Poltergeist MGM 1982 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Poltergeistposter.jpg
Poltergeist opened up the minds of movie audiences around the world to ghosts and EVP with this unforgettable
scene.This film still remains one of the best supernatural thrillers of its day, and was well ahead of its time.
In 1982, the movie "Poltergeist" written by Steven Spielberg and co-produced by Spielberg and Tobe Hooper, opened in theaters captivating audiences all over the world. The tag line "They're Here," uttered by the angelic Carole Anne (Heather O'Rourke) became a popular catchphrase in American culture. After watching only a few minutes of the movie we were hooked. The film opts to ghosts infiltrating our worldly space in the form of both lost and hostile spirits that haunt an American family. The popular movie spawned two sequels in its wake. But the film is also thought to have spawned more than sequels, many believe that a curse was born. Could this be just another Hollywood rumor that spun out of control or is there any validity in the Poltergeist curse? You decide for yourself.
Movie Synopsis
The movie opens up with the sign-off music of the "Star-Spangled Banner" on the television set, followed by static. Five year old Carol Anne rouses to the sound of the static on the television set, and is drawn to the voices of the "TV People" that are communicating with her clairaudibly. The little girl responds to questions asked of her. Her family wakes up unaware that the entities have revealed themselves to the gifted child with whom the film revolves around.
"They're Here!" Angelic Carol Anne Communicating with the TV people
Heather O'Rourke, the beautiful gifted child actress, played the gifted, Carol Anne Freeling.
She kept audiences enchanted while managing to keep us believing in the spirit world.
Like most hauntings, the Freeling family are initially more curious than spooked. As odd occurrences begin to take place, Diane Freeling is both excited and open-minded about the TV people and phenomenon taking place in her home.
But soon the excitement wears off and family's worst nightmares become reality when they are deluged by the spiritual world of unrested ghosts. As black ominous clouds roll over Queste Verde Estates, a raging storm hits, and seemingly innocuous objects become menacing and terrifying. Children's toys suddenly become animated, electrical problems occur throughout the house, trees come to life, and personal attacks from unseen forces take hold of the suburban family. Nothing is as it seems, and nothing will ever be the same for the Freeling family.
Robbie's ( Oliver Robbin) tree is every kids worst nightmare. Convinces us that trees can be evil and pose a great risk to little boys.
Next, Carol Anne is sucked into an unearthly portal by the entities. She is lost somewhere within the house, but on a different plain of existence. When the family discovers that they can communicate with her through the static on the television, they call for help. The family calls a paranormal investigative team for help and answers. They are amazed by what is taking place within the home.
In this memorable scene, Marty, (Martin Casella), Dr. Lesh (Beatrice Straight) and Ryan (Richard Lawson)
are transfixed by the spiritual activity taking place in the upstairs bedroom. Reminding us why we still loved this film.
They are able to capture amazing footage of spiritual entities living within the home, and are also subjected to personal attacks, which is more than they bargained for. They are truly terrified by what they believe to be poltergeist activity taking place within the home.
This ghostly entity proved to be the most spectacular highlight in the film.
When the team discovers that the phenomenon is more than they can handle, they call in the help of a psychic clairvoyant. Tangina (Zelda Rubinstein) enlightens the family of an evil entity known as "The Beast" that keeps Carol Anne in his unearthly plain of existence. But there are also other lost spirits that are attracted to the child's earthly energy that need to be guided to the spectral light, which is the next plain of existence.
Zelda Rubinstein's character Tangina Barren opened the minds of movie-goers to
the world of clairvoyance and psychics, while pulling off the role quite convincingly.
Now the battle to save the Carol Anne and the Freeling family begins. Diane must enter the portal, where the beast resides, and bring her daughter out before it's too late.
The Freelings pack up their belongings and are set to leave their home. But before they do, the beast, in all its fury returns to reclaim Carol Anne one last time. During the course of another storm, the Freelings discover that their house is built on a burial ground. As the storm rages, the ground gives way as coffins burst forth from the ground, spewing skeletal remains of the dearly departed from beneath the kitchen floor of the house and the swimming pool.
