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♪♪♪

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♪♪♪

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♪♪♪

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♪♪♪

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- My name is Mace Neufeld.

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I'm a feature
and television producer,

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and I was executive producer
of "The Omen".

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Omen came about because
a friend of mine,

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Harvey Bernhard, came to me
with the idea of doing

10
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a story about the devil child.

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- The curse attached to
The Omen is an interesting one

12
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because it kind of almost seems
self-inflicted in a way.

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They had a religious advisor
named Robert Munger on set,

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who I think - before mostly
anything had begun - had said,

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if you're going to be dealing
with this subject matter,

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the devil, you're inviting
the devil into this,

17
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and bad things are going
to happen.

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- [Screaming]

19
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- There are some people that
say "The Omen" was cursed

20
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because of the subject matter
of a child...

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as, um, the Antichrist.

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Robert Munger, the minister
who came up with the idea,

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thought Satan's greatest trick
is to remain invisible.

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The film was trying
to make him visible,

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and so that's why Satan
was trying to stop the film

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from being made.

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- In the very beginning,

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when we were first setting up
the process

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of shooting the film in England,

30
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Munger told us

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we were treading on
very thin ice;

32
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that the Antichrist
would do everything

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not to have this picture made.

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Um, for me that was in one ear
and out the other.

35
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In the beginning, Gregory Peck
was coming to England

36
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and his plane was struck
by lightning.

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That was scary.

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Then, David Seltzer was coming
over - the writer -

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just a few days later,

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and his plane was struck
by lightning.

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- Two planes carrying
two crew members,

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both being hit by lightning
on the way to set

43
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is pretty spooky.

44
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- Also, Gregory Peck was
supposed to be on a flight

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that he cancelled,

46
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and then the plan apparently
crashed

47
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and killed everyone onboard.

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- The plane took off,

49
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hit a flock of birds,

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crashed at the end of the runway

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and into a... a road

52
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and hit a station wagon.

53
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And in the station wagon

54
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was the wife
and the two children

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of the pilot of that plane.

56
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They had dropped him off.

57
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- There were a lot of strange
things happening

58
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that you could call cursed.

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The IRA at that time was,
in 1975,

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was very active in London.

61
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We're staying at a hotel on
Piccadilly opposite Green Park.

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My wife and I were walking out
of the hotel

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when suddenly there was a...

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massive boom.

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They'd set off a bomb a block
and a half away.

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We were booked to go
into Scott's Restaurant,

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and they blew up the restaurant.

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As these things began to happen,

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we all became very wary.

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Woman: Welcome to Windsor
Safari Park.

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- We shot in a place called
Windsor Safari Park,

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and there was a sequence
with baboons.

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Woman: Keep all car windows
closed.

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- Suddenly the car that Lee
Remick was driving stalled.

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She couldn't get out.

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And Lee Remick
is trapped in a car

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being attacked by baboons.

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Lee was really terrified,

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[Screaming]

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and it shows in, in that scene.

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[Screaming, baboons bark]

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[Tires squeal]

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We shot this at an animal park.

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One of the handlers
at the park was killed.

85
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- The animal handler on the show

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was eaten by a lion...
allegedly.

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- Lions or a lion ate
the zookeeper.

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- Not during the filming,

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but close to the filming.

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- When we left, and he was
securing the place, he left...

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his cabin door open or something

92
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and the lions attacked
and killed him.

93
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- Another report said
it wasn't a lion,

94
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it was a tiger.

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- After the making of the film,

96
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our special effects supervisor,

97
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John Richardson,

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had an automobile accident.

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Um...

100
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And his fiancée...

101
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was decapitated.

102
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- The accident replicated
a decapitation in the movie.

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[Loud crash, glass whooshes]

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[Glass shatters]

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- [Screaming]

106
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- People said it happened...

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- Near a sign...
- That said, uh, "Omen."

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- Omen.

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- O-M-M-E-N.

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- 66.6 kilometres.

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- But these things that happened

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around the making of the film

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seemed to be more than
coincidental.

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That's the best way
I can put it.

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- With movies that deal
with demonic archetypes...

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- Three sixes.

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- there's definitely
the potential

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for all types of phenomenon.

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The production for these movies,

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they start to make
what you would call

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a substantial contact
with these forces.

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They start to distill them

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into the atmosphere,

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the production,

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also into the individuals

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that are involved in
the production.

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Those sensitive to these forces

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notice the little glitches

129
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and the matrix of things like...

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consecutive plane flights

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getting struck with lightning.

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Absolutely, the film "The Omen"

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was, was, no doubt,

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an active gateway
in its own right.

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- I'm Michael Correll.

