They’re here!
A group of ghosts haunt the Freeling family and abduct their youngest
daughter, Carol Anne, in the original, Tobe Hooper-directed (maybe)
Poltergeist.
The movie has scared audiences for over 30 years, and has remained
popular to this day thanks to a 2015 reboot and continued discussion
over the 1982 movie’s controversial production and alleged curse. Here
are some facts about the original, before you get directions to hell.
1. STEPHEN KING WAS INITIALLY ASKED TO WRITE THE SCRIPT.
Steven Spielberg wrote an 11-page treatment in 1980 titled
Night Time,
and wanted the emerging face of horror to write the script off of his
idea. King and Spielberg had a pleasant lunch, but King’s publisher
allegedly asked for too much money.
2. THE FREELINGS’ NEIGHBORHOOD WAS BASED ON SPIELBERG’S OWN.
Though the Cuesta Verde community in which the Freelings live is based in Southern California,
Spielberg admitted
that he “really based the neighborhood on suburban Scottsdale, Arizona,
where I grew up. It is the lifestyle of suburban America; two-car
garages, tract homes and cul-de-sacs, the U-Totem down the street, and
an elementary school within walking distance. The Freeling family in
Poltergeist is not atypical of the people I knew and grew up with in Scottsdale.”
3. IT’S SIMILAR TO AN EPISODE OF THE TWILIGHT ZONE.
Richard Matheson wrote the
Twilight Zone episode “Little
Girl Lost,” which was about a little girl who goes into another
dimension through her bedroom wall. Matheson has said
Poltergeist was inspired by the episode,
but he never received any credit for it.
4. DREW BARRYMORE AUDITIONED TO PLAY CAROL ANNE.
Spielberg thought
she would be better suited for E.T., which happened to come out one week after
Poltergeist.
5. THE ACTOR WHO PLAYED MARTY HAD QUIT ACTING TO BECOME A TEACHER.
Martin Casella had quit acting to become a teacher, but auditioned to
play the paranormal investigator Marty anyway. Spielberg, who was
acquainted with Casella from previous movies, liked to pretend Casella
was a valet and would always toss him his car keys whenever he saw him.
When Casella won the part in
Poltergeist,
he was informed by Spielberg—moments after catching his keys.
6. STEVEN SPIELBERG WAS A HANDS-ON PRODUCER. LITERALLY.
In the scene where Marty ripped off his own face, Spielberg ripped
off the lifelike bust. Casella insisted that Spielberg do it because
they only had the one bust and he was worried
he would make a mistake and ruin the shot.
7. THE CHAIR-STACKING SCENE WAS DONE IN ONE TAKE.
When Diane (JoBeth Williams) turned away from the table, crew members quickly replaced the kitchen chairs with
an already-assembled cluster of chairs.
8. THE TREE SCENE WAS SHOT BACKWARDS.
Robbie (Oliver Robins) was actually spit out,
not swallowed up, by the tree. Reversing the shot made the final result look much better.
9. THE IDEA FOR THE TREE GRABBING ROBBIE CAME FROM A CHILDHOOD MEMORY.
Michael Grais ended up co-writing the screenplay with Spielberg and
Mark Victor. His inspiration for the tree scene came from a memory of
being
home alone one stormy night,
sitting on the stairs on the second floor of his family home. When
lightning struck the tree in his yard, a big branch crashed through the
window right near him.
10. TANGINA ONLY WORKED FOR SIX DAYS.
Zelda Rubinstein was screen-tested four times before she landed the
role of Tangina, the medium. She admitted the role changed her life,
even though she was only on set for six days
of the 12-week shoot. After filming, Rubinstein didn't hear a word from anyone involved with the movie for a year, leading her to think
it might never see the light of day.
11. TOBE HOOPER ATE SPICY FOODS ON SET.
Tobe Hooper, who also directed
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, ate jalapeño peppers
to help him power through the long shooting days. He also enjoyed Indian curries when he had the time.
12. THE HOLIDAY INN PROMOTED A PRODUCER’S MAGIC ACT.
The Holiday Inn sign welcomed “Dr. Fantasy & Friends.” Producer
Frank Marshall’s stage name is Dr. Fantasy. Marshall does a little magic
show
at the end of every movie’s production.
13. THE IMPLODING HOUSE WAS A SIX-FOOT-WIDE MODEL.
It took four months to create. Thick wires were attached inside of
the model and pulled into a funnel, with the model placed over the
funnel and the camera shooting downward. If something went awry, the
model
would have melted or burst into flames.
14. THERE'S STILL CONFUSION OVER WHETHER SPIELBERG ACTUALLY DIRECTED THE MOVIE OR NOT.
Spielberg was not allowed to direct both
Poltergeist and
E.T., but he was on the
Poltergeist
set often, leading many to speculate that he was secretly directing the
movie himself. “I've been asked that so many times that I feel the
record should be straight already,”
Hooper told The A.V. Club. “The genesis of it came from an article in the
L.A. Times:
When we were shooting the practical location on the house, the first
two weeks of filming were exterior, so I had second-unit shots that had
to be picked up in the front of the house. I was in the back of the
house shooting Robbie [actor Oliver Robins] and the tree, looking down
at the burial of the little tweety bird, so Steven was picking those
shots up for me. The
L.A. Times arrived on the set and printed
something like, ‘We don't know who's directing the picture.’ The moment
they got there, Steven was shooting the shot of the little race cars,
and from there the damn thing blossomed on its own and started becoming
its own legend. Really, that is my knowledge of it, because I was making
the movie and then I started hearing all this stuff after it was
finished.” Zelda Rubinstein said
Spielberg was the director during her six days.
15. SPIELBERG LOBBIED FOR A PG RATING.
The MPAA initially gave
Poltergeist an R rating. Spielberg told the MPAA board that
he made PG movies, not R movies, and successfully got it changed. (The PG-13 designation didn’t exist
until 1984.)
16. SOME BELIEVE THE MOVIE MIGHT BE CURSED, BECAUSE THE SKELETONS USED WERE ALLEGEDLY REAL.
Heather O’Rourke (Carol Anne) died at the age of 12 of cardiac arrest
and septic shock stemming from a misdiagnosed intestinal stenosis
before
Poltergeist III was released. Dominique Dunne (Dana) was
murdered by her ex-boyfriend five months after the film's release.
Julian Beck, who played Kane in the sequel, died of cancer while
shooting the film (he was aware of his condition
when he signed up).
Will Sampson, who played Taylor in the sequel, died of kidney failure a
year after that film's release. All of these deaths have led to a rumor
that the production was haunted, on account of the prop master
reportedly
using actual skeletons.
