Poltergeist the movie, actors died after..

[muzikfreakah]

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I know this is really old, but i just found out about this last night.. The last part is the most interesting part..

Taken from:
http://www.amazon.ca/exec/obidos/tg/...stomer-reviews

When two of the greatest directors, horror master Tobe Hooper (creator of "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" & "Salem's Lot") and filming genius, Steven Spielberg (creator of "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" & "Schindler's List") came together, the blockbuster smash-hit, "Poltergeist" was born and blew audiences away worldwide! A classic combo of epic proportions that brought us one of the most horrifying, imaginative, and powerful films ever put on the BIG SCREEN!

Originally released in 1982, Heather O' Rourke plays the main role as loveable (and cute!) Carol-Anne, while JoBeth Williams, Craig T. Nelson (leading star of the 80s T.V. sitcom hit, "Coach"), & Zelda Rubinstein would probably be considered the supporting actors. It is the most original and creative ghost story since "The Exorcist" (1973) & "The Amityville Horror" (1979) about the Freeling family who lives in the beautiful California suburbs. (which is where the movie was filmed) Carol-Anne somehow has a link with the supernatural via the family television set and soon strange and funny things begin to happen: a large earthquake strikes the community, chairs begin moving on their own, and the family dog begins barking for no apparent reason. (Or so it looks from OUR point of view!)

However, the phenomenon soon turns into a terrifying nightmare of unspeakable horrors: the mysterious tree outside in the back yard comes to life and nearly swallows Carol-Annes' brother, Robbie whole; and Carol-Anne is sucked into a parallel demension (the afterlife) through her bedroom closet. Now, it's up to a group of professionals in the study of the paranormal and a gifted elderly psychic to get her back!

(WARNING: Do NOT read this if you have not yet seen the movie. Contains spoilers...)

In the world of the afterlife, Carol-Anne continues to be tormented by the powerful entity (AKA The Beast) and soon her mother must be plunged into the spectral world herself, while her husband and the others assist her safe return in the process. Barely escaping the undead insanity, Carol-Anne and her mother are brought back to our reality through a gateway in the bathroom ceiling.

Everything is back to normal and everyone is safe again... OR SO IT SEEMS! One night, the family agrees to leave their beautiful home but the nightmare isn't over yet! Robbie is attacked by the one thing that scares him, his stuffed clown doll, while the mother tackles head on with the beast ITSELF! The spirits are now PISSED!! Carol-Anne and Robbie are nearly swallowed back into the portal to the afterlife but are saved by their courageous mother.

The father, being a real estate agent arrives home with his boss and is enraged with anger with the discovery that the town cemetary's headstones was moved but the bodies were left buried under the Freeling's home. After a breathtaking escape, all hell breaks loose in the suburbs in an explosive thrill-ride finale! The ending was quite clever and nicely done and once you see it, you'll never think of T.V. sets the same way again! The DVD includes WIDESCREEN & FULLSCREEN animorphic formats and the original theatrical trailer to the film which is nice for an extra treat! But keep in mind that the BONUS extras are pretty limited.

There are absolutely NO BTS footage, let alone cast interviews or director commentaries. During the production of the film, real scary events were reported happening which weren't supposed to happen and ironically a few years later, Heather O' Rourke, Dominique Dunne (who played Carol-Anne and Robbie's older sister, Dana Freeling), & Julian Beck (who played the villain, Kain in the sequel) died. (Heather O' Rourke died before the release of "Poltergeist III") I only hope that maybe in the future a Special Edition 2-disk set of the movie can be available, teaching us what REALLY happened during filming with the cast interviews and such. After all, it would give Tobe Hooper and Spielberg fans a more insight to the movie. For now, this is the best version of the movie you can get and is without doubt, a MASTERPIECE in cinema!

[Streetcar]

Yup i've seen I and II. Really scary. Its true that some of the characters involved in the filiming of Poltergeist died. For some unexplainable reason I can only speculate that perhaps evil manifested.

[muzikfreakah]

These were great movies, saw both also way back then.. but didnt actually feel anything demonic abou the movies, just ghost stories lang so didnt expect anything to happen to the actors Cute raba kaayo to ang bata.. luoya uy..

[IceInHeLL]

HEATHER MICHELE O'ROURKE

December 27, 1975 – February 1, 1988

In early 1987, Heather was diagnosed with Crohn's Disease, and subsequently required to undergo medical treatment during parts of the filming of Poltergeist III, which took place in Chicago. Principal photography lasted between April and June of that year, with June of 1988 as its scheduled release date, and by all accounts Heather finished her work on the film. After a family vacation, Heather returned home to California, apparently recovered from her illness.

On the morning of Monday, February 1, 1988, Heather suddenly became ill and was rushed to the hospital, where it was discovered that she had developed an acute bowel obstruction. Despite surviving emergency surgery, O'Rourke died of multiple complications caused primarily by septic shock resulting from the obstruction and ensuing infection. She had just turned 12 the previous December. MGM decided to re-shoot the ending of Poltergeist III in March 1988 using a body double stand-in. The director of the film, Gary Sherman, claims this re-shoot never took place, and that O'Rourke died "before they could film the original ending." However, his claim is unsubstantiated, as the finished film was rated "PG" by the MPAA in November 1987, before O'Rourke died.

[IceInHeLL]

Crohn's disease is a chronic (ongoing) disorder that causes inflammation of the digestive or gastrointestinal (GI) tract. Although it can involve any area of the GI tract from the mouth to the anus, it most commonly affects the small intestine and/or colon.

The disease is named after Dr. Burrill B. Crohn. In 1932, Dr. Crohn and two colleagues, Dr. Leon Ginzburg and Dr. Gordon D. Oppenheimer, published a landmark paper describing the features of what is known today as Crohn's disease. Crohn's and a related disease, ulcerative colitis, are the two main disease categories that belong to a larger group of illnesses called inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

[IceInHeLL]

DOMINIQUE DUNNE

November 23, 1959 – November 4, 1982

Dominique Dunne met and moved in with a chef, John Thomas Sweeney, in 1982 (after completing works with Poltergeist). After a short and abusive relationship, Dunne broke up with Sweeney. A few weeks later, Sweeney murdered Dunne. The 6'1" Sweeney strangled the 5'1" actress in the driveway of her home after she refused to reconcile with him. She died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California a few days later, at the age of 22.

Sweeney was convicted of manslaughter and was sentenced to 6 and a half years in prison. He served less than four years before being released.

[IceInHeLL]

JULIAN BECK

May 31, 1925–September 14, 1985

Julian Beck was diagnosed with stomach cancer in 1983, and died 18 months later at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City at the age of 60. He was survived by his wife, a brother, and two children, Garrick and Isha. Beck was interred at Cedar Park Cemetery, in Emerson, New Jersey.

[Streetcar]

So are we saying perhaps that their deaths was just a coincidence and had nothing to do with the making and filming of Poltergeist? If it was all a coincidence why then several of them died? I too, want to believe it was just all a coincidence but who really knows.

[muzikfreakah]

Ala "Final Destination" huh?

[IceInHeLL]

1982

1985

1988

No big deal about it. Too much difference in years. I don't know whats the big deal about it.

You want coincidences? Try to check Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy....coincidence or something more?