Curse of the Black Goat

by M.P. Pellicer | Stranger Than Fiction Stories
Incubus was a 1966 American horror film, starring soon to be Captain Kirk, William Shatner. However its claim to fame has more to do with the streak of misfortune that struck many that were involved in the film.

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The 1966 film Incubus disappeared until it was rediscovered in 1996 in France

The movie was directed by Leslie Stevens who created The Outer Limits, and shot in black and white. The actors spoke their lines in the constructed language Esperanto to create an otherworldly feeling. The plot surrounds the efforts of a succubus and incubus to lead human souls into perdition. Even in the 1960s, it was considered an underground film, and perhaps many were unaware of the curse that would nip at the heels of those involved in its production.

The setting is a small village named Nomen Tuum during a lunar eclipse. There are two succubus sisters, Kia (played by Allyson Ames) and Amael (played by Eloise Hardt). Kia determines to seduce an innocent or clean soul. The intended victim is William Shatner's character, a wounded soldier. At the end of the film, the question is, does purity overcome corruption?

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Milos Milos who played the part of the Incubus in the film was involved in a murder suicide in 1966.

The incubus was played by Serbian Milos Milos (born Miloš Milošević), who was a stunt double and bodyguard for actor Alain Delon. He was the first to suffer the consequences of working in the film.

In 1965, while still married to Cynthia Bouron, Milos started an affair with actress Carolyn Mitchell (born Barbara Ann Thomason), who was estranged from her husband Mickey Rooney. Shortly after the release of Incubus, in February, 1966, Barbara Thomason Rooney, 29, and Milos, 24, were found dead in the bathroom of the home she once shared with Mickey Rooney and their four young children. Milos shot his lover under the chin, and then put a bullet in his brain. The police believed it was a murder suicide spurred by Milos' belief that Barbara was seeking to reconcile with Mickey. 

During the incident Rooney was at St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica, recovering from an intestinal infection he caught in the Philippines while filming Ambush Bay. The story was that Rooney had returned from the Philippines in December to find that his estranged wife had taken up with Milos, who had been a friend of the family for a year. A week before the incident Rooney had filed for divorce. The day of the murder, Mickey and Barbara met at the hospital, and Rooney tried to convince her to resume their marriage, and she agreed to stop seeing Milos. No doubt she was also convinced to reconcile since her husband would be seeking custody of their children.

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Milos Milos who played the incubus in the film killed Barbara Rooney and then himself c.1966

Barbara had started out as a teenage beauty queen, went on to modeling and she aspired to be an actress, appearing in a couple of B films.

On August 12, 1958 she made the newspapers but for the wrong reason. Headlines read: "Starlet Takes Sleeping Pills at Mickey Rooney’s Home."

The explanation given was that she had taken the pills accidentally, and after getting woozy she was stripped down to her birthday suit, dunked in Rooney's pool by friends, and finally ended up being dropped off at a hospital emergency room.

Four months later she became Mrs. Rooney No. 5 in a Mexican ceremony; problem was that Rooney hadn't yet secured a divorce from wife No. 4. Five months later a lawful marriage took place in Los Angeles.

Between 1959 to 1963, Barbara gave birth to four babies.

As the family expanded, Rooney's money decreased significantly. He went bankrupt in 1962 despite earning $12 million throughout his acting career thus far. The IRS went after him for $100,000 in back taxes.

Instead of a glamorous acting career she got marriage to a broke actor who was almost 20 years older than her. And to make matters worse he would also cheat on her.

​Who knows what drove Barbara Rooney into the arms of another man, and perhaps she didn't know that Milos' wife Cynthia had already filed for divorce charging him with assault.

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Three of Rooney's children being escorted from crime scene

Initially Milosevic agreed to ending the relationship, and this surprised the guests since he was known for having a fiery temper. He then took Barbara into the master bedroom and locked the door. This was the last time either was seen alive. The next day a house guest unlocked the bedroom door, and found Barbara Rooney shot through the jaw. Milos' body was on top of hers; he had a bullet hole through his temple. Official inquiry found that Milos had shot Thomason with Rooney's chrome-plated .38 caliber revolver. No one could explain why the shots were not heard, even though her children and a maid were in bedrooms just down the hall.

​Rumors swirled that Rooney was the one who killed them in revenge for their betrayal. He would go on to marry three more times.
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The children were raised by their maternal grandmother.

In a strange twist, it appeared the being Alain Delon's bodyguard came with its own run of bad luck. Stevan Markovic who was Delon's bodyguard after Milos left for Hollywood, was found murdered in a Paris rubbish dump in 1969. The police investigation disclosed allegations of sex parties involving Delon, and other French government officials.

​In 1969, the BBC interviewed Delon about what became known as the "Markovic Affair". ​

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Reporter: People, once more, don't say it straight to your face but they suggest very very strongly that you have homosexual tastes?

Delon: So what's wrong if I had? Or I did? Would I be guilty of something? If I like it I'll do it. We have a great actor in France named Michel Simon and Michel Simon said once, "If you like your goat, make love with your goat." But the only matter is to love.

Ann Atmar (1939-1966)

But getting back to the Incubus curse; shortly after the release of the film Leslie Stevens' production company went bankrupt. He was married to Alysson Ames, and they divorced.

Shatner's sister in the film is raped by a goat, which is the incubus in disguise. She is played by actress Ann Atmar. She committed suicide in October, 1966.

Only days before her death she was keeping company with Jay Sebring at an event at the Century Plaza. Three years later Sebring would be ritually killed by the Manson family when staying with Sharon Tate at her home on Benedict Canyon. 

In 1968, Marina Habe, 17, the daughter of another actress in the film, Eloise Hardt who played the other succubus, was viciously murdered. Her body was found dumped off Mulholland Drive. The killers were never found.

Some believe she was the victim of members of the Manson family. A year later, Sharon Tate and her unborn child would be murdered by the Manson and his followers. Tate had attended the premiere of Incubus with her husband Roman Polanski.

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Scene from Incubus film c.1966

The film thought to be lost was found in France in 1996, with French subtitles at the Cinematheque Francaise.

Some were spared from the dark shadow cast by Incubus. Shatner would go on to become one of Hollywood’s most recognizable actors. Cinematographer Conrad Hall would go on to win three Academy Awards for his work on Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, American Beauty, and Road to Perdition.

In his book Shatner Rules, Shatner described that a few months after the end of filming, he was in a make up chair for Star Trek, "when a rock came crashing through the trailer window." He found a note attached to it, which read, "You're next Shatner! The Esperantists!" It said they were angry because they had not been consulted during the course of the film and "ticked off" they were excluded from the premiere. They also asked for autographs from Shatner and their requests had been ignored, so they decided to curse Incubus and "anyone who laid eyes on the film." Shatner writes that he destroyed every copy of the movie he came across. ​

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