Diane comes up against the beast. She manages to save her children one last time before they are sucked into the portal. The family escapes the house before it disappears into the portal, as if it never existed. The Freelings are finally safe from the entity that longed to claim Carol Anne, and as the credits roll, many viewers are thinking what a cool movie that was.
Good thing that ghosts and haunted houses don't really exist. Well think again. And what of curses?
Listed below, by order, are some of the strange and sad occurrences
that are supposedly attributed to the "Poltergeist curse."
*On October 30, 1982, five months after the release of the first Poltergeist film, beautiful 22 year old actress Dominique Dunne, who played the eldest daughter Dana Freeling, was rehearsing lines for a new movie with fellow actor David Packer. Dunne's estranged boyfriend John Sweenie showed up at her house and began harassing her. She went outside to talk to him. An argument ensued and Dominique was strangled outside of her house.
Packer called the police after he heard a series of screams, a couple of smacks, a thud, and then ran out the back door. He claims he saw Sweenie bending over something. It turned out to be Dominique. When police showed up, Sweenie screamed, "I killed my girlfriend." Dominique was not dead at that point but was unconscious. She was taken to Cedars-Sinai Hospital where she lapsed into a coma and died five days later. She was the daughter of Dominick Dunne, novelist and Tru TV host of the show "Power, Privilege, and Justice." Dominique was buried at Westwood Memorial Park.
*While filming the movie Poltergeist, Joe Beth Williams experienced strange phenomenon in her own home. She claims that each day after filming, she returned home and the pictures on her walls were askew. She would straighten them, only to return the following day, after filming, to find them hanging haphazardly again and again.
*During a scene when Robbie Freeling (Oliver Robbins) was being attacked by the toy clown, the prop malfunctioned, actually choking the boy. Spielberg heard Oliver saying "I can't breath," and noticed the boy was turning blue. He ran to the aid of Robbins before the unthinkable could happen. Accident or something more ominous?
* James Khan claims that while working on the novelization for the movie, a freakish storm buffeted his building. Thunder and lightning shook the building so hard that when a bolt of lightning struck the building, it shook it so violently that the cover of his air conditioner blew off, thus striking him in the back while he was busy typing. Fact or fiction?
*During filming of the first Poltergeist movie, actress Jobeth Williams was anxious about the 'swimming pool scene because it involved her falling in the wet and muddy pool where electrical wires and lights were set up. She was afraid of being electrocuted. After Spielberg got in the pool with her she did the scene, but what Jo Beth was unaware of at the time was that the bodies in the muddy pool scene were actual corpses, and not movie props. This is a true story.
Williams later gave interviews about the pool scene. Spielberg was also unaware of this, but the movie was already completed by then. So if this was done for the sole purpose of adding authenticity to the scene, this might be deemed as sacrilegious to many, and it's quite possible that the dead were not too happy about this either?
Poltergeist II: The Other Side
Poltergeist II: The Other Side, packed a few good punches and had a few
memorable scenes and characters, but it paled in comparison with the first of
the trilogy. It could have been much better had it not been for the corny
ending.
Ghost of Kane "God is in his holy temple."
Reverend Kane (Julian Beck)
* While filming on the set of Poltergeist II, a feeling of unease was shared by many of the cast and crew. Actor Will Sampson, a Creek Indian and a real Shaman, actually performed an exorcism on the set, to rid it of negative spirits. A year after the movie was released, on June 3, 1987, Will died of complications from a heart-lung transplant.
Taylor the Shaman Poltergeist II
Will Sampson charmed audiences and also brought authenticity to the film by
bringing his real Shaman beliefs and skills to this second installment of the series.
In an interview, Craig T. Nelson later said, "I am convinced that the presence of Will Sampson on this film saved us from tragedy. Sampson not only plays a shaman, he is himself a shaman, and I believe that it cost him dearly in terms of his own personal health to see us safely through."