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I'm known on the internet
as Uncle Birch.

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Uh, I'm a witch.

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Some people think that

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if you just don't believe
in this kind of stuff

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you can't be harmed by it.

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We call those targets.

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That person won't be protecting
themselves.

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They won't have any spiritual
protection

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and when everything goes wrong
in their life,

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they won't try and fix it.

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And then it's like, yeah,
it's like a virus,

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like a festering virus.

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It gets worse and worse
and worse with time.

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- Who is it?

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- I went and saw "It Follows"

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And, you know, the story is...

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this sort of unknown evil
follows you

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after you've had sex.

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- And get rid of it, okay?

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Just sleep with someone
as soon as you can.

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Just pass it along.

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- I mean, it's really easy
to read that

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as sort of a really shallow
kind of a metaphor

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for sexually transmitted
diseases.

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But on the other hand,

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why get rid of the idea...

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of evil as an infection vector?

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Because the idea of
supernatural infection

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is really common.

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This idea that we can have evil
passed on to us

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and we can somehow be tainted
with it.

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- Ungh!

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- [Speaks in foreign tongue]

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[Harsh exhale]

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[Growling hiss]

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- To talk about curses
you have to define

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what is a curse.

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Some of the earliest curses

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are found in Egyptian
execration texts,

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or in Mesopotamian rituals,

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or in biblical texts.

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Curses often come as part
of what's called a covenant.

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A covenant is sort of like
a contract

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between a superior party
and an inferior party

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and there are curses in
these contracts.

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What's gonna happen to you
if you don't do it?

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If you look in the Bible,

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it can be animals
that are cursed,

184
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it can be people
that are cursed,

185
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it could be places
that are cursed.

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- Cursing was quite widespread
in antiquity.

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We have lots of examples

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and lots of phenomena
about cursing.

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One of these phenomena
is narratives.

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So these are stories of
figures like Jesus or prophets

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or other holy men cursing
somebody else -

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striking them dead,
striking them blind.

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We also have tomb curses
or grave curses.

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- [Reading] "Death... eternal
punishment for...

195
00:09:34,704 --> 00:09:37,751
anyone who opens this casket."

196
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Good heavens,
what a terrible curse!

197
00:09:44,148 --> 00:09:47,108
- In ancient texts,
curses were pronounced, so...

198
00:09:47,195 --> 00:09:48,413
it was premised on the belief

199
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that words had creative power.

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Pronouncing the curse

201
00:09:53,984 --> 00:09:56,160
will have an effect in
the real world.

202
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Just by speaking something,

203
00:09:58,162 --> 00:10:00,164
you could make something happen.

204
00:10:01,513 --> 00:10:03,646
- The occult colours
mainstream life

205
00:10:03,733 --> 00:10:05,735
in ways that we rarely suspect.

206
00:10:05,822 --> 00:10:07,911
Lots of people in public life,

207
00:10:07,998 --> 00:10:11,132
probably in the same measure
as those in private life,

208
00:10:11,219 --> 00:10:13,656
are interested in divination,

209
00:10:13,743 --> 00:10:15,702
tarot, dream interpretation.

210
00:10:15,789 --> 00:10:17,878
- We've come to have our
fortunes told.

211
00:10:17,965 --> 00:10:19,967
Can you really read the future?

212
00:10:20,054 --> 00:10:22,099
- I will not disappoint you,
my lady.

213
00:10:22,186 --> 00:10:23,797
- There are people today

214
00:10:23,884 --> 00:10:25,712
in different parts
of the United States

215
00:10:25,799 --> 00:10:28,453
and other parts of the world
who will still pay somebody

216
00:10:28,540 --> 00:10:31,761
to curse a troublesome neighbour

217
00:10:31,848 --> 00:10:35,417
or to curse a love partner
who jilted them.

218
00:10:37,985 --> 00:10:39,334
- In this day and age,

219
00:10:39,421 --> 00:10:41,858
witchcraft's huge,

220
00:10:41,945 --> 00:10:44,121
folk magic's huge.

221
00:10:44,208 --> 00:10:46,515
We got hoodoo, we got voodoo,
we got Konja.

222
00:10:46,602 --> 00:10:49,736
There's all kinds of different
magics out there.

223
00:10:51,041 --> 00:10:53,174
I've been a witch my whole life.

224
00:10:53,261 --> 00:10:56,438
I talk to spirit just like
I talk to you sitting here.

225
00:10:56,525 --> 00:10:58,788
It's just this is normal to me.

226
00:10:58,875 --> 00:11:02,357
And some people out there
are just -

227
00:11:02,444 --> 00:11:05,534
I will even say - are just
so out there,

228
00:11:05,621 --> 00:11:06,927
I can't believe it.

