Director Lee Daniels has spoken out about the strange events that took place on the set of his new Netflix horror film, The Redemptionwhich is based on a true story.

The film, starring Andra Day, Glenn Close, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor and Mo’Nique, follows Ebony Jackson (Day), a single mother who struggles with her personal demons and moves her family to a new home to start over.

But when strange occurrences at home raise the suspicions of child protective services and threaten to tear the family apart, Ebony soon finds herself embroiled in a battle for her life and the souls of her children.

It is based on a 2014 Indianapolis Star article, “The Exorcisms of Latoya Ammons,” about a mother who claimed she and her three children were tormented by dark figures and swarms of black flies.

In a recent interview with Sirius XM and his cast, Daniels said he held prayer circles on set to prevent supernatural incidents.

“Things happen, and I didn’t want things to happen on my set, but I also needed it for myself,” Daniels said.

“And even with that, there were still things that happened on set that were — my sister is my good luck charm in every movie I’ve ever done, and she was in the scene with Glenn in the chemo scene, and she’s the one who kind of gave her attitude in the chemo scene,” Daniels said.

“And two days later, after she was in the chemo scene, she was diagnosed with lung cancer – literally. My dog ​​died on set.”

Mo’Nique, who plays a social worker in the film, said she was hospitalized after filming a particularly dramatic scene.

“Mr. Daniels had me do a scene, okay? And we’re outside. It was just, the demon was supposed to be on top of the building, so they kept blowing this up… I mean, at one point I was like, ‘Lee, do we have to have this shit, because I can’t breathe,'” Mo’Nique said.

She added: “So when I finished, my thyroid was a big… I mean, it was just sick. Oh, honey. I was like, ‘What is this shit?’ There was all this shit going on with The Redemption.”

Stories of spooky happenings have been a common occurrence on horror film sets since 1973. The Exorcist.

During filming, several cast members—and their families—died unexpectedly, including star Linda Blair’s grandfather. Production was also halted after a sudden electrical fire ravaged the set, prompting a priest to exorcise the filming location.

The Redemption is now available on Netflix.