Ghosts & Hauntings

'Poltergeist' movie curse endures 38 years on

By T.K. Randall
June 5, 2020

Image: AI-generated (Bing AI / Dall-E 3) Directed by Tobe Hooper and produced by Stephen Spielberg, the original 'Poltergeist' told the terrifying tale of a family who became besieged by a malicious haunting that culminated in their youngest daughter being pulled through a portal to the 'other side'.

Some of the stories that arose following the film's release however would end up becoming almost as famous as the film itself. Many of them, including the rumor that the crew used real skeletons instead of fake ones to save money, turned out to be completely true.

Most chilling of all however was the amount of misfortune that befell the cast and crew in the years during and following the filming of the movie and its two sequels.

Just after the movie was released in 1982 the actress who played the older sister Dana, Dominique Dunne, was murdered by her abusive ex-boyfriend, John Sweeney.Then around seven months before the release of the second movie in the series, the actor who played the evil spirit Kane, Julian Beck, succumbed to stomach cancer.

The actor who played Taylor, Will Sampson, died one year later following a heart-lung transplant.

The most tragic death of all relating to the series however was that of its young protagonist, Heather O'Rourke, who died unexpectedly of septic shock following the release of the third film.

Whether or not you believe that these events were the result of a curse, there is no denying the impact that they have had on the film's reputation over the years.

Whether or not potential future installments will suffer a similar fate however remains to be seen.



Tags: Poltergeist