Trivia

The hands which pull the flesh off the investigator's face in the bathroom mirror are Steven Spielberg's.

Steven Spielberg worked on Poltergeist and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial literally back to back. Principal photography on Poltergeist ended in August of 1981, then Spielberg took a few weeks off and began work on E.T. Spielberg also supervised the visual effects for both films simultaneously (which were produced at Industrial Light & Magic under the supervision of Richard Edlund and Dennis Muren). Once post production work on Poltergeist began in early 1982, Spielberg was in total control. He was responsible for the editing of the film (Spielberg's usual editor Michael Khan edited this film while Carol Littleton edited E.T), the final sound mixes and loops, the supervision of the visual effects, and the selection of Jerry Goldsmith as the composer of the score. Poltergeist and E.T opened to theaters nationwide only a week between each other during the summer of 1982, Poltergeist on June 4th and E.T. one week later on June 11th. Spielberg later said "If E.T. was a whisper, Poltergeist was a scream".

Heather O'Rourke, who played the little girl Carol-Anne, and Dominique Dunne, who played the teenage daughter, are buried in the same cemetery: Westwood Memorial Park in Los Angeles. Dunne was strangled into brain-death by her boyfriend in 1982, the year of the film's release. Six years later, O'Rourke died of intestinal stenosis.

When writers Michael Grais and Mark Victor first met with Steven Spielberg, they were being hired to write the film that eventually became Always. When Spielberg happened to mention he also had an idea for a ghost story, Grais and Victor said they'd rather write the ghost story than Always and that's how they got this job.

Shirley MacLaine was offered a starring role in the film, but backed out in order to make Terms of Endearment.

The Rams (then Los Angeles Rams) vs. Saints football game seen near the beginning of the film, is taken from a Monday Night Football game in 1980.

The scene in which Marty hallucinates in the bathroom was the last to be filmed.

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.

The house used to film this movie is located in Simi Valley, California where it still stands today. The family who owned it when this movie was filmed still live there today.

A common translation of the German word "Poltergeist" is "rumbling spirit".

The movie's line "They're here!" was voted as the #69 movie quote by the American Film Institute (out of 100).

In reality, Craig T. Nelson and JoBeth Williams are only 14 and 11 years older than Dominique Dunne, who plays their teen-aged daughter.

Footage from this movie was used in a 2008 DirecTV commercial.

Though on-screen credit goes to Tobe Hooper, a wealth of evidence suggests that most of the directorial decisions were made by Steven Spielberg. In fact, Spielberg had wanted to direct the film himself, but a clause in his contract stated that while still working on E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Spielberg could not direct another film. Members of the cast and crew, including Executive Producer Frank Marshall and actress Zelda Rubinstein, have stated that Spielberg cast the film, directed the actors, and designed every single storyboard for the movie himself. Based on this evidence, the DGA opened a probe into the matter, but found no reason that co-director credit should go to Spielberg.

On top of the master bedroom television set sits an Atari Video Computer System console with its two joysticks; later known as the Atari 2600.

According to William Finley he was originally cast as Marty but replaced before filming.

Zelda Rubinstein filmed her part in six days.

In one scene, Steve and Diane Freeling are in their bedroom and the movie A Guy Named Joe is playing on their television. Not only is this a movie about a dead person who is still "hanging around" as the spirits in this film are, but Steven Spielberg remade A Guy Named Joe seven years later as Always.

Robbie has a poster in his room for Superbowl XXII, which would not take place for another six years. Heather O'Rourke died the day after Superbowl Sunday of 1988.

Poltergeist was filmed on the same street as E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial because Steven Spielberg made the two films concurrently.

Steven Spielberg's first film as a producer.

The spirits trying to snatch back Carol Anne and the destruction of the Freeling house takes up the last 14 minutes of the film.

One of the earliest films to deal with EVP (Electronic Voice Phenomenon).

Steven Spielberg offered Tobe Hooper the script for E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, but when Hooper declined Spielberg gave him the script for Poltergeist instead and directed E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial himself.