229
00:11:07,014 --> 00:11:17,024
♪♪♪

230
00:11:17,111 --> 00:11:25,119
♪♪♪

231
00:11:32,256 --> 00:11:34,563
- Black Magician.

232
00:11:34,650 --> 00:11:37,131
Yeah, absolutely,
Black Magician.

233
00:11:37,218 --> 00:11:38,741
You know, it's not filmmaking
that I do,

234
00:11:38,828 --> 00:11:41,831
and it's not necessarily
just vlogging.

235
00:11:41,918 --> 00:11:44,399
It's doing black magic,

236
00:11:44,486 --> 00:11:47,619
performing as crazy and
out-there rituals as I can.

237
00:11:47,707 --> 00:11:49,186
Just kinda pushing the envelope

238
00:11:49,273 --> 00:11:50,884
further and further and further,

239
00:11:50,971 --> 00:11:53,887
for myself and documenting
that for video.

240
00:11:57,717 --> 00:11:59,893
Three, two, one, go.
[Claps]

241
00:12:01,982 --> 00:12:04,245
Hey, guys. It's E.A. Koetting.

242
00:12:04,332 --> 00:12:06,595
Is it possible for a film set

243
00:12:06,682 --> 00:12:08,771
or a film production
to be cursed?

244
00:12:08,858 --> 00:12:10,599
From a Black Magician's
standpoint,

245
00:12:10,686 --> 00:12:12,079
this is a tricky question

246
00:12:12,166 --> 00:12:14,603
because, for the most part,

247
00:12:14,690 --> 00:12:16,997
in order for there to be
an actual curse,

248
00:12:17,084 --> 00:12:18,912
you have to have somebody
on the other end of it

249
00:12:18,999 --> 00:12:20,827
pushing that curse -

250
00:12:20,914 --> 00:12:22,785
another Black Magician

251
00:12:22,872 --> 00:12:26,484
that's trying to harm somebody
through that curse.

252
00:12:26,571 --> 00:12:29,966
For example, Satanists
who might not like films

253
00:12:30,053 --> 00:12:32,273
mocking their religion.

254
00:12:32,360 --> 00:12:35,450
- There was some watered-down
versions of Satanism.

255
00:12:35,537 --> 00:12:39,193
It could be that the Satanists
didn't like that portrayal.

256
00:12:40,542 --> 00:12:42,849
- After spending a week
searching for these people,

257
00:12:42,936 --> 00:12:45,155
I finally met their leader.

258
00:12:45,242 --> 00:12:47,505
As he explained his beliefs
and methods,

259
00:12:47,592 --> 00:12:50,682
I realized I was dealing
with a maniac.

260
00:12:50,770 --> 00:12:52,772
- There was a time,

261
00:12:52,859 --> 00:12:54,512
especially back when those
movies were coming out there,

262
00:12:54,599 --> 00:12:56,123
that Satanists were concerned
with some PR work.

263
00:12:57,907 --> 00:12:59,822
- In the making of "The Omen",

264
00:12:59,909 --> 00:13:02,216
I got a lot of crackpot threats.

265
00:13:03,783 --> 00:13:06,568
One of these terrible letters
I've gotten

266
00:13:06,655 --> 00:13:09,963
said my blood will run
on the streets

267
00:13:10,050 --> 00:13:12,487
for doing what I did.

268
00:13:13,923 --> 00:13:16,883
- Since we're talking about
films being cursed,

269
00:13:16,970 --> 00:13:18,885
we're gonna do a practical
experiment

270
00:13:18,972 --> 00:13:22,236
and see if we can curse a film
that's in production.

271
00:13:22,323 --> 00:13:23,977
It's one of the most unique
feelings

272
00:13:24,064 --> 00:13:27,458
to call on a destructive force
and to...

273
00:13:27,545 --> 00:13:29,852
let it flow through you.

274
00:13:29,939 --> 00:13:31,593
The feeling that I'm left with,

275
00:13:31,680 --> 00:13:34,291
whether I'm trying to kill
somebody through magic

276
00:13:34,378 --> 00:13:36,511
or I'm trying to destroy
a business

277
00:13:36,598 --> 00:13:38,600
or whatever it is,

278
00:13:38,687 --> 00:13:40,384
the emotion I'm left with
at the end of it

279
00:13:40,471 --> 00:13:43,170
is always humility.

280
00:13:43,257 --> 00:13:44,258
I'm just humbled by it.

281
00:13:44,345 --> 00:13:46,913
[Singing bowl resonates]

282
00:13:49,959 --> 00:13:51,569
- The premise of all curses

283
00:13:51,656 --> 00:13:54,355
is that pronouncing the curse

284
00:13:54,442 --> 00:13:56,487
will have an effect
in the real world.

