20 Superstitions That Should Be Movies

Don't walk under a ladder

The Plot: After ad man Aldo Bowers walks under a ladder en route to work, it seems he's beaten superstition after winning a new account for mysterious client, Nathaniel Porter.

However, by walking under the ladder, Aldo has insulted the Holy Trinity and paved the way for Porter - the Devil himself - to reclaim the Earth through subliminal advertising.

The Cast: Jason Segel as Aldo Bowers, Robert Downey Jr as Nathaniel Porter

Dream Director: Judd Apatow

Key Scene: Porter imprisons Bowers in hell, where he's shocked to find that all of his fellow prisoners are also ad execs.

Don't Open an Umbrella in the House

The Plot: When Rosemary Faulkner opens her umbrella indoors, she finds herself prey to violent monsters.

This is because her guiding spirits, slighted by her use of the brolly, have abandoned her, so Rosemary has to undergo a perilous pilgrimage to the spirit world to make amends.

The Cast: Kate Winslet as Rosemary

Dream Director: Terry Gilliam

Key Scene: Rosemary takes a wrong turn in the sprit world and is transformed into a goblin.

Always have something in the oven

The Plot: Jewish student Abe Goldman finds out that his dad has only been able to put him through college by taking a loan from gangster Harvey Ray.

When Harvey's life is threatened by rivals, he calls in the favour by taking refuge with Abe, who soon realises how demanding it is to housesit a mobster.

The Cast: Jesse Eisenberg as Abe, Dustin Hoffman as Harvey

Dream Directors: Joel and Ethan Coen

Key Scene: Harvey goes ballistic on one of Abe's friends, who only popped around to play XBox but finds himself with a gun rammed down his throat.

Touch wood

The Plot: In a post-apocalyptic Earth where there is no more vegetation, a single tree grows.

People come from all around to steal this symbolic twig, and a gun-toting gardener is the only man who can fend off the hordes and let the tree grow.

The Cast: Sharlto Copley as The Gardener.

Dream Director: Andrew Dominik

Key Scene: During a violent gun battle, a leaf is blasted off the tree. The fighting stops as - in slow motion - The Gardener and his enemies watch the damaged leaf float to the ground.

Never bring old brooms into new houses

The Plot: Broom and House are the best of friends, but when his owner forgets to leave him at home, he has to deal with an obnoxious new home that doesn't want him there.

The Cast: Harry Dean Stanton as Broom, Justin Timberlake as Homie.

Dream Director: John Lasseter

Key Scene: Broom organises a revolution of all of Homie's appliances, including Whistler (an kettle), and Pops (a toaster).

Cross Your Fingers

The Plot: Clifford Stone has achieved huge success despite an unusual deformity in his hand.

Now a millionaire, he decides to finally repair the damage, but soon his empire starts to crumble. Could it be that he has to cross his fingers again to save things?

The Cast: Jim Carrey as Clifford Stone

Dream Director: David Cronenberg

Key Scene: Clifford takes desperate measures and welds his fingers together.

Never light three cigarettes with the same match

The Plot: World War One. In a tragic accident, Millard lights a cigarette for fellow soldiers and friends Chadwick and Truman, the latter is picked out by German snipers alerted by the match.

The survivors become bitter rivals, with Chadwick gunning for Millard against the backdrop of the big push.

The Cast: Andrew Garfield as Millard, Paul Dano as Chadwick, Hayden Christiansen as Truman

Dream Director: Paul Thomas Anderson

Key Scene: Chadwick corners Millard in a trench and is about to tear out his throat when an exploding German bomb blasts them to the ground.

Don't put a hat on a bed

The Plot: Travelling salesman Barney Barry accidentally leaves his homburg on the sheets, and is startled when a body grows out of it.

Now the frightening, faceless Hatman is intent on killing him.

The Cast: Tom Hanks as Barney Barry, Doug Jones as the Hatman

Dream Director: David Lynch

Key Scene: Barney tries to find refuge in a crowd...but it's rush hour and everybody is wearing a hat.

Kiss a Mustachioed Man, End Up A Spinster

The Plot: Amy can have every man she ever wanted, but after snogging a guy with facial hair, her luck turns.

Convinced it's the guy's fault, she has to track him down and convince him to shave his 'tache off.

The Cast: Ellen Page as Amy; George Clooney as The Guy With The 'Tache.

Dream Director: Jason Reitman

Key Scene: The Guy With The 'Tache names his price: Amy has to get a Brazillian first.

Four-leaf clovers bring good luck

The Plot: When Seamus Conway man finds a four-leaf clover, he becomes the subject of bitterness and resentment amongst the villagefolk.

They soon decide to gang up on him and steal the clover...so it's a good job he's got all that luck, eh?

The Cast: Brendan Gleeson as Seamus; Bronagh Gallagher as the villagers' ringleader

Dream Director: Martin McDonagh

Key Scene: Decades of Oirish stereotypes come under fire when the villagers hire an IRA hit squad, disguised as a Riverdance troupe, to bump off Seamus.

Breaking a mirror means seven years' bad luck

The Plot: Jeremy Colbourne breaks a mirror and finds his soul in pieces - split into reflections of his personality.

