The director of a bone-chilling new movie has revealed the horrors that occurred on set during the filming process.
Horror films are hugely popular. The genre, both mentally and physically stimulating, causes the release of hormones such as adrenaline, endorphins, and dopamines that make us feel good.
Of course, Netflix has capitalized on our obsession with the genre by adding some of the very best spooky movies to its catalog.
This includes one horror that is not only based on a true story, but also left the cast and director horrified by what they experienced on set.
And viewers are warning others not to watch the film.
One person writes: “I didn’t know what this movie was about and watched it. Do not watch it. Weird stuff happened the same night. Like I felt some kind of presence watching me.”
Another adds: “I started watching it and my TV stopped working out of nowhere, couldn’t even finish it, I honestly believe it was because of the movie.”
“I watched this and after watching when I went to sleep I had a spirit bothering me the same night. If you are not strong spiritually it won’t be a good idea to watch,” a third comments.
Another reviewer writes that even, ‘as someone who rarely feels fear during horror films, having become desensitized after years of watching countless entries in the genre, I was genuinely scared.’
The 2024 horror movie is directed by Lee Daniels, famous for his films Precious and The United States vs. Billie Holiday.
Starring 101 Dalmatians actress Glenn Close, Billie Holiday star Andra Day, and Stranger Things actor Caleb McLaughlin, the new movie is the Academy Award nominee director’s first film in the genre.
The film is based on the true story of Latoya Ammons and the terrifying events that unfolded when she moved into a house in Gary, Indiana in 2011 with her mother and three children.
Ammons believed her children had been possessed by demons and claimed that her family was experiencing the effects of having supernatural evil spirits in the house.
She said that they occasionally heard footsteps climbing the basement stairs at night and creaking doors despite no one being there.
Rosa Campbell, the children’s grandmother also says she awoke one night to a shadowy figure of a man pacing around her room. When she went to investigate, she claims she saw large wet boot prints on the floor.
The family also claim that they saw Ammons’ 12-year-old daughter, unconscious, levitating in the middle of the night.
The Indianapolis Star reports: “The family said demons possessed Ammons and her children, then ages 7, 9 and 12. The kids’ eyes bulged, evil smiles crossed their faces, and their voices deepened every time it happened.”
The bizarre case was investigated by the Gary Police Department and the Department of Child Services (DSC).
The DSC concluded that the children were ‘in need of services,’ and that Ammons was ‘unable to ensure the children’s safety,’ per Today.
Ammons’ eldest children were temporarily sent to St. Joseph’s Carmelite Home in East Chicago and her youngest son was sent to Christian Haven in Wheatfield for a psychiatric evaluation.
Gary police captain Charles Austin claimed to have witnessed strange, paranormal activity when he visited Ammons’ home and, following the visit, claimed to have become a ‘believer,’ per The Indianapolis Star.
Three exorcisms were ultimately performed on Ammons.
The movie’s director, Lee Daniels, told The Hollywood Reporter that, initially, he had stayed clear of making the film after hearing about the true story many years ago.
He said: “I know how I work. I’m an open portal. And I know what I demand. And I know the spirit works through me. So what kind of spirits do I want on me? So I was just like, ‘No, I’m not [going to do it].’
But the story of the mother ‘sat with him forever’ and so he decided to turn it into a Netflix original movie.
The film has been compared to The Exorcism, another horror movie in which some pretty terrifying activity took place while filming, including the sudden deaths of cast members and their families.
Production was even halted at one point after an electrical fire burnt down the set and a priest was called to exorcize the filming location.
The cast and director of Daniels’ new movie,The Deliverance, also experienced traumatic events while filming. They even had a preacher with them on set. The cast would pray with him every day before shooting.
In an interview with Sirius XM, the director explained what had happened while they were filming: “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 two days later, after being in the chemo scene, she was diagnosed with lung cancer, she was diagnosed with lung cancer – literally,” the director shared.
Daniels’ dog also tragically died on the set of the horror movie.
Mo’Nique, who plays a social worker in the movie, also had her thyroid go larger whilst filming a scene: “It was just sick,” she said. “Oh baby. I was like, ‘What kind of s— is this?’ It was a lot of things happening with The Deliverance.”
