The Possession: Terrifying On Set Incidents Explained

During the filming of The Possession, a 2012 supernatural horror film directed by Ole Bornedal and produced in part by Sam Raimi, some terrifying incidents occurred on set. The movie, parts of which were filmed inside a former mental institution, centers on the demonic possession of Emily Brenek (Natasha Calis) and how her family—her father Clyde (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), her mother Stephanie (Kyra Sedgwick), and her sister Hannah (Madison Davenport)—responds to the crisis.

Jeffrey Dean Morgan, known for his portrayal of Negan on The Walking Dead, told THR about some of the eerie moments during the filming of the movie. Fluorescent lights would explode mid-take, and cold bursts of wind would suddenly sweep over a closed set. “It always happened in the middle of doing key scenes,” he recalled.

The Possessionisn’t the only horror movie that experienced unnerving incidents on set, as reported on Medium in 2018. During the filming of 2005’s The Amityville Horror, for one, actor Ryan Reynolds claimed that he, along with other cast and crew members, would wake up at 3:15 a.m. every day—that’s the same time that Ronald DeFeo shot and murdered his family members. 1973’s The Exorcist saw nine deaths throughout its production; Linda Blair also suffered a breakdown and obtained a permanent spinal injury.

The Possession: Terrifying On Set Incidents Explained

Morgan spoke of even more scary on-set incidents, the creepiest one being after the movie wrapped. After putting props in storage—in case reshoots were needed—the crew’s storage unit burnt to the ground, and the fire department found no signs of arson or electrical causes. The imitation dybbuk box—which, in the movie, contained the demonic spirit that possessed Emily—was among the items destroyed in the fire.

The owners of the real dybbuk box—The Possession is based on a true story—offered to allow its use during filming, but producer Sam Raimi was reportedly too spooked to take the offer, as was Morgan. “I’m very skeptical,” Morgan told THR. “But not only would I not want the box around and to tempt fate, but there were enough weird things going on around our set that I’ve never seen happen on sets before.” Director Ole Bornedal, though, did utilize hundreds of authentic props in the form of live moths. While cursed films in Hollywood are nothing new, it certainly does give cause to wonder whether supernatural horror and possession movies are continually plagued for good reason, accentuating the scares in front of the camera by events that happened behind it as well.

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