The film itself is considered cursed, because some of the people associated with the film have died very prematurely. The production used real human skeletons when filming the swimming pool scene.
Many of the people on the set were alarmed by this and led others to believe the "curse" on the film series was because of using real skeletons.
Craig Reardon, a special effects artist who worked on the film, said at the time that it was cheaper to purchase real skeletons than plastic ones, as the plastic ones involved labor in making them.
Williams was not afraid of the prop skeletons, but she was nervous working in water around so many electrically powered lights.
Producer Spielberg comforted her by being in the water during her scenes, claiming that if a light fell into the pool, they would both be killed.