* Another story surfaced during filming, that real corpses used rather than film props. The corpses were used in the scene under the house in Queste Verde, in the cave.
* A couple of months after filming was completed for POLTERGEIST II, on September 24, 1985, actor Julian Beck, who played the diabolical Reverend Henry Kane, died after a long battle with stomach cancer.
Poltergeist III
Poltergeist III 1988 MGM
This last and final installment of the trilogy was largely a disappointment
and a good reminder of why you should just leave well enough alone.
* While shooting photos for Poltergeist III, one photo taken of Zelda Rubinstein had an anomalous bright light obstructing her face. Rubinstein claims the photo was taken at the moment of her mother's death, and attributed the light to a spiritual connection with her mother.
* During a scene in Poltergeist III, a fire destroyed a parking garage movie set while filming the scene, injuring most of the crew but one.
*While on break from filming the movie POLTERGEIST III, Heather O'Rourke, who played Carol Anne Freeling in all three movies, died from septic shock, from an intestinal blockage that burst. Her condition had been misdiagnosed for two years before it turned deadly. The movie resumed filming, with a stand-in to play O'Rourke's part.
Note: While Heather was on the operating table, her mother, Kathy O'Rourke saw the ghostly image of her child but didn't realize it at the time. Heather looked so real standing in front of her. While Kathy sat in the waiting room, Heather walked up to her mother in her nightgown. Her mother asked her what she was doing there in her nightgown. Heather answered, "I'm not coming back." Kathy asked her again what she meant, Heather repeated herself and disappeared. Kathy found out soon after her encounter, that her daughter had just passed away on the operating table. This is a true story.
Heather O'Rourke was buried in Westwood Memorial Park, very close to where her co-star Dominique Dunne was buried.
Other Events Attributed To The Curse
*Judith Barsi, another child who made a commercial with Heather O'Rourke for Rainbow Brite, was murdered, along with her mother, by her father, five months after Heather died. She was 10 years old.
* The house used in the first Poltergeist movie, in Simi Valley, California, was later damaged by the Northridge earthquake of 1994.
Other Deaths
Geraldine Fitzgerald (Grandma Jessica Wilson) Died: July 17, 2005
due to complications from Alzheimer's disease.
Beatrice Straight (Dr. Lesh) Died: April 7, 2001 of pneumonia.
Brian Gibson (Director of Poltergeist II: The Other Side) Died: January 4, 2004
of Ewing's Sarcoma which is strange in itself. This type of sarcoma is usually found in teenage males. The survival rate for Ewing's is usually very good.
Zelda Rubenstien passed away on January 2, 2010 from heart, kidney, and lung complications, after a long stay in the hospital.
In Conclusion
So was there a curse that followed after the filming of Poltergeist I, II, and III ? You could consider the passing of a few stars sadly unnatural or premature, and even horrific. But others were aware of their eventual demise and there is no mystery there. It does seem odd that certain events took place during the filming of all three movies. But if we are to assume that there was a Poltergeist curse, then shouldn't others involved in the films be subject to this curse also? Nobody can say for sure, but this is one Hollywood story that has many up in arms over the so called curse.
Is it possible that the disrespectful act of using real corpses in the filming of both Poltergeist I and II set off a chain of unfortunate events that spiraled out of control? Or could it be that the dark spiritual nature of the movie itself opened a doorway, inviting in a host of ghosts, and real phenomenon to take place? Or is this all just very sad coincidences? Perhaps no one will ever be able to prove or disprove that there was a curse. And perhaps this shall remain quite simply, just another Hollywood mystery.
What is certain is that during the filming of Poltergeist I, II, and III, a series of unfortunate events took place, and some very gifted and special people tragically passed away. I would like to pay respect to all of the deceased, and to their families. May they all rest in peace.
In Memory
Copyright©Sylvia Zimmer 2009
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