Many people believe there's a curse on the Poltergeist franchise, that may have been caused by the use of real skeletons on-set, e.g. several actors in the franchise have died, and this became the focus of The E True Hollywood Story.

When questioned about who had the greater control over Poltergeist, Steven Spielberg or Tobe Hooper, Spielberg replied "Tobe isn't... a take-charge sort of guy. If a question was asked and an answer wasn't immediately forthcoming, I'd jump in and say what we could do. Tobe would nod agreement, and that became the process of our collaboration." Co-producer Frank Marshall spoke out to the press and claimed "the creative force of the movie was Steven. Tobe was the director and was on set every day. But Steven did the design for every storyboard and was only absent for three days during the shoot, because he was in Hawaii with (George) Lucas." Hooper later claimed that he did half of the storyboards. Spielberg then sent a letter to Hooper to clarify matters: "Regrettably, some of the press has misunderstood the rather unique, creative relationship you and I shared throughout the making of Poltergeist. I enjoyed your openness in allowing me...a wide berth for creative involvement, just as I know you were happy with the freedom you had to direct Poltergeist so wonderfully. Through the screenplay you accepted a vision of this very intense movie from the start, and as the director, you delivered the goods. You performed responsibly and professionally throughout, and I wish you great success on your next project." Zelda Rubinstein disagreed. While Hooper set up the shots, it was Spielberg who made the adjustments, and most of the time, Hooper was "only partially there" on set. The issue then of who had creative control over Poltergeist is still a muddy issue even today.

Poltergeist's special effects were nominated for an Academy Award, but they lost to Spielberg's other big film of the year, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. The score was also nominated for an Oscar, but again the film lost to E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.

Poltergeist was selected by The New York Times as one of The Best 1000 Movies Ever Made.

The clown puppet used in the film is on display in Planet Hollywood in Caesar's Palace, Las Vegas.

Poltergeist came about from Steven Spielberg's failed attempt to do a sequel to Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

The scene where Diane is attacked in her bedroom by an invisible force was actually filmed in a rotating box with a stationary camera. This gave the appearance she was being dragged up the wall and across the ceiling.

Poltergeist and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial were filmed within 20 minutes of each location.

Spielberg hired Tobe Hooper after being impressed with his work on The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.

The only film Dominique Dunne appeared in.

One of the few Steven Spielberg films not to feature music by John Williams.

The house that gets sucked into a black hole at the end was actually a model about four feet across. The model took several weeks to complete. The shot was arranged with the camera placed directly above model, which was mounted over an industrial strength vacuum generator (the front door was facing directly up, straight at the camera). The model also had about 100 wires attached to various points of the structure. These wires went down through the back of the house, and down through the vacuum collection sack. The camera was turned on, and took 15 seconds to wind up to the required 300 frames per second. The vacuum was turned on, the wires were yanked, and several SFX guys blasted the house with pump-action shotguns. The entire scene was over in about two seconds, and they had to wait until the film was developed before they knew if they would have to do it again. Luckily, they got it right on the first take. The finished scene was sent to Steven Spielberg, who was on location shooting E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. He gave it to a projectionist, who assumed it was dailies from ET and was startled by the images. Spielberg had the remains of the model encased in perspex, and it is now sitting on his piano. The model itself was worth well over $25,000.

The sound effect for the beast that attacks the house at the end of the movie is the source for the current MGM lion roar.

Despite being a horror/thriller film, there are no murders or fatalities depicted in the film.

After the procession of ghosts that down the stairs from the Carol Anne's bed room to the living room, Dr. Lesh reviews the videotapes together with her assistants and Freeling family, showing them in different TV screens. In one of them the ghosts seem to be dressed in old suits with hats. In Poltergeist II: The Other Side, it's revealed that under the Freeling's home there is a mass grave of a sect of the 19th century, whose buried themselves in the belief that came the end of the world. In the flashbacks are shown the members of the sect, whose appearance resemble strongly the ghosts recorded by Dr. Lesh.