“Poltergeist”: the tragic story of Heather O’Rourke that marked the beginning of a curse

For decades, stories about horror movies have not only made the hair stand on end because of what is seen on the screen, but also because of what happens behind the scenes.

There are many cases in which fear has crossed fiction: entire teams that claim to have felt strange presences during filming, inexplicable appearances, fatal accidents and tragedies that seem to give life to the so-called “curse of terror.”

Examples abound—from The exorcist until The prophecy—, but there is one title that stands out above all: Poltergeist: strange phenomena (1982).

What began as a story about a family besieged by supernatural forces ended up becoming a symbol of real fear, that which is born when fiction seems to mix with misfortune.

Directed by Tobe Hooper and produced by Steven Spielberg, Poltergeist It was released in 1982 and quickly became one of the most iconic films of fantasy cinema.

With its mix of childlike innocence and supernatural horror, it captivated millions of viewers. But it also inaugurated one of Hollywood’s most disturbing legends.

They say that the tape is “cursed”, and the story of Heather O’Rourkethe little Carol Anne who announced the ghosts with her unforgettable “they are here!”, is the axis of that curse.

Heather was discovered by chance, as Spielberg met her when the girl was accompanying her sister to a filming and, after a brief conversation, he knew that she must be Carol Anne.

Although Tobe Hooper He was not entirely convinced, because during his audition, he did not stop laughing, even when they asked him to show that he was afraid.

Steven Spielberg He gave him another chance, but asked him to bring a book of horror stories. He also asked her to scream, which Heather did perfectly.

His performance was so powerful that he became one of the most recognizable faces of ’80s horror. However, its shine faded too soon.

The career of Heather O’Rourke took off quickly. After the success of Poltergeistparticipated in the series Happy Days y Websterfor which he won a Young Artist Award.

Everything pointed to a promising career, but at the beginning of 1987 his health began to deteriorate.

Doctors initially diagnosed a simple flu, but the symptoms persisted: swelling in the legs and face, abdominal pain and fatigue.

Shortly afterward, she was diagnosed with giardiasis, an intestinal disease caused by a parasite, and was later treated as if she had Crohn’s disease. None of the treatments worked.

During the filming of Poltergeist III (1988), Heather continued working despite her illness and the side effects of corticosteroids, which caused swelling in her face.

On January 31, 1988, he woke up with severe stomach pains and vomiting. Her alarmed mother called for medical assistance when she noticed that her daughter’s fingers were blue and that she could barely breathe.

The girl suffered a heart attack during transport to the hospital, was resuscitated, but hours later died during emergency surgery. I was only 12 years old.

The official cause was cardiorespiratory arrest caused by septic shock resulting from an intestinal obstruction that had not been correctly diagnosed.

The world of cinema was shocked. Heather’s angelic face, a symbol of innocence in the face of terror, became the epicenter of a story that many consider more terrifying than the film itself.

The tragedy of Heather O’Rourke It was not an isolated case. Before her death, another cast member had already tragically lost her life.

Dominique Dunnewho played Carol Anne’s older sister in the first film, was murdered by her partner on November 4, 1982 at the age of 22, just a few months after the premiere of the first film.

It is known that the incident occurred after she rejected her ex-partner’s attempt at reconciliation. The man attacked her in the entrance of her home in West Hollywood.

As if that were not enough, Lou Perryman (Pugsley, the worker who steals Diane’s coffee cup and tastes sauce) was murdered with an ax by a 26-year-old man in Austin, Texas, on April 1, 2009. He was 67 years old.

In 1985, Julian Beckthe brooding Reverend Kane in Poltergeist II: the other sidedied of stomach cancer before the film’s release.

In 1987, Will Sampson, who played shaman Taylor in the same sequel, died from complications resulting from a heart and lung transplant.

Four deaths in just six years associated with the same franchise were enough to fuel the idea of ​​a curse.

Although most of these deaths can be explained by natural causes or personal misfortunes, the temporal coincidence and the supernatural tone of the films caused the rumors to skyrocket.

For fans of the genre, Poltergeist He didn’t just tell a story about ghosts: he seemed to bring them with him.

The so-called “Poltergeist curse” also finds its origin in one of the most controversial decisions of the filming. In one of the most memorable scenes, JoBeth Williams (who played Diane Freeling, the mother of the family) had to fall into a mud pool full of skeletons.

Years later, the actress revealed that during filming they assured her that the skeletons were props. But they weren’t. They were real human remains, taken from a morgue. Production had used them because they were cheaper and more realistic than making replicas.

The revelation unleashed a wave of indignation and fueled the legend that the spirits of those people would have been linked to the film, exacting revenge for the desecration. Since then, that scene is remembered as the symbolic epicenter of the curse.

Furthermore, disturbing incidents occurred during filming. In the scene of the clown attacking little Robbie (played by Oliver Robins), the animatronic doll got stuck and began to suffocate the actor.

The team noticed when the boy began to turn purple and managed to stop the shot in time. Unexplained technical failures of lights, cameras and electrical equipment were also reported.