Cursed Films 2: Stalker
An eerily prescient film in more ways than one, 1979 Russian cult classic Stalker is rumored to have killed its actors and director-and ultimately help to create cottage industry tourism in radioactive Chernobyl.
Photo credit: Criterion/RUSCICO
The Plot
Based loosely on the Strugatsky brothers’ 1971 novel “Roadside Picnic,” Stalker follows a guide-called a Stalker-into the forbidden zone, an area that had an extra-terrestrial event occur. Rumored to be nestled deep in the zone is a room that, when entered, will grant your deepest desire. But getting to the room isn’t guaranteed, as the landscape of the Zone itself seems to change at every turn.
Cursed Before Filming Began
Scouting for shooting locations, director Andrei Tarkovsky had planned on filming near abandoned Chinese mines. An earthquake destabilized the area, and Tarkovsky was forced to move his location to Tallinn, the capital of Estonia.
The Film
Stalker was originally shot on a new type of Kodak film; for some reason, Tarkovsky never checked the daily rushes. This proved costly. The film was either damaged, or was developed improperly. Footage was rumored to be useless, and Tarkovsky used this to fire crew, and rehire new.
Like fellow cursed film The Wizard of Oz, this film starts out in sepia tones, and eventually turns to color.
The Water
Many scenes put the actors and director in the waters of the Jägala, downstream from a chemical plant that dumped waste directly into the river.
This, not a curse, killed two main actors-and Tarkovsky. It is believed the water was full of carcinogens.
An eerie scene in the deadly water is more accurate than a crystal ball: floating in the water is a torn calendar. The date? The exact same day that Tarkovsky was to die seven years later.
Chernobyl
The film centers around a forbidden zone, one potentially deadly to humans. The movie was filmed almost a decade before a nuclear disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant made the city of Pripyat a deadly no go zone for humans. Anyone venturing in the area must take precautions, lest the radiation kills them.
The Stalker Industry is Real…Now
Guides who take curious tourists through the very real, very dangerous area around Chernobyl have taken the moniker of the movie’s namesake. Food wagons sell Stalker themed food and treats nearby. Tallinn also has Stalker fans seeking out shooting locations to see how time has changed them.
There have been not one, but two video games based on the film; the first Burning Man was inspired by the film. Music, books, and other media all bear traces of this Tartovsky masterpiece.
The film is no picnic(pun intended). It begins-and never stops-its bleak story. But to its fans, it rises above alleged curses and mishaps to give them the hope it never shows on the big screen.
Cursed Films is a Shudder exclusive.
Stalker is available on some streaming services, and DVD.
