Shudder will be bringing more Cursed Films to viewers in 2021

Horror streaming service Shudder announced on Thursday that they have renewed their original hit docu-series Cursed Films for a second season.

Shudder General Manager Craig Engler made the announcement, stating that the first season was the second-most-watched series on the service, and its most-watched documentary ever. The only series to beat out Cursed Films was Creepshow, which debuted in September of 2019. Creepshow was also given a second season, but production has been delayed by the pandemic.

Cursed Films began streaming in April, examining myths and true stories surrounding movies that were “cursed” with accidents, mishaps and even tragedy. The five 30-minute episodes explored The Exorcist, Poltergeist, The Omen, The Crow and Twilight Zone: The Movie.

Each episode included on-set footage, scenes from the films and interviews with cast and crew members, as well as interviews with a self-proclaimed exorcist and a practitioner of black magic. Some of the stories shared were common knowledge, others contained new information (at least to me).

For example, everyone knows that two of the young actors from Poltergeist died tragic deaths. 22-year-old Domique Dunne was strangled by her boyfriend only four months after the film’s release, and Heather O’Rourke died at age 12 after suffering from a parasitic disease, which was tragically misdiagnosed. Her episode is one of the saddest, especially the interview with the director of her final film, Poltergeist III.

Actors in both The Crow and Twilight Zone: The Movie died during filming of those movies. Even though you may know those stories fairly well, the episodes devoted to them are engrossing and emotional. Be warned, the helicopter accident that killed actor Vic Morrow and two children during TZ is shown on film (though you do not see the bodies).

Lesser known were incidents on the sets of The Exorcist and The Omen. Ellen Burstyn suffered a permanent spinal injury during filming of The Exorcist, and there was a seriously creepy accident involving The Omen’s special effects artist John Richardson. During post production, he and his assistant Liz Moore were involved in a head-on car accident on Friday the 13th. While Richardson survived, Liz Moore was decapitated, which was eerily similar to the fate of a character in The Omen.

Writer/Director/Executive Producer Jay Cheel will be returning to helm the second season of Cursed Films, and he indicated that it will also consist of five episodes. Cheel also hinted that the docu-series would be exploring some films outside of North America.

Cursed Films is only available to stream on Shudder, and new subscribers can receive a free 30-day trial by visiting the website and entering the code SHUTIN at checkout.

Season two of Cursed Films is currently in production, and will premier sometime in 2021.

Did you watch the first season of Cursed Films? Tell us what you thought about it in the comments section.