10 spooky facts about “Poltergeist”
01. Who directed it?
To this day the rumor persists that in reality it wasn’t Tobe Hooper, but… Steven Spielberg directed the filming. Spielberg denies this, Hooper said nothing about it (and he died on August 26, 2017). In 2017, the then camera assistant and current director, John Leonetti, added fuel to the fire. Spielberg was tied to the pre-production of “ET” and could therefore only have acted outside of the contract. Officially, the 36-year-old directing star acted as producer – his debut in this executive role.
In fact, there is no denying a similarity to Spielberg’s themes at the time – family disintegration, family comeback, humor and warmth of suburbanites, BMX bikes, fascination with “Star Wars” – in “Poltergeist”. Colleague Tobe Hooper was more familiar to shock fans at the time; he directed, among other things, “Blood Court in Texas” (“The Texas Chain Saw Massacre”) and the TV adaptation of Stephen King’s “Salem Must Burn”.
Allegedly, Spielberg would have officially directed “Poltergeist” as a director – if Hooper had accepted his offer to direct “ET”.
02. Spielberg’s filmography didn’t hurt “Poltergeist”…
…but had he been listed here as a director, his winning streak would have suffered a slight interruption. Since “Jaws” in 1975, Spielberg has almost only had hits: “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” (1977) and “Raiders of the Lost Ark” (1981) were box office successes, later “Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Deaths” (1984) continue the run; only “1941” failed at the box office in 1979.
“Poltergeist” fell slightly short of expectations, grossing $76 million. In the end it was enough for eighth place among the most successful films in 1982. In first place: Spielberg’s “ET” with 359 million. But the filmmaker loved both babies: “ET was the whisper, ‘Poltergeist’ was the scream,” he said.
03. Scary clowns existed before Stephen King
Although Stephen King began his most famous novel to date, “It,” in the same year that “Poltergeist” was released in the cinema: 1982, it wasn’t until four years later that he was finished with the story about the alien shape-shifter who is primarily known to children If the clown faces Pennywise, that’s it.
Today, Pennywise is considered the epitome of the scary clown. But in “Poltergeist,” it’s the ghost-animated toy doll that Hooper and Spielberg used to awaken children’s fears: Who’s watching me as I sleep, who’s lurking under the bed? Funnily enough, King was even offered to write the script, but the negotiations failed.
The clown doll now lives in a “Planet Hollywood” branch in Caesars Palace, Las Vegas.
04. The Poltergeist Curse
Several crew members died in high-profile ways in the years following the 1982 premiere. Dominique Dunne (in the role of Dana Freeling) was strangled to the point of brain death by her partner that same year; she succumbed to the injury five days later at the age of 22.
Heather O’Rourke (Carol Anne) died in 1988 at the age of 12 from complications of emergency surgery resulting from an intestinal obstruction. Her last film was “Poltergeist III.” Both actresses have their graves at Westwood Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles.
Lou Perry (Pugsley) was killed with an ax in 2009 by a thief who tried to tamper with his car; he was 67.
All three deaths support the fan theory that there is a curse on “Poltergeist”. The curse originated in the fact that real skeletons were used as an effect during filming.
If the curse exists, Richard Lawson (spirit researcher Ryan) got lucky. In 1992, he was on board a commercial airliner that crashed. Of the 51 passengers, 27 were killed; Ryan was one of the survivors.
05. Poltergeist Curse, the Second:
In Robbie’s (Oliver Robins) room there is a poster from Superbowl XXII, which would not take place until six years later. Heather O’Rourke died that year, 1988, in San Diego – the day after the football championship final, which took place in: San Diego.
06. Homage from “The Sixth Sense”
Director M. Night Shyamalan paid rather unnoticed tribute to the “Poltergeist” with his ghost drama “The Sixth Sense” (1999). When mother Lynn (Toni Collette) briefly leaves the kitchen and then returns, her son Cole (Haley Joel Osment) sits quietly at the table, but all the cupboard doors are open, opened by the dead souls. The same thing happens in Poltergeist (with Jobeth Williams as the mother and Heather O’Rourke as the daughter).
07. Spielberg got in his own way at the Oscars
“Poltergeist” was nominated for three Academy Awards and was one of the favorites in its categories – and came away empty-handed in all three cases. Winner: “ET”, for the sound editing, the special effects and, in the race of the giants, for the soundtrack: Jerry Goldsmith lost out to John Williams.
By the way, the title track “Carol Anne’s Theme” is available on YouTube as an unreleased version with vocals – “Bless This House”.
08. Killer Line
The American Film Institute (AFI) selected a sentence from “Poltergeist” in its list of the “100 best movie quotes”: “They’re here” made it to number 69. With these words Carol Anne announces the Poltergeists enter the house.
This rating is in good company, bookended by “Is It Safe?” (“The Marathon Man”) at 70th and “Here’s Johnny” (from “The Shining”) at 68th.
By the way, the “Godfather” quote “I’m Gonna Make Him An Offer He Can’t Refuse” isn’t in first place, which only made it to second place. The top spot goes to: “Frankly, My Dear, I Don’t Give A Damn” from “Gone with the Wind”.
09. Body count
Number of people killed in “Poltergeist”: 0. Number of animals killed: 1 (bird)
10. Who is haunting there?
Strictly speaking, the ghost is not a poltergeist, but a normal ghost that is just a little angry. Poltergeists target people and follow them wherever they go, regardless of the house.
But the film is about the property that the Freelings live in, which disturbs the peace of the dead: a former Indian burial site.