Post by auntym on Jan 30, 2017 14:21:51 GMT -6
www.historicmysteries.com/poltergeist-curse/
Poltergeist Curse – Just an Unnerving Hollywood Fluke?
by Les / www.historicmysteries.com/author/les-hewitt/
January 30, 2017
Silly Superstition or is the Poltergeist Curse Something Real?
Are curses real? Can a Hollywood set or crew be haunted? This is what many people have asked themselves about the blockbuster hit trilogy, Poltergeist, due to the uncanny number of tragedies on and off the set. Most people remember the sweet blond girl, Heather O’Rourke, who plays little Carol Ann. She was the main target of the poltergeist in the movies. Her real-life death before the completion of the third movie shocked the world. However, because there were so many other deaths and darkness surrounding those involved with the trilogy, fans have dubbed the phenomena the Poltergeist Curse.
Poltergeist was a blockbuster hit in the 80s and fans claim the trilogy has a poltergeist curse. Source: Blumhouse.com
“They’re here!”
Those two words helped to promote a film series of the 1980s that is often regarded in the same sentences as the likes of the Indiana Jones and Star Wars trilogies. The Poltergeist trilogy is the story of a family called the Freelings. The moment this middle class family moves into their new home in a typical American suburb, odd things begin to happen. During a violent storm, the truth about their new home is revealed; the entire neighbourhood has been constructed on top of an abandoned graveyard that no-one but the developers knew about. The souls that have been horribly desecrated look to take out revenge on the Freeling children in particular. Thus, in the story, the family faces their own poltergeist curse.
Real Skeletons on the Set
Fresh from bringing us the world-famed adventurer, Indiana Jones, Steven Spielberg was on a role and could seemingly do no wrong. Spielberg’s eye for realism might be responsible for one of the greatest curses that Hollywood has suffered to date – the Poltergeist Curse. During an interview for VH1’s I Love the 80s show, actress and star of Poltergeist, Jo-Beth Williams, was the first to speak up about the strange things that began to effect filming and production. Williams revealed that the skeletons used in an infamous scene from the first film were not props as everyone on set had assumed. They were real skeletons of real people that had been acquired from Carolina Biological. This is a medical supply organisation that provided medical schools with real human skeletons for research purposes.
When she made this announcement, viewers and fans laughed it all off as banter and just another atypical Hollywood story. Williams’s version was later confirmed by Prop Master Bruce Kasson. While Kasson denied anything unnerving happening on set during filming, he did provide insights as to why real skeletons were used during production. Replicas simply did not exist and it was much more cost effective to use real skeletons than custom made ones.
The “Possessed” Clown
Kasson may not have suffered any disturbing occurrences while on set, but several other members of the production crew did. Oliver Robins was a child actor who landed the role of the youngest member of the Freeling clan. One scene involved a possessed clown puppet that tried to strangle Robbie Freeling. The watching crew initially had no idea that something had gone wrong with the remote control used to operate the clown. As far as they were concerned, it was merely an extraordinary performance of a rather tense scene. Fortunately for Robins, one of the crew realised what was taking place before any lasting damage was done and took steps. But other members of the cast were not so lucky.
True Life Drama of the Older Sister
The Poltergeist “Curse” was also observed off-stage on a very personal level. In her first major motion picture role, Dominique Dunne wowed audiences with her portrayal of Dana Freeling, eldest daughter of the family. Stardom was only just around the corner were it not for an all too common occurrence that took away the bright future that Dunne was destined for. Approximately a year before the release of Poltergeist, Dunne began dating a man called John Sweeney. The couple met at Sweeney’s place of work, a restaurant called Ma Maison.
A few weeks into their relationship, the pair moved in together. According to reports, they fought constantly. The trigger for all of the problems was Sweeney’s overbearing sense of jealousy and possessiveness. In late August 1982, reports indicated that Sweeney had pulled lumps of Dunne’s hair out from the roots during an argument. Around a month after that, a witness came forward with a report that Sweeney was in the middle of attacking Dunne once again. On this occasion, he had thrown her violently to the floor and had both hands around her neck. Both occasions, Dunne had managed to engineer an escape from the scene, but was not to be so fortunate a third time.
