If it looks like a curse and wreaks havoc like a curse...is it really a curse or just a gnarly coincidence?
Actors and experts weigh in on the real-life hex that may or may not have plagued The Exorcist cast and crew in this chilling clip from Sunday's new E! True Hollywood Story, which seeks to illuminate a pattern of horrific happenings on scary movie sets throughout history.
"It is strange that movies that have to do with the occult will have spooky or strange things happen to the actors and to the crew," acknowledges horror film expert Kalyn Corrigan, who goes on to explain why The Exorcist is such a stark example of this bizarre—and in many ways heartbreaking—trend.
"Linda Blair experienced accidents," she continues, before the actor (who played the 1973 film's "possessed" lead character, 12-year-old Regan) recounts a handful of the incidents herself. As far as injuries go, Blair remembers feeling "challenged by the physicality" of the role, which called for contortionism in excess and caused her to "fracture [her] lower back."
There were unexplained occurrences too, as Linda recalls. Among the most memorable was a fire that tore through the set mid-way through filming and nearly demolished it entirely. Eerily, the only portion left intact was Regan's bedroom, the site of her possession in the movie.
"A lot of people want to believe more in the curiosity, the dark side, the possibility, could it have been..." Linda notes, describing the public "speculation" that broke out over whether creating a film about a violent exorcism (one based on a true story, no less) could possibly usher in a bout of actual demonic forces. Still, the actor notes there were two sides to the debate.
"Then there were others that were more apt to say, 'No, it was just an electrical short that happened,'" she finishes. So, what do you think?
Hear more from Blair and Corrigan—plus, learn about the boy from Maryland whose story inspired The Exorcist plot—in the full clip above.