The Creepy Tale Of The Omen Curse Will Leave You With Chills

Released in 1976, "The Omen" centers on an American diplomat (played by Gregory Peck) who believes his adoptive son, Damien, might be the antichrist (via Film Daily). The film rides on the coattails of similar box offices successes of the time, including "The Exorcist" and "Rosemary's Baby," so it's not surprising "The Omen" would be just as triumphant at the box office.

Per Screen Rant, the film was written by David Seltzer and produced by Harvey Bernhard. However, the idea came from Robert Munger, an advertising executive and born-again Christian. He warned the crew that by making a film about the devil, they were inviting evil in and that bad things might happen. This was due to Munger's belief that the devil wants to be invisible, and the film's production only supported his belief (via PopSugar).

It was perhaps inevitable for "The Omen" to be cursed. Unfortunate events happened almost immediately, even before production began. Two months before Peck was supposed to be on set, his son committed suicide. Moreover, when he flew to London to start filming, his plane was struck by lightning. Another person who flew to the set also had their plane struck by lightning, and this was just the beginning.

Despite these occurrences and Robert Munger's warning, production continued. According to PopSugar, producer Harvey Bernhard began wearing a cross to set. Still, this did little to prevent the rest of the misgivings that occurred both during and after the filming of "The Omen." Accounts vary, but a plane crash related to the film did happen, and some say it was a flight Gregory Peck was supposed to be on before canceling it (via Screen Rant).

At one point, an animal trainer was brought in to deal with the baboons involved in a zoo scene. That trainer died a day after the scene was filmed due to a tiger attack. Another scene involving trained rottweilers went awry when they began to attack the stuntman, Film Daily reports. According to TheTalko, the special effects consultant on the film, John Richardson, got into a grizzly car accident while he was working on his next film. This resulted in the death of his girlfriend in a similar manner to one of the scenes he had worked on in "The Omen."

Per, The Independent, "The Omen" is far from being the only film that's cursed. Other films that are said to have dealt with unexplained occurrences include "Poltergeist," "Insidious," and "The Conjuring."