According to urban legend, a little boy was murdered in the flat used for the film, and his spirit can be seen in the backdrop. Although a still from the sequence appears to be quite spooky, it turns out that the “ghost boy” is only a cut-out of Danson that was left on set. ¹⁾

Steven Spielberg made up the story of sneaking into Universal Studios, finding a vacant office, and beginning his apprenticeship by faking it. In truth, his father had to pull some threads in order to secure an internship for him through a family acquaintance. ²⁾

In Goldfinger, Shirley Eaton's character is murdered through “epidermal suffocation.” She was said to have perished because her skin couldn't breathe. The story spread that Eaton died as a result of skin suffocation while filming the scene. It didn't help that the directors truly believed Ian Fleming's death-by-paint predicament was a serious peril, and had the make-up removed as soon as the scene was over. But she lived for a long time and died at the age of 76. ³⁾

Lee was wounded in the abdomen with what was assumed to be a blank bullet but was actually a live bullet while filming a scene in which his character Eric Draven returns home to discover a group of thugs beating his fiancée. The team didn't know anything was wrong until Lee, 28, slid backwards from the blast instead of forwards as anticipated, and despite being transported to the hospital, he died as a result of his injuries. ⁴⁾

The dark form is said to be the body of a munchkin who hanged himself during production after being rejected by the object of his affection. The truth is less horrific. To give the film a more natural feel, the filmmakers let loose a swarm of wild birds on the set. The shadow is not a dangling body, but rather one of the larger animals, most likely an emu or crane. ⁵⁾

According to folklore, Cosby, who was well-known at the time for his civil rights activities more than his sex addiction, felt the depiction of Buckwheat was hurtful to African-Americans and did not want replays of the legendary show on TV. The comic shorts were aired between 1922 and 1944, and while their depiction of black people is dubious today, it was common at the time. In the 1960s, the actor was involved in a campaign to prevent old episodes of Amos and Andy from being aired. The rights were purchased in the 1970s by King World Productions, who made extensive changes to the Little Rascals' racially insensitive content, but the shorts have since been restored. ⁶⁾

That is the official story; nonetheless, there is a persistent rumor that Disney attempted to extend his life by having his body cryogenically preserved in the hope that he may be awakened at some point in the future. This rumor, on the other hand, is categorically false. The urban legend began when Bob Nelson, the head of the California Cryogenics Society, stated that Disney desired to be frozen, but because he did not specify this in writing, his family chose to cremate him instead. The first cryogenically frozen corpse was conducted in 1967, a year after Disney's death, implying that if he had gone forward with it, he would have been the first person to do it. ⁷⁾

Poltergeist was released in June 1982, and a cast member was murdered just months afterwards. Dominique Dunne, 22, who played Dana, was murdered in her driveway by an abusive ex-boyfriend and was regretfully taken off life support five days later. Julian Beck, the actor who played Kane in Poltergeist II, died of stomach cancer. Will Sampson, who played Taylor, died of a degenerative illness in 1987. Heather O'Rourke, who played Carol Anne, the family's youngest child, died at the age of 12 from cardiac arrest and septic shock caused by an erroneously diagnosed bowel problem. ⁸⁾

Filming began in 1975 and was plagued by troubles from the start. Lightning struck the planes of actor Gregory Peck and producer Mace Neufeld while they were traveling for filming, and Harvey Bernhard's flight had a close miss. If that wasn't spooky enough, the studio had another plane leased for aerial shots, but it was replaced at the last minute. The aerial images were successfully captured with the new plane, but the original plane crashed, killing everyone on board. ⁹⁾

The IRA destroyed a restaurant that Neufeld and Peck had reserved for dinner before the same terrorist cell destroyed Neufeld's hotel. Stranger situations happened, such as an on-set animal handler getting eaten by lions. However, the majority of these frightening events are rather simple to understand. Lightning strikes planes all the time with little harm done, and the IRA would have struck both locations whether Peck or Neufeld were present or not. ¹⁰⁾

One event is more difficult to dismiss as a coincidental occurrence. Shortly after the US debut, special effects artist John Richardson and his companion Liz Moore were traveling through the Netherlands. Richardson was in charge of the film's several death sequences, notably the infamous one in which David Warner is beheaded behind a truck. They collided while driving, and Richardson was decapitated right in front of Moore. ¹¹⁾

Simba drops down dejectedly on a pile of dust that drifts into the sky and looks to spell out the word “SEX” about two-thirds of the way through The Lion King. Parents were outraged, and those old enough to have suffered through sex-ed class had their childhoods wrecked. However, it turns out that it is simply the studio mentioning the special effects section “SFX.” ¹²⁾

The original version of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, like many horror films, was sold as a true story. Despite the fact that Leatherface and his young victims were made up, the tale was based on real-life killer Ed Gein, who also inspired psychological thrillers Psycho and The Silence of the Lambs. ¹³⁾

Atuk tells the story of an inexperienced Inuit who moves to New York City. The screenplay, penned by Tod Carroll of National Lampoon fame, has been handed about Hollywood since the 1970s and has nearly been filmed multiple times, but every single actor (four of them) designated to play the lead has died. This is known as “The Atuk Curse.” ¹⁴⁾

On set, he was injured, but he did not die. The stuntman's son, Yakima Canutt, was pushed out of a chariot while working for Charlton Heston. That scene does appear in the film. He was able to get back up and resume his work. He did not die or sustain significant injuries. ¹⁵⁾