“The Deliverance” director Lee Daniels said he organized prayer circles while filming the horror movie based on a true story, because he was so worried that the film would be cursed. Then, cast members were hospitalized and his dog died.
The movie, which landed on Netflix on Friday, tells the story of an Indianapolis family who thought their child was possessed by a demon and said he crawled up a wall, as local outlet The Indy Star reported in 2014.
In a SiriusXM panel with “The Deliverance” cast on Thursday, Daniels said that he was familiar with the apparent curse on the 1977 horror film “The Exorcist,” so he organized prayer circles on set in a bid to prevent supernatural incidents.
“Things happen, and I was not gonna let things happen on my set, and also I needed it for me,” Daniels said.
“The Exorcist” also told the story of a possessed child and its production was plagued by numerous injuries, accidents, and deaths, leading to theories it was cursed.
Since then, horror movies have tried to borrow clout from “The Exorcist” in one way or another to drum up attention. And it seems like “The Deliverance” is using a similar tactic.
Referring to “The Deliverance” actor Glenn Close, Daniels went on to say: “My sister is in every movie that I’ve ever done as my good luck charm, and she was in the scene with Glenn in the chemo scene, and she’s the one that sort of gave her attitude in the chemo scene.
“And two days later, after being in the chemo scene, she was diagnosed with the lung cancer, literally. My dog died on the set.”
Mo’Nique, who plays a social worker in the 2024 movie, added she was hospitalized after filming a scene featuring the demon.
“Mr. Daniels had me doing a scene, okay? And we’re outside. It was just, the demon was supposed to be on top of the building, so they kept blowing this… I mean, at one point I’m like, ‘Lee, do we have this shit because I can’t breathe,'” Mo’Nique said.
She added: “So when I got finished, right, my thyroid was a big… I mean, it was just sick. Oh, baby. I was like, ‘What kind of shit is this?’ It was a lot of things happening with ‘The Deliverance.'”
