‘Cursed Films II’ Recap: ‘Stalker’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode 203 of ‘Cursed Films’. To revisit the previous episode, click here.
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Thus far, our journey through the various cursed films of Hollywood, courtesy of the Shudder series, Cursed Films II, has offered up some fascinating insight as to why people are eager to attach conspiracy theories and dark thoughts to films that have a troubled production. For instance, the season two premiere taught us that sometimes it happens because we have a desperate need to find impurities in things that are pure, and last week’s episode, covered how sometimes it is easy to associate darkness and curses with stories that revolve around taboo and unsavory topics and well… it would seem this series is showing no signs of letting up, in informing us as to why people believe that a motion picture can in fact be cursed.
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For this week’s episode, one that revolved around the 1979 Science Fiction classic, Stalker, posed the possibility that sometimes hyper intelligent art, the kind that is prophetic and powerful and supremely gorgeous in nature, needs to be flawed in our minds. So that we can better understand how a director such as Andrei Tarkovsky was able to see ahead and ponder on such incredible concepts and well… how this episode brought forth that exploration, was by celebrating Stalker to a tee. For this story wasted little time in informing/reminding us of Tarkovsky’s genius as a filmmaker and how he consistently knocked it out of the park with each and every one of his films and well… what he brought to the table in Stalker, rightfully deserves recognition as well.

Since it did in many ways, predict that ecological disasters and worries would surround humanity in the final years of the 20th Century, since Chernobyl dominated the headlines in the 1980s and of course the motion picture’s themes on dreams and the search to find peace, is something that resonates with a viewer through and through and well, that kind of insight and thoughtfulness has to come from places of distress and trouble, right? Which is why some wild theories surround this film. Such as the fact that it was a tortured production personally for some of the crew members since there was talk that Tarkovsky’s desire to handle cinematography duties on his own alienated his own director of photography, and potentially motivated him to ruin film negatives. A surprise that could have influenced Tarkovsky to inject the dreams and searching storylines, into the reshoots that eventually found their way into the final product.

Not to mention, there’s the concerns that surround this film when it comes to the shooting locations in general. Since so many cast and crew members got sick and died after the movie finished shooting, and of course… Tarkovsky also died in 1986 of lung cancer and so many wonder now, if the ecologically concerning locations poisoned so many in the name of art and well… when one considers that revelation and the reality that this is a movie that truly reflects the wonder of art and what it can accomplish… it makes sense that people would indeed gravitate to the belief that this movie was cursed. Since it speaks to themes that trouble us and keep us up at night and diving into such matters would have to incur the wrath of a universe that doesn’t like to have its chaos put on display. But on the flip side of that, it could just be a bunch of bummer coincidences that accompany a masterpiece of a movie.

Because there is nothing that truly points toward some kind of curse or dark force here. But that is the point of this magnificent series, to not prove one way or the other that a film is cursed, but to spotlight both sides of the story and allow for us to make our own call on such matters, and that is what this episode accomplishes, in a compelling manner no less. Since some of the stories here are told with some incredible passion and conviction, the kind that do leave that skeptical part of your brain wondering… ‘what if?’ But what matters more, is that writer/director Jay Cheel has spotlighted a motion picture that needs to be seen by more audiences and hopefully his work here, motivates others to seek out the wonder of Stalker and other features from a master storyteller in Andrei Tarkovsky. Until next time.

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