The skeletons in the scene with the flooded, half-finished swimming pool are real dead bodies. This might have had something to do with the movie's Troubled Production...
- Anonymous Author: A notorious Hollywood subject. Whether Tobe Hooper was the real director of the film or little more than a proxy for Steven Spielberg (who was contractually forbidden from directing at the time since he was in pre-production for E.T.) is either one of the great Hollywood Urban Legends or barely-hidden-truths, depending on whom you ask and what you read. Many sources, in particular Zelda Rubinstein, have openly stated that Hooper was actually little more than a stand-in on the set, and the film was, for all intents and purposes, directed by Spielberg. Harlan Ellison has denounced that story as "a rumor that time has proved to be utterly false and destructive to Hooper's reputation." Here is probably the best summary and explanation of the whole issue.
- Author Phobia: Both of the terrors that plague Robbie came from Steven Spielberg's own fears as a child, a fear of clowns and a tree outside his window.
- Beam Me Up, Scotty!: By way of Pop-Cultural Osmosis; the line is "This house is 'clean'" not "'clear,'" thank you, Mr. Ventura.
- B-Team Sequel: Neither Tobe Hooper nor Steven Spielberg had any involvement with any of the sequels.
- Cast the Expert: Zelda Rubinstein supposedly had genuine psychic ability, claiming to have visions of things before they happened. She even reportedly warned Hooper about his drug usage because she could feel his mind didn't have the proper focus.
- Channel Hop: To an extent. MGM produced the trilogy and the remake. However, the first movie is currently owned by Warner Bros., due to Turner Entertainment's ownership of MGM's pre-May 1986 library, and WB's ownership of Turner Entertainment. The sequels remained with MGM, and for a while, were handled on home video by 20th Century Fox, who also distributed the remake. WB took over distribution duties for MGM's library from Fox, giving them the whole trilogy. Later, ShoutFactory got the rights to release deluxe editions of the second and third films as well.
- Completely Different Title:
- Greece: The Spirit of Evil
- Iran: The Evil Spirit
- Mexico: Devilish Games
- Poland: Spirit
- Serbia: House Spirit
- Taiwan: Ghost Cry
- Turkey: Bad Soul
- Darkhorse Casting: Steven Spielberg and Tobe Hooper wanted virtually unknown actors to play the Freelings because they wanted to add a realism to the family that would off-balance the ghost story. They felt that if the audience watched well-known stars, then it would take away from the realistic feel of the characters.
- Dawson Casting: Dana is suppsed to be sixteen. Dominque Dunne was twenty-two.
- Deleted Role: Edward Ashley filmed a cameo as Dr Lesh's older and wiser colleague, who convinced her to bring in Tangina to handle the case. The scene was cut from the film.
- Enforced Method Acting:
- Only one scene really scared Heather O'Rourke: that in which she had to hold onto the headboard, while a wind machine blew toys into the closet behind her. She fell apart; Steven Spielberg stopped everything, took her in his arms, and said that she would not have to do that scene again.
- JoBeth Williams genuinely panicked during the climactic scene in which her character falls into the half-completed swimming pool while corpses bob around her—not because of the corpses, but due to her fear that the heavy set-lights perched on the pool's muddy edge would fall in and electrocute her. Finally Spielberg came into the water with her, saying, "Now if they fall, we'll both fry." Williams was reassured enough to finish the scene.
- Fatal Method Acting: The scene with the clown nearly choked Oliver Robbins to death on the first take. Steven Spielberg initially thought he was still acting, but once he realized that something was wrong, he stopped everything and rushed over to save him. The next take had the clown prop not be as tight as before.
- Follow the Leader: The two major sources Poltergeist is routinely to be seen as following the lead on are: 1. The short story Little Girl Lost and the The Twilight Zone episode based upon it. This story containing a little girl who ended up in another dimension who could be heard but not seen. 2. The possible real life "Black Hope Curse" an alleged ghost story about how a community in Texas built over top of a cemetery had a rash of paranormal hauntings. Both connections have been admitted by various people as having held influence on the making of the film.
- The Foreign Subtitle:
- Brazil and Portugal: Poltergeist: The Phenomenon
- Canada (Quebec): Poltergeist: Revenge of the Ghosts
- Hungary: Poltergeist: Knocking Ghost
- Italy: Poltergeist: Demonic Presences
- Peru: Poltergeist: Evil Games
- Spain: Poltergeist (Strange Phenomena)
- Forgotten Theme Tune Lyrics: The music-box-like "Carol Anne's Theme" that appears throughout the movie was originally called "Bless This House" and had lyrics. The chorus goes "Bless this house, bless this house, and the souls within/Through the night, 'til it's light again." It's a gentle children's lullaby, until you start wondering which souls it's referring to.
- Hostility on the Set: Zelda Rubinstein disliked Tobe Hooper, because she could tell he had a drug problem. She later remarked that he "couldn't direct traffic".
- I Am Not Spock: James Karen at the time was also the commercial spokesman for Pathmark supermarkets. He received hate mail from people saying they would never shop there again because of his character's treatment of the Freelings.
- Looping Lines: This is very obvious in an early scene where Carol Anne repeatedly cries "Mom!" and "Mommy!" The camera zoom in on her face as we hear her cry "Mom-EEEEEEEEE!" But the way the actress's mouth is shaped, she's clearly holding on the "awww" sound in "mom" rather than the "eeee" sound in "mommy."
- The Production Curse: A lot of inexplicable bad luck and ill-fortune dogged these films. Murmurs of an actual curse were not helped by the revelation that real corpses had been used in some scenes.
- Dominique Dunne, who played Dana in the first movie, died in November 1982 at age 22, after being strangled by her abusive former boyfriend John Thomas Sweeney.
- Julian Beck, 60, who played Henry Kane in Poltergeist II: The Other Side, died in September 14, 1985 of stomach cancer (diagnosed before he had accepted the role).
- Will Sampson, 53, who played Taylor the medicine man in Poltergeist II, died as a result of post-operative kidney failure and pre-operative malnutrition problems in June 1987.
- Heather O'Rourke, who played Carol Anne in all three Poltergeist movies, died in February 1988 at the age of 12 after a hospital misdiagnosis led her to be treated for the wrong ailment.
- Actress Jo-Beth Williams claimed that during the filming, a poltergeist was active in her own home: she would return home from set to discover things askew and out of place from the way they had been when she left earlier.
- Reality Subtext: Dana Freeling was entirely absent from the second and third movies, and in fact not mentioned at all. Her actress, Dominique Dunne, was murdered by her ex-boyfriend in 1982.
- Recycled: The Series: Poltergeist: The Legacy had little to do with any of the movies in the franchise.
- Spared by the Cut: Carol Anne was originally going to die in the first act and then haunt the house in the second. This was dropped for being far too dark.
- Unusual Pop Culture Name: E. Buzz, the Freelings' Golden Retriever, is named after recurring Saturday Night Live character E. Buzz Miller, played by Dan Aykroyd.
- What Could Have Been:
- Joe Spano was originally cast as Steve Freeling, but he was starring in Hill Street Blues at the time, and Steven Bochco wouldn't let him out of his contract.
- Shirley MacLaine was offered the role of Diane Freeling, but backed out in order to make Terms of Endearment.
- Drew Barrymore was considered for the role of Carol Anne, but Steven Spielberg wanted someone more angelic. It was her audition for this role, however, that landed her a part in E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.
- Stephen King was briefly approached to write the screenplay. It would have been the first written by King directly for the screen, but the parties could not agree on the terms.
