Poltergeist Curse: Urban Legend or Production Nightmare?

Gather 'round ghoulies. Come into the light. Let me tell you a story revolving quite possibly the best horror film ever made: Poltergeist (Steven Spielberg, 1982). The following information are facts, based on actual events that happened to many of the cast involved in the Poltergeist movie trilogy. Six cast members died deaths shrouded by mystery or tragedy, while the other cast is said to be "cursed." So why were they cursed? Remember the scene (pictured above) where JoBeth Williams is swimming in a muddy pool of bodies? Production decided to use real human cadavers as props because it was allegedly cheaper than using prop skeletons. The Poltergeist cast and crew thereby cursed by the angry spirits of the deceased used in the making of the 1980s box office hits.

Actors and actresses in the Poltergeist trilogy who died untimely deaths are:

• Dominique Dunne, who played older sister Dana in the first film, was strangled to death by her abusive boyfriend in 1982, shortly after the release of Poltergeist. She was 22 years old.
• Heather O'Rourke, the captivating, glued-to-TV Carol Anne died in 1988 before the ending of the third film could be filmed at only 12-years of age due to septic shock after bacterial toxins invaded her bloodstreams. A body double whose face is never shown was used after her death to complete the third installment.
• Julian Beck, who starred in Poltergeist II: The Other Side as Kane died of stomach cancer.
• Will Sampson, died of post operative kidney failure and preoperative malnutrition problems. He was Taylor the Medicine Man in Poltergeist II.
• Beatrice Straight, who played Dr. Lesh in the first movie, died from pneumonia.
• Geraldine Fitzgerald, died from complications of Alzheimer's disease. She was "Grandma Jess" in Poltergeist II.

Aside from the six cast members who died, are several other bits of history that reek curse, not urban legend:

• Oliver Robbins (who played son Robby) was part of a freak incident on the set. Remember the clown scene in the bedroom? The reason why you still jump up on your bed rather than walking up to it? Oliver became entangled by the clown prop, as it was supposed to be played out, and started choking. Spielberg came to the rescue after realizing that Oliver was not acting.
• JoBeth Williams, who played Diane Freeling in the trilogy, reported that upon returning from the Poltergeist set her pictures on the wall would be rearranged every day. She would fix them, and the next day they would be rearranged again. Supernatural.
• Zelda Rubinstein, who played the unforgettable medium Tangina in all three movies reportedly felt a large jolt during a photo session for Poltergeist III. What appeared in the photograph was a shining white light which obstructed the view of her face. Zelda's real-life mother died that moment.
• Screenwriter James Kahn has claimed that at the very instant he wrote about lightening striking in the scipt, his building was then struck by lightening. This caused an air conditioner to fly up and strike Kahn in the back.
• The "Freeling" house in California where Poltergeist was partially filmed was damaged in 1994 by the Northridge earthquake. 
• If that wasn't enough, during the filming of Poltergeist III, the set of a parking garage had become engulfed by a fire during the shooting of a fire scene. Allegedly only one crew member had made it out without a scratch.

Those in Hollywood thinking Poltergeist remake should probably think again.