Abuse on the Set
Another month afterwards, Dunne was rehearsing for a new role in a new television production called “V”. Good friend and potential series co-star David Packer had been invited around to assist. Both were deep into the process when Sweeney once again turned up and demanded to talk to her. After a little cajoling, Dunne reluctantly agreed. However, she would not allow Sweeney into the house and went outside instead. The pair talked for several minutes, but things got out of hand.
Inside the house, Packer said that he heard impact sounds, a pair of screams, followed by a thud. He called the police, but they refused to respond because the incident was taking place outside of their jurisdiction. Packer then called a friend and revealed that, should anything happen to him, Sweeney was to blame. Then he went outside and found Sweeney kneeling over Dunne. She was unconscious. John Sweeney actually insisted that Packer call the police.
A Tragic Death
They rushed Dunne to Cedar Sinai Medical Facility where doctors discovered that her heart had stopped beating. Dunne went on life-support and doctors evaluated her over the next several days. Brain scans revealed that as her brain suffered oxygen deprivation. Hence, there was barely any cerebral activity taking place and the situation was not likely to change. On 4th November 1982, her parents made the horrible decision to switch off her life-support equipment. Several days after this, Dunne’s final performance was broadcast on the TV series Hill Street Blues. Ironically, she was playing the part of an abused teen and the episode was recorded on 27 September – a day after the second serious domestic abuse attack on her. Dunne’s appearance in that episode required no make-up. The bruises on display were genuine and the result of the previous day’s events.
John Sweeney went to trial. Although courts found him guilty, they did not imprisoned him for murder. Sweeney spent just over three years of his six year sentence in prison for manslaughter. After his release, he took on an alias and disappeared from public view.
The death of Dominique Dunne is not enough to solicit claims of a curse against the production, at least when taken on its own merits. As tragic and preventable as her death was, it’s just one more case of domestic violence taken too far. Dominique Dunne was not the only star of the franchise to meet an unfortunate and/or untimely end. Three other stars of the series had their own lives cut short in tragic or mysterious circumstances. And it could have been even more.
CONTINUE READING: www.historicmysteries.com/poltergeist-curse/
Poltergeist Curse – Just an Unnerving Hollywood Fluke?
by Les / www.historicmysteries.com/author/les-hewitt/
January 30, 2017
Silly Superstition or is the Poltergeist Curse Something Real?
Are curses real? Can a Hollywood set or crew be haunted? This is what many people have asked themselves about the blockbuster hit trilogy, Poltergeist, due to the uncanny number of tragedies on and off the set. Most people remember the sweet blond girl, Heather O’Rourke, who plays little Carol Ann. She was the main target of the poltergeist in the movies. Her real-life death before the completion of the third movie shocked the world. However, because there were so many other deaths and darkness surrounding those involved with the trilogy, fans have dubbed the phenomena the Poltergeist Curse.
Poltergeist was a blockbuster hit in the 80s and fans claim the trilogy has a poltergeist curse. Source: Blumhouse.com
“They’re here!”
Those two words helped to promote a film series of the 1980s that is often regarded in the same sentences as the likes of the Indiana Jones and Star Wars trilogies. The Poltergeist trilogy is the story of a family called the Freelings. The moment this middle class family moves into their new home in a typical American suburb, odd things begin to happen. During a violent storm, the truth about their new home is revealed; the entire neighbourhood has been constructed on top of an abandoned graveyard that no-one but the developers knew about. The souls that have been horribly desecrated look to take out revenge on the Freeling children in particular. Thus, in the story, the family faces their own poltergeist curse.
Real Skeletons on the Set
Fresh from bringing us the world-famed adventurer, Indiana Jones, Steven Spielberg was on a role and could seemingly do no wrong. Spielberg’s eye for realism might be responsible for one of the greatest curses that Hollywood has suffered to date – the Poltergeist Curse. During an interview for VH1’s I Love the 80s show, actress and star of Poltergeist, Jo-Beth Williams, was the first to speak up about the strange things that began to effect filming and production. Williams revealed that the skeletons used in an infamous scene from the first film were not props as everyone on set had assumed. They were real skeletons of real people that had been acquired from Carolina Biological. This is a medical supply organisation that provided medical schools with real human skeletons for research purposes.
