10 Most Powerful Horror Movie Curses

7. The Darkness (2016)

Densen Uta scream
Universal Pictures

The age-old trope of things going wrong because of an ancient burial ground being disturbed isn’t far off being evoked here. The Darkness sees a curse fall upon a family when their kid takes stones from a sacred Native American cavern.

The curse dictates that anyone who removes stones from the ceremonial ground will be haunted by demons taking the shape of different animals: a crow, coyote, snake, wolf, and buffalo. They believe that demons are connected to the rocks in the caves, and that these demons are able to bond to young children in order to bring about a catastrophic event called The Darkness.

You really can’t blame the kid for not knowing better, but the whole thing could’ve just been avoided if they didn’t let him go rogue wandering about the Grand Canyon. But thanks to their carelessness, they allow for a portal to be opened through which demons can traverse - one that can only be closed if the stones are returned by someone ‘unafraid’.

Surely that’s a trick criteria because there’s no way someone wouldn’t be afraid of a big demon hole appearing in their bedroom wall...

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