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10 Things You Might Not Know About Poltergeist

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It was just about 33 years ago that the original Poltergeist began its theatrical haunt, crossing over from the other side in June of 1982. Directed by Tobe Hooper and produced by Steven Spielberg, the film was a big time box office success, and it wasn’t long before it was solidified as a genuine piece of pop culture history.

With the remake hitting theaters this weekend, we talk Poltergeist here on iHorror today. So here are ten things you might not know about the original classic!

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1) The idea for Poltergeist came out of a science fiction film that Steven Spielberg was working on back in the late 1970s called Night Skies. The movie, which never got made, was about a family being terrorized by alien creatures, and ideas developed for that project eventually became the basis for Poltergeist.

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2) Though it came equipped with a PG rating, Poltergeist gets highly disturbing in perhaps the most memorable scene, when paranormal investigator Marty literally peels his entire face off. It was of course a dummy head that was used for the scene, and it was none other than Steven Spielberg whose hands ripped the face apart.

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3) Another memorable moment from Poltergeist was the infamous ‘pool scene,’ wherein Diane Freeling is terrorized by a bunch of muddy skeletons. According to both makeup artist Craig Reardon and star JoBeth Williams, those were real skeletons rather than props – though at the time, Williams was sure they were plastic.

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4) At one point in time, Drew Barrymore was considered for the role of Carol Anne Freeling, which ended up being played by the late Heather O’Rourke. Barrymore auditioned for the film and it was on the strength of that audition that Spielberg cast her in E.T. – which was filming right around the same time.

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5) There’s been a lot of talk in regards to who actually directed Poltergeist, with many believing that it was Spielberg who directed the majority of the film – rather than Tobe Hooper (above). According to various sources, Spielberg was on set for the entirety of the shoot, and did more hands-on directing than Hooper – who is credited as the film’s director.

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6) The late Zelda Rubinstein, who played psychic Tangina in the film, claimed that she had actual psychic abilities in real life. One night, she says, she had a vision wherein her dog appeared before her and said goodbye. Just a few hours later, Rubinstein’s mother called her to let her know that her dog had passed away.

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7) Poltergeist was the highest-grossing horror film of 1982, as well as the eighth highest-grossing film released that entire year. Other horror films that hit theaters in 1982 include Creepshow, Friday the 13th Part 3, Halloween 3: Season of the Witch, and John Carpenter’s The Thing.

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8) When Poltergeist was originally released in theaters, Pizza Hut was very upset about a line of dialogue that saw Steven Freeling remark that he hates Pizza Hut. In order to appease the company, the dialogue was crudely cut from the film for all home video releases, resulting in a very noticeable edit around the 34-minute mark.

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9) In the iconic scene where Carol Anne is awoken by the static on the Freeling family’s television, the clock on the TV set reads ‘2:37.’ Many over the years have speculated that this is an homage to The Shining, released two years earlier, which prominently featured that very same number.

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10) Poltergeist was nominated for three Oscars at the 1983 Academy Awards: Best Visual Effects, Best Sound Effects Editing and Best Original Score. It was beaten in all three categories by E.T., which was of course directed by Steven Spielberg. Nothing like beating yourself!

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‘Evil Dead’ Film Franchise Getting TWO New Installments

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It was a risk for Fede Alvarez to reboot Sam Raimi’s horror classic The Evil Dead in 2013, but that risk paid off and so did its spiritual sequel Evil Dead Rise in 2023. Now Deadline is reporting that the series is getting, not one, but two fresh entries.

We already knew about the Sébastien Vaniček upcoming film that delves into the Deadite universe and should be a proper sequel to the latest film, but we are broadsided that Francis Galluppi and Ghost House Pictures are doing a one-off project set in Raimi’s universe based off of an idea that Galluppi pitched to Raimi himself. That concept is being kept under wraps.

Evil Dead Rise

“Francis Galluppi is a storyteller who knows when to keep us waiting in simmering tension and when to hit us with explosive violence,” Raimi told Deadline. “He is a director that shows uncommon control in his feature debut.”

That feature is titled The Last Stop In Yuma County which will release theatrically in the United States on May 4. It follows a traveling salesman, “stranded at a rural Arizona rest stop,” and “is thrust into a dire hostage situation by the arrival of two bank robbers with no qualms about using cruelty-or cold, hard steel-to protect their bloodstained fortune.”

Galluppi is an award-winning sci-fi/horror shorts director whose acclaimed works include High Desert Hell and The Gemini Project. You can view the full edit of High Desert Hell and the teaser for Gemini below:

High Desert Hell
The Gemini Project

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‘Invisible Man 2’ Is “Closer Than Its Ever Been” to Happening

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Elisabeth Moss in a very well-thought-out statement said in an interview for Happy Sad Confused that even though there have been some logistical issues for doing Invisible Man 2 there is hope on the horizon.

Podcast host Josh Horowitz asked about the follow-up and if Moss and director Leigh Whannell were any closer to cracking a solution to getting it made. “We are closer than we have ever been to cracking it,” said Moss with a huge grin. You can see her reaction at the 35:52 mark in the below video.

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Whannell is currently in New Zealand filming another monster movie for Universal, Wolf Man, which might be the spark that ignites Universal’s troubled Dark Universe concept which hasn’t gained any momentum since Tom Cruise’s failed attempt at resurrecting The Mummy.

Also, in the podcast video, Moss says she is not in the Wolf Man film so any speculation that it’s a crossover project is left in the air.

Meanwhile, Universal Studios is in the middle of constructing a year-round haunt house in Las Vegas which will showcase some of their classic cinematic monsters. Depending on attendance, this could be the boost the studio needs to get audiences interested in their creature IPs once more and to get more films made based on them.

The Las Vegas project is set to open in 2025, coinciding with their new proper theme park in Orlando called Epic Universe.

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Jake Gyllenhaal’s Thriller ‘Presumed Innocent’ Series Gets Early Release Date

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Jake gyllenhaal presumed innocent

Jake Gyllenhaal’s limited series Presumed Innocent is dropping on AppleTV+ on June 12 instead of June 14 as originally planned. The star, whose Road House reboot has brought mixed reviews on Amazon Prime, is embracing the small screen for the first time since his appearance on Homicide: Life on the Street in 1994.

Jake Gyllenhaal’s in ‘Presumed Innocent’

Presumed Innocent is being produced by David E. Kelley, J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot, and Warner Bros. It is an adaptation of Scott Turow’s 1990 film in which Harrison Ford plays a lawyer doing double duty as an investigator looking for the murderer of his colleague.

These types of sexy thrillers were popular in the ’90s and usually contained twist endings. Here’s the trailer for the original:

According to Deadline, Presumed Innocent doesn’t stray far from the source material: “…the Presumed Innocent series will explore obsession, sex, politics and the power and limits of love as the accused fights to hold his family and marriage together.”

Up next for Gyllenhaal is the Guy Ritchie action movie titled In the Grey scheduled for release in January 2025.

Presumed Innocent is an eight-episode limited series set to stream on AppleTV+ starting June 12.

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