Now he is at war with himself, and the really bad news is he's stuck this way for the next seven years.

The Cast: Daniel Day-Lewis as every single manifestation of Jeremy Colbourne.

Dream Director: Guillermo Del Toro

Key Scene: Day-Lewis' tour de force as Colbourne's volcanic rage and Colbourne's towering ego tag-team against Colbourne's weakling humility.

Carrots are good for your eyesight

The Plot: Biopic of Air Chief Marshal Sir H.C.T. "Stuffy" Dowding, the leader of RAF Fighter Command during the Battle of Britain.

It was Stuffy who developed the Dowding System, the radar-based strategy that enabled the Brits to stop the Luftwaffe invasion.

The Cast: Jason Isaacs as Stuffy Dowding

Dream Director: Stephen Frears

Key Scene: Dowding explains his plan to lull the Germans into a false sense of security by feeding misinformation to spies.

Specifically, his staff are to propagate the myth that his men are eating lots of carrots to help them see in the dark!

If a friend gives you a knife, you should give him a coin, or your friendship will soon be broken.

The Plot: When professional killer Elmo Brock carries out a hit for best friend, mob boss Hershel Keller, the two squabble over whether the kill was a job or a favour.

Things get out of hand and bloody, interspersed with the rivals' mutual friends arguing over the ethics of the deal.

The Cast: Samuel L. Jackson as Elmo Brock; Christoph Waltz as Hershel Keller.

Dream Director: Quentin Tarantino

Key Scene: Brock invades Keller's home and kills all of his guards, simply to take back the DVD of the obscure kung-fu movie he'd lent him.

Don't Chew Gum at night in Turkey

The Plot: Holiday-maker Clement Combs is offered after-meal gum by the mysterious Restauranteur.

His dining companions tell him not to, but he goes ahead anyway.. only to learn he's chewing on the flesh of the dead. Uh-oh: now he can only eat the human dead.

The Cast: Simon Pegg as Clement Combs; Javier Bardem as The Restauranteur

Dream Director: Sam Raimi

Key Scene: Reluctant serial killer Clement draws up his list of professions he doesn't mind eating. First choice - gnawing the arms off arms dealers.

To dream of a lizard is a sign that you have a secret enemy

The Plot: Jacob Kidd is a high-flying businessman who will stop at nothing to wipe out his competition.

Yet when he meets femme fatale Imelda Christensen, he finds himself plagued by demented dreams.

The Cast: Vincent Cassel as Jacob Kidd; Eva Green as Imelda Christensen.

Dream Director: Lars Von Trier

Key Scene: When the dream-lizard talks to Jacob, he freaks out and tears off its head. But it keeps on talking regardless...

Black cats bring bad luck

The Plot: When a black cat crosses Sadie Armstrong's path, she becomes the plaything of a coven of malicious witches...

Or, at least, that what she thinks until she realises it's kind of fun being a witch.

The Cast: Anne Hathaway as Sadie; Laura Linney, Annette Bening and Frances McDormand as the coven.

Dream Director: Kathryn Bigelow

Key Scene: Sadie's inaugural broomstick ride sees her join in with the witches when they terrorise a biker gang.

A rabbit's foot brings good luck

The Plot: Things start to go great for Emily Wells when her uncle gives her a rabbit's foot. New job, new flat, new fella.

...Until the maimed rabbit turns up and demands she look after him.

The Cast: Carey Mulligan as Emily, Michael Caine as the voice of Hobbles The Rabbit.

Dream Director: Wes Anderson

Key Scene: The comedic chase sequence - soundtracked to Jefferson Airplane's White Rabbit - in which Hobbles has to run, as best he can, to save Emily.

Don't Praise Babies in China

The Plot: Zhang Shan Ming and Zhang Wo Rui have had their first baby but are horrified when a Western friend compliments the infant.

As per Chinese legend, the praise attracts the attention of demons, and soon the baby's parents have to kick-ass against the spirit world.

The Cast: Chow Yun Fat and Michelle Yeoh as the Zhangs, Shia LaBeouf as the friend.

Dream Director: John Woo

Key Scene: Things get messy when the demons attack during a nappy change.

Wear underwear inside out

The Plot: Geeky college student Aaron McKee manages to pull the hottest girl on campus but - having to escape the girl's hall of residence in a hurry - he accidentally puts his pants on wrong.

When news gets out, the fashion faux pas starts a new trend, as everybody on campus (and then the whole of Britain) follows...er...suit.

The Cast: Rupert Grint as Aaron McKee

Dream Director: Armando Inanucci

Key Scene: During Question Time, the Prime Minister is ridiculed when it becomes clear he's wearing his pants the right way.

If you feel a chill up your spine, someone is walking on your future grave

The Plot: Experiencing the 'graveyard chill,' Evan Weaver discovers he can communicate with the woman walking on his grave.

Now it's up to Helen Hargreaves to solve Evan's murder before it happens.

The Cast: Johnny Depp as Evan Weaver; Zooey Deschanel as Helen Hargreaves.

Dream Director: Peter Jackson

Key Scene: In simultaneous climaxes, Helen confronts the killer in the future at the same time he's stalking Evan in the present day.