10 Spookiest Hollywood Stories And Urban Legends
2. The Curse of Rosemary's Baby
One of B-Movie director William Castle's greatest successes was when he produced Rosemary's Baby. Sadly, Castle was never able to enjoy the film's success as he believed it to be cursed. The director was, of course, a notorious showman who was never shy of an outlandish publicity stunt to promote his films. The Curse of Rosemary's Baby, however, was allegedly left Castle shaken for the final years of his life and career.
The stress and strain of the hate mail he received for making such a satanic film left Castle with kidney stones. Whilst in hospital awaiting their removal, he would hallucinate scenes from the film, pleading for Rosemary to drop the knife. The murder of director Roman Polanski's wife, Sharon Tate by the Manson family is also often linked to the film's 'curse'.
The writer Ira Levin was condemned by the Catholic Church and later spoke of his regret for triggering a Satanic panic in American society. The film's composer Krzystof Komeda fell from a cliff and slipped into a coma from which he never recovered. Castle was so shaken by the experience that he only made three more films before his death in 1977.