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Brandon Lee: Hungry Ghosts, Cursed Movies, and a Goth Masterpiece

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Haunted by the legacy of his superstar father. Haunted by an old family curse. Brandon Lee tried to outrun his past, but it came after him all the same. It was said that his father, Bruce Lee, was taken by that family curse at just 32 years old. And that it then followed Brandon, when he was 28, to the set of The Crow, a cross between a superhero blockbuster and a brooding art film that was all goth. The shoot was plagued by injury, electrocution, storms, fires, and car crashes – and culminated in tragedy when a prop gun fired a real bullet.

Sources

Bruce Lee: A Life, by Matthew Polly

Disasters Plague the Set of “The Crow” (Entertainment Weekly)

Shadows on the Wall (Dike Blair)

Actor Brandon Lee Was Killed by a Prop Gun, Years before the ‘Rust’ Shooting Death (NPR)

The Brief Life and Unnecessary Death of Brandon Lee (Entertainment Weekly)

Alec Baldwin sues to ‘clear his name’ in movie set killing (NPR)

Brandon Lee’s Loved Ones Remember ‘The Crow’ Star 30 Years After His Death (CNN)

Brandon Lee Killed on Set (Variety)

The Tragedies Behind the Inspiration and Production of ‘The Crow’ (Collider)

Credits

Hosted by Jake Brennan.

Written by Bob Proehl.

Copy edited by James Sullivan.

Scored and mixed by Matt Tahaney.

Additional music and score elements by Ryan Spraker.

*illustrations by Avi Spivak @avispivak