The Spookiest Thing That Happened On The Set Of The Craft
When "The Craft" premiered in 1996, the R-rated movie about four teenage girls practicing witchcraft became an instant cult classic. The fact that director Andy Fleming hired an actual practicing Wiccan, Pat Devin, to oversee the rituals used on set makes the movie even more fascinating (via Vice). The film, which inspired legions of teenage girls to develop an interest in the occult, centered around Nancy, Rochelle, Bonnie, and Sarah, a group of misfits who became deeply imbued in the world of witchcraft and were shown performing a variety of spells, some of which were more unsettling than others.
Apparently there were some strange things happening behind the scenes of "The Craft," which seems pretty on-brand for a movie about magic. As director Andy Fleming revealed during an interview with HuffPost in 2016, there were several spooky incidents that occurred while they were filming, specifically during scenes where the actresses were performing witchy rituals.
Fleming discussed one incident in particular that took place while shooting the movie's infamous beach scene, which is easily the spookiest thing that happened on the set of "The Craft."
The atmosphere was spooky on the set of "The Craft"
Director Andy Fleming recalls the scene being a little too-well timed to be mere coincidence. As he described to HuffPost in 2016, "When they were calling the corners on the beach, the park ranger had said, 'This is the highest the waves will go at high tide,' so we moved our circle of fire inland from there. But it was just this odd thing where, when the girls started the incantations, the waves kind of came up. And at one point, a wave came and wiped the whole set out."
Fleming added, "It's actually in the movie very briefly. When the camera is spinning around, a wave wipes out the fire. It just seemed like every time we went outside, something happened. It was a spooky atmosphere on set, but I think people joked about it."
How weird is that? And that wasn't the only odd thing that happened while they were filming "The Craft."
Strange things happened throughout the course of filming
In addition to the set being washed away by a giant wave following one of the most intense rituals in "The Craft," several other strange things happened periodically. As director Andy Fleming described in an interview with The Guardian, the forecast would be clear for filming, only for a sudden rainstorm to appear without warning. Fleming also mentioned that a flock of crows "flew in out of nowhere" while they were shooting a different scene.
In another curious incident, actress Rachel True recalled, "There was definitely weird energy around, and we were followed around by a white owl to several different locations" (via ScreenRant). Now that's definitely strange! Since some of the spells used in "The Craft" were based on actual Wiccan rituals, we're not surprised to learn that things took an unusual turn when the actresses were performing these incantations on set.