285
00:13:57,575 --> 00:14:00,665
- [Unclear]

286
00:14:00,752 --> 00:14:02,276
I invoke doom

287
00:14:03,625 --> 00:14:04,931
for this empire,

288
00:14:06,106 --> 00:14:08,717
for this creation.

289
00:14:08,804 --> 00:14:10,153
- There's no one,
as far as I know,

290
00:14:10,240 --> 00:14:13,330
that pronounced a curse
on "The Omen".

291
00:14:16,333 --> 00:14:17,944
[Whispering]

292
00:14:19,728 --> 00:14:20,860
Oh.

293
00:14:22,687 --> 00:14:25,081
That was a very strongly
felt presence.

294
00:14:25,168 --> 00:14:26,822
[Crows caw]

295
00:14:28,084 --> 00:14:30,434
- The mere fact that...

296
00:14:30,521 --> 00:14:34,221
a production is looking
to encapsulate

297
00:14:35,526 --> 00:14:37,615
and embody the essence

298
00:14:37,702 --> 00:14:38,965
of many of these forces

299
00:14:39,052 --> 00:14:40,967
is where it begins.

300
00:14:42,359 --> 00:14:44,448
- Probably the most common
magic in the whole world

301
00:14:44,535 --> 00:14:46,581
and almost every culture
practices

302
00:14:46,668 --> 00:14:48,235
this type of magic on Earth,

303
00:14:48,322 --> 00:14:50,237
and it's called sympathetic
magic.

304
00:14:50,324 --> 00:14:54,328
The rules of sympathetic magic
are like attracts like.

305
00:14:54,415 --> 00:14:57,026
And in Hollywood
you're gonna know this

306
00:14:57,113 --> 00:14:59,986
by the Hollywood version
of the Voodoo Doll.

307
00:15:00,073 --> 00:15:03,467
- Look! An authentic
voodoo doll.

308
00:15:03,554 --> 00:15:04,947
Somebody already sent for it.

309
00:15:05,034 --> 00:15:07,341
- Get a doll and you get
somebody's hair

310
00:15:07,428 --> 00:15:09,256
and fingernails,
maybe their picture.

311
00:15:09,343 --> 00:15:11,693
Put 'em in the doll,
on the doll.

312
00:15:11,780 --> 00:15:13,434
And then you do the thing

313
00:15:13,521 --> 00:15:15,610
that you want to have happen
to the doll.

314
00:15:15,697 --> 00:15:18,091
- Ready for another shot, Dad?

315
00:15:18,178 --> 00:15:19,831
- And then that likeness
attracts it

316
00:15:19,919 --> 00:15:22,356
to the other person.

317
00:15:22,443 --> 00:15:26,534
Depicting a demonic curse
extremely accurately

318
00:15:26,621 --> 00:15:30,625
could bring the magic
of like attracts like to you.

319
00:15:32,540 --> 00:15:35,586
Oh, "The Omen", just like,
you know, the Antichrist.

320
00:15:35,673 --> 00:15:37,980
If the devil exists,
if the Antichrist exists,

321
00:15:38,067 --> 00:15:41,244
that's some pretty intense
energy to be depicting.

322
00:15:50,514 --> 00:15:53,996
- Yeeeee-haaaaw! Hooo!
- Yeee-haw!

323
00:15:54,083 --> 00:15:56,259
- The nature of the film
can be enough

324
00:15:56,346 --> 00:15:59,697
to kind of ignite its own spark.

325
00:15:59,784 --> 00:16:01,351
You have many films -

326
00:16:01,438 --> 00:16:05,051
like you're talking about
"City Slickers" -

327
00:16:05,138 --> 00:16:07,705
that don't cross the threshold

328
00:16:07,792 --> 00:16:11,405
of creating a substantial
contact...

329
00:16:11,492 --> 00:16:13,146
- So long, cowboy.

330
00:16:13,233 --> 00:16:15,322
- ...'cause that film is
spiritually neutral.

331
00:16:16,497 --> 00:16:18,020
Horror does...

332
00:16:18,107 --> 00:16:20,762
seem to have that knack of uh...

333
00:16:22,938 --> 00:16:24,722
crossing the threshold

334
00:16:25,810 --> 00:16:29,292
into darker and dangerous
subject matter.

335
00:16:32,426 --> 00:16:36,430
- It's almost the perfect
cocktail of variables

336
00:16:36,517 --> 00:16:40,782
that get people thinking
about supernatural ideas

337
00:16:40,869 --> 00:16:42,958
and possibilities.

