Were the Poltergeist Movies Cursed?

One of the most popular horror movies of all time is also rumored to be cursed, due to the unusual events that happened during the shooting of the Poltergeist trilogy. Four deaths, objects that seemed to move on their own, and even an exorcism on the set add to the mystique of the ghostly films.

Strange happenings are somewhat commonplace with horror movies. According to the IMDB trivia section for The Omen (the original 1976 version), cast and crew members became involved in deadly car accidents and were almost hit by lightening. (1) MTV.com also lists strange things happening on other horror sets, such as a firework almost causing blindness for a crew member on the set of Final Destination 3, and Jennifer Carpenter, who played the title character in The Exorcism of Emily Rose, had a stereo that turned itself on in the middle of the night, waking her up. (2)

The Poltergeist trilogy remains the most cursed in the eyes of those who believe in otherwordly events. The original movie came out in 1982 and was a huge success, and according to IMDB, made over six million dollars in its opening weekend. (3) While the movie frightened audiences, what happened to the cast and crew was scary enough to make people believe that the ghostly film was cursed.

After the first movie had finished, young actress Dominique Dunne (who played teenage daughter Dana Freeling) was murdered by her jealous boyfriend John Thomas Sweeney. Unfortunately, theirs was an abusive relationship, so much so that IMDB's page for her reports that when she portrayed a battered girlfriend in an episode for "Hill Street Blues", she didn't need makeup for fake bruises. (4) Tragically, when Dunne ended the relationship on October 30,1982, Sweeney went to her house and began arguing with her, then strangled her so badly that she became brain dead. After five days she was taken off life support and died at the young age of twenty-two.