Poltergeist is a classic 80s horror movie that is so popular that it is still one of the most quoted movies of all time. It also was remade in 2015, though it was not received very well. After the original Poltergeist film was released, the public started to notice some oddly timed events and mysteries surrounding the cast and crew. Some even say that the paranormal story created by Steven Speilberg cursed those involved with making it. And when those who are brave enough look at all of the facts, it doesn't sound like too far fetched of an idea.
The first and most well-known story of tragic or strange events comes from the death of the two young female stars of the original movie. Heather O'Rourke, who played Carol Anne, died at the age of twelve due to undetected intestinal stenosis. She had no symptoms when she suddenly collapsed on January 31, 1988 around 9:20 am. She had just had her twelfth birthday one month prior. When O'Rourke passed away, she had just finished filming the third installment in the franchise. Many see her death as an omen or sign of the cursed surrounding the film.
Dominique Ellen Dunne played Carol Anne's older sister. At the age of twenty-two, just days before her birthday, Dominique was strangled to death by her ex-boyfriend in the driveway of her own home. It was the night before Halloween. She was in a coma for five days never regaining consciousness before she passed away. Her killer's actions were seen as "a crime of passion" and he was out of prison in three and a half years. Not only do people think the curse is what caused Dominique to never regain consciousness, but they also believe that the evil curse allowed her killer to walk away practically unpunished.
Several crew members shared stories about how they felt like they were being watched or haunted by ghosts while filming the movies. They said things would be moved around their houses when they got back home from shooting. The film was also being written into a novel and writer James Kahn has a few of his own paranormal experiences. During a freak lightening storm, a bolt of lightening struck his apartment building causing of piece of his air conditioning unit to be thrown across the room. He says this is no accident, as the piece of plastic flew directly at him, hitting his back in what appears to be an attack of some kind. Actor Zelda Rubinstein said that during a cast photoshoot, she had some sensitivity to the flash of the camera when a photo was taken. She believes her sensitivity to the flash of the camera was her mother's spirit, who died sometime during her photoshoot.
What could have caused the cast and crew to become cursed, though? During the scene where actor JoBeth Williams—who plays Carol Anne's mother Diane—was thrown into the swimming pool, she was attacked by undead skeletons. The actor thought the skeletons were fake props, but later found out that they belonged to real corpses. The prop team bought the very real skeletons cheaply and used them in the actual set. Some say that this contributed to the curse. The prop team used real skeletons because they were cheaper than making props.
The female actors are not the only ones who have suffered from the supposed curse. Oliver Robbins (the brother) has one of the scariest scenes in the movie when he is attacked by his evil clown doll. Because of the technology available during the time of filming, the doll had to be made into an animatronic so it could pull off the scene where Robbie is strangled and pulled under his bed. But a complication caused young Oliver Robbins to be put in real danger. He claims that if producer Steven Speilberg had not seen the accident that almost caused Robbins to be strangled for real, he does not know if he would be alive today.
The sequel introduced a character played by Will Sampson, who believed the set was being haunted and even preformed an exorcism to rid the cast and crew of the evil spirits. Sampson died shortly after the film was released from kidney failure. His illness lasted some time, and he suffered from malnourishment after losing an excessive amount of weight due to his illness. Perhaps whatever cursed those involved with Poltergeist didn't like that Sampson tried to banish it and attached itself to him causing his death.
During the filming of the second and third movies, the crew experienced some unexplained events such as malfunctioning props, lights turning on and off by themselves, and electricity shortening out. Many claimed to hear unexplained noises and voices as well as see a shadowy figure always somewhere nearby on the set. A special effects explosion meant to be contained somehow ignited several vehicles which resulted in three cast members and two crew members to be severely injured. Though the events in the film were fiction, many believe that the use of actual skeletons led to the very real curse of Poltergeist.