338
00:16:43,045 --> 00:16:46,092
When you watch a horror movie,
you're watching it to escape.

339
00:16:46,179 --> 00:16:47,441
Even though you know it's
a movie,

340
00:16:47,528 --> 00:16:49,225
you're thinking about things

341
00:16:49,312 --> 00:16:52,185
that are outside of
conventional thinking

342
00:16:52,272 --> 00:16:55,188
or scientific understanding
of the world.

343
00:16:55,275 --> 00:16:57,190
People become more
open-minded to,

344
00:16:57,277 --> 00:17:01,324
or more interested in,
supernatural ideas.

345
00:17:01,411 --> 00:17:03,065
And so when you watch
these movies,

346
00:17:03,152 --> 00:17:05,372
it just kind of puts you
in the right mindset

347
00:17:05,459 --> 00:17:06,808
to wanna see patterns

348
00:17:06,895 --> 00:17:08,592
or, you know,
believe in conspiracies

349
00:17:08,679 --> 00:17:10,681
or to believe in curses.

350
00:17:10,768 --> 00:17:12,553
- With "The Omen",

351
00:17:12,640 --> 00:17:14,990
what you have is a series of
coincidences or incidents

352
00:17:15,077 --> 00:17:17,949
then that people then weave
into a narrative

353
00:17:18,037 --> 00:17:20,039
about a curse.

354
00:17:20,126 --> 00:17:22,476
- That's what coincidence
theory is about,

355
00:17:22,563 --> 00:17:25,131
just trying to get connections

356
00:17:25,218 --> 00:17:27,481
between what is rational

357
00:17:27,568 --> 00:17:30,266
and what is, uh, weird.

358
00:17:30,353 --> 00:17:32,747
And you know, on the one hand,

359
00:17:32,834 --> 00:17:35,315
rational can look weird, too.

360
00:17:35,402 --> 00:17:39,623
- Our brains are designed to
believe all sorts of things,

361
00:17:39,710 --> 00:17:42,365
whether there are ghosts,
poltergeists,

362
00:17:42,452 --> 00:17:44,063
angels and demons,

363
00:17:44,150 --> 00:17:46,108
and gods and aliens
and conspiracies.

364
00:17:47,153 --> 00:17:49,416
We have all this propensity to
just see patterns everywhere,

365
00:17:49,503 --> 00:17:51,940
just assume everything
is connected.

366
00:17:54,203 --> 00:17:55,987
Okay, we're about to show you
a short clip

367
00:17:56,075 --> 00:17:58,860
of three basketball players
dressed in black

368
00:17:58,947 --> 00:18:01,123
and three basketball players
dressed in white.

369
00:18:01,210 --> 00:18:02,820
Each of them is passing
a basketball

370
00:18:02,907 --> 00:18:05,649
back and forth between
themselves.

371
00:18:05,736 --> 00:18:08,870
Your task is to count
the number of passes

372
00:18:08,957 --> 00:18:12,526
between just the three
white-shirted players.

373
00:18:12,613 --> 00:18:14,789
All right, you ready?

374
00:18:14,876 --> 00:18:15,877
Go!

375
00:18:16,878 --> 00:18:18,967
[Sneakers squeak on floor]

376
00:18:32,111 --> 00:18:33,590
How many of you saw the gorilla?

377
00:18:33,677 --> 00:18:35,462
What? What gorilla?

378
00:18:35,549 --> 00:18:37,072
Here it is again.
I'll rewind it.

379
00:18:37,159 --> 00:18:38,378
Oh, come on, that's a different
tape, Shermer!

380
00:18:38,465 --> 00:18:41,903
No, it's the same one.

381
00:18:41,990 --> 00:18:43,644
So the famous gorilla
experiment,

382
00:18:43,731 --> 00:18:46,603
this was done by Christopher
Chabris and his team

383
00:18:46,690 --> 00:18:49,215
in which they were testing
to what extent

384
00:18:49,302 --> 00:18:53,175
people do not see things
in their environment.

385
00:18:53,262 --> 00:18:55,569
You know, it's like how could
you miss a gorilla?

386
00:18:55,656 --> 00:18:58,789
Well, 50% of subjects
don't see the gorilla.

387
00:18:58,876 --> 00:19:00,182
And the reason is 'cause
they're attending

388
00:19:00,269 --> 00:19:01,575
to counting the number
of passes.

389
00:19:01,662 --> 00:19:03,272
And by being focused on
one thing,

390
00:19:03,359 --> 00:19:05,709
you might miss something
that's completely obvious,

391
00:19:05,796 --> 00:19:07,363
right there in front of you.