When she made this announcement, viewers and fans laughed it all off as banter and just another atypical Hollywood story. Williams’s version was later confirmed by Prop Master Bruce Kasson. While Kasson denied anything unnerving happening on set during filming, he did provide insights as to why real skeletons were used during production. Replicas simply did not exist and it was much more cost effective to use real skeletons than custom made ones.
The “Possessed” Clown
Kasson may not have suffered any disturbing occurrences while on set, but several other members of the production crew did. Oliver Robins was a child actor who landed the role of the youngest member of the Freeling clan. One scene involved a possessed clown puppet that tried to strangle Robbie Freeling. The watching crew initially had no idea that something had gone wrong with the remote control used to operate the clown. As far as they were concerned, it was merely an extraordinary performance of a rather tense scene. Fortunately for Robins, one of the crew realised what was taking place before any lasting damage was done and took steps. But other members of the cast were not so lucky.
True Life Drama of the Older Sister
The Poltergeist “Curse” was also observed off-stage on a very personal level. In her first major motion picture role, Dominique Dunne wowed audiences with her portrayal of Dana Freeling, eldest daughter of the family. Stardom was only just around the corner were it not for an all too common occurrence that took away the bright future that Dunne was destined for. Approximately a year before the release of Poltergeist, Dunne began dating a man called John Sweeney. The couple met at Sweeney’s place of work, a restaurant called Ma Maison.
A few weeks into their relationship, the pair moved in together. According to reports, they fought constantly. The trigger for all of the problems was Sweeney’s overbearing sense of jealousy and possessiveness. In late August 1982, reports indicated that Sweeney had pulled lumps of Dunne’s hair out from the roots during an argument. Around a month after that, a witness came forward with a report that Sweeney was in the middle of attacking Dunne once again. On this occasion, he had thrown her violently to the floor and had both hands around her neck. Both occasions, Dunne had managed to engineer an escape from the scene, but was not to be so fortunate a third time.
Abuse on the Set
Another month afterwards, Dunne was rehearsing for a new role in a new television production called “V”. Good friend and potential series co-star David Packer had been invited around to assist. Both were deep into the process when Sweeney once again turned up and demanded to talk to her. After a little cajoling, Dunne reluctantly agreed. However, she would not allow Sweeney into the house and went outside instead. The pair talked for several minutes, but things got out of hand.
Inside the house, Packer said that he heard impact sounds, a pair of screams, followed by a thud. He called the police, but they refused to respond because the incident was taking place outside of their jurisdiction. Packer then called a friend and revealed that, should anything happen to him, Sweeney was to blame. Then he went outside and found Sweeney kneeling over Dunne. She was unconscious. John Sweeney actually insisted that Packer call the police.
A Tragic Death
They rushed Dunne to Cedar Sinai Medical Facility where doctors discovered that her heart had stopped beating. Dunne went on life-support and doctors evaluated her over the next several days. Brain scans revealed that as her brain suffered oxygen deprivation. Hence, there was barely any cerebral activity taking place and the situation was not likely to change. On 4th November 1982, her parents made the horrible decision to switch off her life-support equipment. Several days after this, Dunne’s final performance was broadcast on the TV series Hill Street Blues. Ironically, she was playing the part of an abused teen and the episode was recorded on 27 September – a day after the second serious domestic abuse attack on her. Dunne’s appearance in that episode required no make-up. The bruises on display were genuine and the result of the previous day’s events.
John Sweeney went to trial. Although courts found him guilty, they did not imprisoned him for murder. Sweeney spent just over three years of his six year sentence in prison for manslaughter. After his release, he took on an alias and disappeared from public view.
The death of Dominique Dunne is not enough to solicit claims of a curse against the production, at least when taken on its own merits. As tragic and preventable as her death was, it’s just one more case of domestic violence taken too far. Dominique Dunne was not the only star of the franchise to meet an unfortunate and/or untimely end. Three other stars of the series had their own lives cut short in tragic or mysterious circumstances. And it could have been even more.
CONTINUE READING: www.historicmysteries.com/poltergeist-curse/