The Crow is a notoriously cursed film, with several on-set accidents that plagued production. After a tragic accident, discussed in episode 4 of Cursed Films on Shudder, much of the film had to be rewritten and an important character from the source material had to be removed.

The Crow is a dark superhero film that was released in theaters in 1994. During its time, it was well-received and has since garnered a strong cult following. The Crow is based on a comic book written by James O'Barr by the same name and stars Brandon Lee as Eric Draven, a rock musician who is brought back to life to avenge the murder and rape of his fiance. Critics praised the film for its style and emotional depth. A reboot is currently in active development.

Related: The Crow: 10 Best Quotes From The Film

The Crow is a very 90s film. Its dark aesthetic and angsty premise was compared, at the time, to Blade Runner and Tim Burton's Batman. What makes the film truly haunting, however, is Brandon Lee's performance, especially considering the circumstances of his death. From the moment filmmakers started shooting The Crow, they were faced with problems, many of them tragic. It didn't take long for people to start calling the film cursed, which seemed fitting considering the film's content. Nevertheless, with only eight days left of shooting, no one was prepared for the accident that would forever change the nature of the film.

Why The Crow Is A Cursed Film

Brandon Lee in The Crow.

Cursed Films on Shudder discusses the events that led people to believe The Crow was cursed. From the very beginning, filmmakers showed up on set to a voicemail message that said that bad things would happen if they made the movie. Before long, the message was right. On the first day of shooting, an electrician was backing a cherry-picker truck up and hit the high-tension wire on the powerlines above him. He was electrocuted and caught on fire. Everyone rushed him to the hospital, where he was treated for second and third-degree burns. Although he survived, the electrician's ears had to be removed.

After that, a hurricane destroyed The Crow's backlot set and, from there, rumors of the curse began to spread through the media. Some thought the curse was attributed to Brandon Lee, whose father, Bruce Lee, had died under mysterious circumstances thought to be part of a family curse. No matter what people believed, it was an on-set accident involving Brandon Lee that cemented The Crow as one of the most cursed films in history.

How Brandon Lee Died

The Crow promo banner.

While shooting a scene where Brandon Lee walks into a room to discover his fiance is being beaten and raped, a character named Funboy shoots him. Unfortunately, nobody noticed or recognized that a dummy round had become lodged in the barrel of the gun. It was then loaded with blank rounds that would simulate gunfire. However, these rounds were enough to force the cartridge that was lodged in the barrel to fire at nearly the same velocity as a real bullet. It struck Lee and he later died at the hospital. In order to finish the film, producers re-wrote parts of the script and had to cut the Skull Cowboy character completely as no shots had been done with him yet. Thus, The Crow is a very fitting addition to Shudder's Cursed Films.

Next: 20 Crazy Details Behind The Making Of The Crow