392
00:19:07,450 --> 00:19:08,843
Half.

393
00:19:08,930 --> 00:19:10,540
This is interesting cognitively

394
00:19:10,627 --> 00:19:13,978
because it shows how much
we miss

395
00:19:14,065 --> 00:19:16,807
that's right there
in front of us.

396
00:19:16,894 --> 00:19:18,722
Not only do we see things
that are not real,

397
00:19:18,809 --> 00:19:20,681
we miss things that are real.

398
00:19:21,769 --> 00:19:25,251
Now we're talking about cursed
horror films.

399
00:19:25,338 --> 00:19:28,384
I'd like you to think about
putting those films

400
00:19:28,471 --> 00:19:30,691
that are cursed in a box.

401
00:19:30,778 --> 00:19:32,997
And we're gonna put this box
right here

402
00:19:33,084 --> 00:19:35,217
and then we're gonna draw
a square around it

403
00:19:35,304 --> 00:19:37,828
in which we have three other
boxes.

404
00:19:37,915 --> 00:19:40,875
So, in this box, number one,
we have cursed horror films:

405
00:19:40,962 --> 00:19:43,356
"Poltergeist" and "The Crow"

406
00:19:43,443 --> 00:19:45,227
and "The Exorcist" and so on.

407
00:19:45,314 --> 00:19:47,229
Now what I want you
to think about is...

408
00:19:47,316 --> 00:19:48,752
the second box over here,

409
00:19:48,839 --> 00:19:51,277
which are cursed
non-horror films:

410
00:19:51,364 --> 00:19:53,322
Superman, you know -

411
00:19:53,409 --> 00:19:54,671
I mean, Christopher Reeves fell
off a horse, broke his neck -

412
00:19:54,758 --> 00:19:56,412
and Apocalypse Now -

413
00:19:56,499 --> 00:19:58,458
you know, Martin Sheen
has a heart attack

414
00:19:58,545 --> 00:20:00,590
and all these weird things
that happen.

415
00:20:00,677 --> 00:20:03,114
Okay, why aren't we talking
about that cell?

416
00:20:03,202 --> 00:20:05,247
'Cause they're not horror films.

417
00:20:05,334 --> 00:20:06,901
In this box down here,

418
00:20:06,988 --> 00:20:10,861
I want you to think about
non-cursed horror films

419
00:20:10,948 --> 00:20:13,124
like "The Shining".

420
00:20:13,212 --> 00:20:14,952
- Come and play with us, Danny.

421
00:20:15,039 --> 00:20:17,259
- This is one of the scariest
films ever made.

422
00:20:17,346 --> 00:20:19,305
[Dramatic crescendo]

423
00:20:20,610 --> 00:20:21,611
No curses.

424
00:20:21,698 --> 00:20:24,266
Or, more recently, "It"

425
00:20:25,354 --> 00:20:26,660
or "Get Out."

426
00:20:26,747 --> 00:20:28,227
Why don't we notice those?

427
00:20:28,314 --> 00:20:29,750
And then the fourth category
of course, is...

428
00:20:29,837 --> 00:20:31,447
non-cursed, non-horror films.

429
00:20:31,534 --> 00:20:35,103
Pick any of them:
"Citizen Kane", "Casablanca"...

430
00:20:35,190 --> 00:20:37,758
You know, people had long
careers after that.

431
00:20:38,846 --> 00:20:40,500
Nothing weird happened.

432
00:20:40,587 --> 00:20:42,415
So you have to keep in mind
all four categories

433
00:20:42,502 --> 00:20:44,939
and remind yourself, look,
I'm only focusing on this one,

434
00:20:45,026 --> 00:20:46,810
but all the other ones
put it into context.

435
00:20:46,897 --> 00:20:49,335
And when you see the bigger
picture you realize, okay,

436
00:20:49,422 --> 00:20:53,121
there's actually nothing
to be explained.

437
00:20:54,949 --> 00:20:57,299
- Seeing patterns in the world,
that's how we form meaning,

438
00:20:57,386 --> 00:20:59,823
that's how we learn to exist.

439
00:20:59,910 --> 00:21:02,173
And that can extend to seeing
patterns

440
00:21:02,261 --> 00:21:04,350
where there aren't patterns.

441
00:21:04,437 --> 00:21:06,308
Maybe it's a significant
coincidence.

442
00:21:06,395 --> 00:21:09,355
Maybe it was a message sent
to me from somewhere.

443
00:21:10,617 --> 00:21:13,359
There's the case of
Mark Chapman,

444
00:21:13,446 --> 00:21:16,318
the guy who killed John Lennon.

