I’ve been fascinated with cursed objects ever since my mom first scared me with stories about those paintings of crying children that would supposedly survive raging fires while the house around them burned. Despite later learning that most of these yarns are nothing more than urban legends, I still find myself oddly attracted to tales about evil taking on a more abstract shape.
And in honor of Damian Mc Carthy’s Oddity taking the idea of cursed objects to the next level as the film unleashes horrors from its protagonist’s cabinet of curiosities, we’ve decided to come up with a list celebrating six of the spookiest cursed objects in horror media.
For the purposes of this list, we’ll be avoiding haunted dolls like Chucky and Annabelle, as I think the article will be much more entertaining if we focus on non-humanoid objects that pose more of an abstract threat. And while it won’t be featured on the list, I’d like to give a shout-out to Stephen King’s The Mangler, as I think the short story is a great example of how scary these things can be.
With that out of the way, don’t forget to comment below with your own cursed favorites if you think we missed a particularly scary one.
Now, onto the list…
6. The Psychic Television – Annabelle Comes Home (2019)
While I personally enjoyed the third entry in Annabelle’s solo franchise, I understand that the flick’s schlocky tone isn’t for everyone. That being said, I think even the harshest critics have to admit that the film’s decision to include a whole legion of cursed objects to serve as Annabelle’s minions was a stroke of genius. And out of the entire collection, my personal favorite addition was the Psychic Television Set.
Possibly inspired by the real-life Conjuring Mirror which actually resides in the Warren’s haunted museum, this eerie device can somehow see fifteen seconds into the future, playing back a recording of the viewer and forcing them to confront their (usually horrific) destiny in a deliciously existential twist.
To be honest, I’d love to see a whole film about a cursed TV set that drives its owners to madness, as I think that’s a much more original idea than a mere haunted doll.
5. The VHS Tape – Ringu (1998)
You can’t talk about cursed objects without bringing up the iconic videotape from Ringu, and there’s a good reason for that. A quintessential example of J-Horror, the idea that the very medium for appreciating scary movies can itself be a source of terror is an ingenious addition to the genre – especially when it’s accompanied by nightmarish imagery that sears itself into your brain.
That being said, I much prefer the original film’s implication that the videotape is the result of a bizarre mutation of the smallpox virus combined with Sadako’s eldritch DNA rather than the American remake’s more straightforward interpretation of it being a traditionally supernatural curse.
4. The Dybbuk Box – The Possession (2012)
I find it baffling how there are only a handful of films about the legend of the Dybbuk Box. Regardless of whether or not you believe in the eBay-listing-turned-scary-story, you’ve got to admit that the idea of a seemingly innocuous household item being the source of unstoppable evil is an undoubtedly interesting premise for a movie.
Thankfully, there’s at least one feature that at least tries to do the story some justice, and that’s 2012’s underrated The Possession. While it’s not quite as terrifying as the original legend (mostly due to some overly cinematic exaggeration that borrows from existing films), it’s still one hell of a spooky romp that dares to explore a non-Christian form of demonology.
3. The Painting – Portrait of God (2022)
As I mentioned before, I’m a sucker for cursed paintings, which is why I’d like to break tradition by featuring an object from an online short film on this list. Released in 2022, Dylan Clark’s Portrait of God is a low budget YouTube video that only takes a couple of minutes to watch, but I guarantee that you’ll be thinking about it long after the credits roll.
Taking inspiration from other iconic stories about cursed media (like The King in Yellow and Antrum), this brief nightmare introduces viewers to a painting so haunting that a mere photograph of it is enough to consume viewers in a horrific spiritual awakening. If it were up to me, this one would have already been expanded into a big-budget feature.
2. The Embalmed Hand – Talk to Me (2022)
Danny and Michael Philippou’s Talk to Me took the world by storm with its unexpectedly fresh take on ghostly apparitions, and a huge part of its success is owed to the film’s introduction of a new and memorable cursed object. Part sinister arts-&-crafts project, part addiction metaphor, the embalmed hand has since become a staple of cheap Halloween décor – and for good reason.
In fact, the directing duo is already hard at work on a sequel that will likely expand on the origins of this iconic little hand, though I’d appreciate it if they left the details enigmatically vague. Of course, “Talk 2 Me” will only be hitting theaters after the filmmakers’ next project, A24’s upcoming Bring Her Back.
1. The Lasser Glass – Oculus (2014)
Mike Flanagan may be a household name because of his incredible streaming shows, but it’s really his underrated motion pictures that turned me into a fan. However, from Doctor Sleep to Hush, my favorite Flanagan production has to be 2014’s incredibly disturbing Oculus – a perfect example of cursed object horror.
Following a pair of traumatized siblings as they face off against the evil mirror that ruined their lives, Oculus makes the most of subtle mind-games and altered perspectives while also proving that the secret to having audiences fear for your characters is making them likable.
Oddity is now available on Digital at home.
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