for great horror genre content. One of the most popular shows on the streamer has been Cursed Films. The series recently got renewed for season 2 and now Shudder has released a new trailer teasing film fans what to expect from the upcoming season.
Season 2 is another “five-part documentary series which explores the myths and legends behind some of Hollywood’s notoriously ‘cursed’ horror film productions.” This season the show is focusing on The Wizard of Oz, Rosemary’s Baby, The Serpent and the Rainbow, Stalker, and Cannibal Holocaust. The trailer starts off by setting up the eerie mood of the new batch of episodes showing behind-the-scenes footage from each of the films along with some reenactment pieces. “When people look at films that are super beloved, and then they hear stories about the difficulties or tragedies that happened on set they then go on to ascribe that production as a ‘cursed film’.”, is said by one of the people being interviewed. Then the trailer quickly breaks down each of the films individually.
We see more behind-the-scenes photos from the Oz set, the original poster for Cannibal Holocaust, a film slate from The Serpent and the Rainbow, behind-the-scenes photos from Stalker, and raw footage from the set of Rosemary’s Baby. Then we see some more teases of the people being interviewed like Bill Pullman who starred in Wes Craven’s The Serpent and the Rainbow. Pullman talks vaguely about some unsettling things that happened before his co-star Paul Gulifoyle added, “supposedly the voodoo priest had put a curse on me”.
The footage then moves into The Wizard of Oz where someone says, “one of the munchkins hung himself. It wasn’t even noticed at the time of the release. This takes us to Rosemary’s Baby where one person says, “William Castle’s(producer on the film) kidney stopped working. He was convinced he saw the reflection of the devil in the surgeon’s knife.” This transitions us into a part in the trailer where they talk about the theory of if you make a “wicked movie” you open yourself up to dark forces. It is a superstition that is still respected to this day with films like The Conjuring having a priest on set for any needed protection.
All the films in this new season have dark spider webs that lead back to tragedies like Charles Manson murdering Roman Polanski’s wife actress Sharon Tate or musical legend John Lennon’s murder. In the final portion of the trailer we see more behind-the-scenes images and footage of each of the productions which includes stills of star Judy Garland, open crypts, and something bursting into flames. The trailer ends with someone who looks to be Polanski saying, “Was this film cursed? I don’t know. It’s all a part of the myth.”
The first season of Cursed Films was a great look into not only the world of filmmaking, but also an eye-opening dissection of the deep tragedies of some of Hollywood’s most beloved films. There was just so much fascinating insight from both the filmmakers and film journalists interviewed for the series. That made this show a must-watch for horror lovers and non-genre fans alike. With heavy hitters like The Wizard of Oz and Rosemary’s Baby, Season 2 looks to have the same effect on its audience. Many film fans have heard horror stories about most of these productions over the years and, like the trailer states, this series will once again separate the legend from the truth. Cursed Films Season 2 premieres on Shudder April 7, 2022, and it was written and directed by Jay Cheel. You can view the full trailer down below.
via Collider