445
00:21:16,405 --> 00:21:19,147
So he was outside John Lennon's
apartment in New York City,

446
00:21:19,234 --> 00:21:22,193
wondering if he should
actually go through with it.

447
00:21:22,281 --> 00:21:24,718
And just at that moment,
Mia Farrow walked by

448
00:21:24,805 --> 00:21:28,374
and she starred in
Rosemary's Baby.

449
00:21:28,461 --> 00:21:31,420
And then he recognized that
the building,

450
00:21:31,507 --> 00:21:33,292
is called The Dakota.

451
00:21:33,379 --> 00:21:36,382
It was used in the filming
of Rosemary's Baby,

452
00:21:36,469 --> 00:21:39,820
which was directed by
Roman Polanski,

453
00:21:39,907 --> 00:21:41,343
whose wife, Sharon Tate,

454
00:21:41,430 --> 00:21:44,128
was murdered by
the Manson family.

455
00:21:44,215 --> 00:21:46,740
And they were a fan
of the Beatles' song,

456
00:21:46,827 --> 00:21:48,611
Helter Skelter,

457
00:21:48,698 --> 00:21:51,048
and, of course, John Lennon
is in the Beatles.

458
00:21:51,135 --> 00:21:52,659
And he took this as a sign

459
00:21:52,746 --> 00:21:54,182
that he should go through
with it

460
00:21:54,269 --> 00:21:55,662
and kill John Lennon.

461
00:22:00,319 --> 00:22:03,626
- Horror films tend to,
in a bizarre way,

462
00:22:03,713 --> 00:22:05,280
mirror real life.

463
00:22:05,367 --> 00:22:07,369
- What're they doing?
Why do they come here?

464
00:22:07,456 --> 00:22:09,415
- It's a kind of instinct,

465
00:22:09,502 --> 00:22:12,243
memory, what they used to do.

466
00:22:12,331 --> 00:22:15,421
- The mirror of real life is
that we are frightened

467
00:22:15,508 --> 00:22:18,206
of things that could go wrong
in the world.

468
00:22:18,293 --> 00:22:21,949
It's the same reason
we love coincidence stories.

469
00:22:22,036 --> 00:22:25,996
We love coincidence stories
because it gives us a feeling

470
00:22:26,083 --> 00:22:28,912
that the world is smaller
than it is.

471
00:22:28,999 --> 00:22:32,133
- Yeah, see that word's kind
of a problem for us.

472
00:22:32,220 --> 00:22:34,178
We don't... witches uh...

473
00:22:34,265 --> 00:22:35,615
we just don't believe in
coincidence.

474
00:22:35,702 --> 00:22:39,096
There's action
and there's reaction.

475
00:22:39,183 --> 00:22:42,056
There's something happened
that caused that to happen,

476
00:22:42,143 --> 00:22:44,841
and some things are weird
and hard to explain.

477
00:22:46,713 --> 00:22:48,410
- There's a saying that
the greatest trick

478
00:22:48,497 --> 00:22:50,151
the devil ever played

479
00:22:50,238 --> 00:22:52,719
was to get people to not
believe that he exists.

480
00:22:54,547 --> 00:22:56,375
And I have a hard time
with that one as well

481
00:22:56,462 --> 00:23:00,030
because it's to the devil's
advantage to be known.

482
00:23:01,205 --> 00:23:03,686
Whether we're talking about
angels or demons or gods,

483
00:23:03,773 --> 00:23:06,689
the one thing that they want
is attention.

484
00:23:08,169 --> 00:23:09,562
- It's exciting to me
to actually to think

485
00:23:09,649 --> 00:23:12,608
that the devil is a film fan.

486
00:23:13,870 --> 00:23:17,918
I don't want to like put my
head into the logic of a devil,

487
00:23:18,005 --> 00:23:20,094
but just squeeze the heart

488
00:23:20,181 --> 00:23:22,226
if you wanna kill somebody.

489
00:23:22,313 --> 00:23:24,272
I don't know, maybe the devil
is a real artist

490
00:23:24,359 --> 00:23:26,100
and likes the poetry of some
of these things.

491
00:23:26,187 --> 00:23:29,756
But even then, if the devil
was an artist,

492
00:23:29,843 --> 00:23:31,322
and I'm not saying he isn't,

493
00:23:31,410 --> 00:23:34,500
uh, I think he would go -
or she -

494
00:23:34,587 --> 00:23:38,504
would go to great pains
to really drive it home,

495
00:23:38,591 --> 00:23:40,593
like be killed by a kid.

