10 Secret Details That Make Horror Movies Even Creepier

This is another film that earned itself a ‘cursed’ reputation following the deaths of multiple people involved in production before the film was even released. Aside from the deaths there were also multiple severe injuries and accidents, including an incident in which Linda Blair (playing possessed young girl Regan) sustained permanent damage to her back.

One name you’re unlikely to recognise from the cast is that of Paul Bateson, who played a radiology technician in the film but also worked as one in real life. He struggled with alcoholism on and off throughout adulthood and following his appearance in the film ended up losing his job as an X-ray tech.

One fateful night he met Addison Verrill, a journalist, at a bar and the two went back to Verrill’s apartment. It was there that Bateson knocked the journalist down and stabbed him to death. He claimed it was not a premeditated crime and that it had no link to a group of similar unsolved murders at the time, but there are people who believe this was not his first kill.

Serial murderer or one-off killer, it still stands that Bateson’s appearance on screen makes things all the more creepy considering how his life would unfold following the film’s release.