496
00:23:41,681 --> 00:23:43,813
Because if you really wanna do
a curse on "The Omen",

497
00:23:43,900 --> 00:23:48,035
you dress a kid in a little
Angus Young prep-boy uniform

498
00:23:48,122 --> 00:23:51,473
and have that kid show up
at the door, ring the bell,

499
00:23:51,560 --> 00:23:54,215
and then just look at you funny
and then your head explodes.

500
00:23:54,302 --> 00:23:56,304
[Doorbell rings]
Oh, the devil's here.

501
00:23:56,391 --> 00:23:58,045
[Laughter]

502
00:24:02,615 --> 00:24:05,966
- If Satan wants to stop
a project,

503
00:24:06,053 --> 00:24:07,489
if he wants to bring
a plane down,

504
00:24:07,576 --> 00:24:10,536
he's gonna bring a plane down.

505
00:24:10,623 --> 00:24:14,627
Actually, it seems like Satan
is helping the film.

506
00:24:14,714 --> 00:24:17,281
Every time there's a big mishap,

507
00:24:17,368 --> 00:24:19,414
the IRA explosions, for example,

508
00:24:19,501 --> 00:24:21,547
it was the crew that was safe
and other people that died.

509
00:24:21,634 --> 00:24:26,029
So how is it that Satan
is trying to stop the film

510
00:24:26,116 --> 00:24:27,727
and he keeps killing
other people?

511
00:24:27,814 --> 00:24:29,772
- To me, this is the opposite
of a curse.

512
00:24:29,859 --> 00:24:31,731
This is a blessing.

513
00:24:31,818 --> 00:24:33,515
If it was cursed,
wouldn't Gregory Peck

514
00:24:33,602 --> 00:24:36,170
have been on that flight?

515
00:24:36,257 --> 00:24:38,215
- But maybe we're looking
at this all wrong.

516
00:24:38,302 --> 00:24:41,392
Maybe these films aren't cursed
by the devil.

517
00:24:41,480 --> 00:24:45,048
Maybe these films have been
blessed by the devil.

518
00:24:45,135 --> 00:24:48,008
Perhaps the devil has been
at work all along.

519
00:24:49,226 --> 00:24:51,054
When demons work in this world,

520
00:24:51,141 --> 00:24:53,796
they like to sign their
signature, their autograph,

521
00:24:53,883 --> 00:24:55,537
on everything that they touch

522
00:24:55,624 --> 00:24:57,278
so that those of us
who are paying attention

523
00:24:57,365 --> 00:25:00,281
can look and can see
the very clear signature

524
00:25:00,368 --> 00:25:01,978
of the powers of magic

525
00:25:02,065 --> 00:25:04,154
and the powers of darkness
in the world around us.

526
00:25:07,244 --> 00:25:08,811
- No, actually...

527
00:25:08,898 --> 00:25:12,162
actually, I think it was
a blessed film production.

528
00:25:12,249 --> 00:25:14,208
Certainly, as far as
I was concerned.

529
00:25:14,295 --> 00:25:15,688
- No, I think it's just
the opposite.

530
00:25:15,775 --> 00:25:17,646
I think it was a very blessed
film.

531
00:25:19,082 --> 00:25:21,041
- In the end, it all worked out.

532
00:25:21,128 --> 00:25:24,044
We were a big hit and uh...
everybody got through it.

533
00:25:25,132 --> 00:25:27,047
- I do think that these movies

534
00:25:27,134 --> 00:25:29,745
and the stories that sometimes
sprout up around them

535
00:25:29,832 --> 00:25:33,270
confirm people's senses,
rightly or wrongly,

536
00:25:33,357 --> 00:25:36,056
that we don't understand
everything in life.

537
00:25:37,274 --> 00:25:39,799
The Edwardian builders
of the Titanic

538
00:25:39,886 --> 00:25:42,845
who boasted that they built
an unsinkable ship

539
00:25:42,932 --> 00:25:45,456
didn't have it all figured out.

540
00:25:45,544 --> 00:25:48,242
Victor Frankenstein didn't
have it all figured out

541
00:25:48,329 --> 00:25:52,202
when he thought he could
unlock the key to life.

542
00:25:52,289 --> 00:25:54,074
But I'm not for a moment
suggesting

543
00:25:54,161 --> 00:25:56,990
that anybody should throw
rationalism out the window.

544
00:25:58,687 --> 00:26:01,342
- And it's obvious why
the devil would be doing this.

545
00:26:03,387 --> 00:26:05,999
This is the age of the
Antichrist.

546
00:26:06,086 --> 00:26:08,436
The devils have been let loose
upon the world.

547
00:26:10,917 --> 00:26:12,396
And they want to make sure

548
00:26:12,483 --> 00:26:14,616
that we know
that they are among us.

549
00:26:14,703 --> 00:26:19,926
♪♪♪