1 00:00:02,080 --> 00:00:05,400 Speaker 1: Greetings, good people of Hollywood Land, and welcome once again 2 00:00:05,440 --> 00:00:07,760 Speaker 1: as we dip into our archive of stories at the 3 00:00:07,760 --> 00:00:11,760 Speaker 1: intersection of Hollywood and true crime. This week, we're bringing 4 00:00:11,800 --> 00:00:15,200 Speaker 1: you an episode on Poltergeist. As a gen X kid 5 00:00:15,240 --> 00:00:18,600 Speaker 1: growing up in the nineteen eighties, the original Poltergeist movie 6 00:00:18,800 --> 00:00:21,000 Speaker 1: scared the hell out of me, and I didn't even 7 00:00:21,000 --> 00:00:24,040 Speaker 1: see it until I was older. But the poster alone, 8 00:00:24,520 --> 00:00:27,520 Speaker 1: that little girl in her nightgown placing her hands on 9 00:00:27,560 --> 00:00:30,920 Speaker 1: a glowing television set that was enough to freak me 10 00:00:30,960 --> 00:00:34,320 Speaker 1: out and give me nightmares for months on end. For 11 00:00:34,440 --> 00:00:37,159 Speaker 1: some of the actors who worked on Poultergeist and on 12 00:00:37,159 --> 00:00:41,840 Speaker 1: its sequels, however, the nightmare became a tragic reality. Four 13 00:00:41,880 --> 00:00:44,600 Speaker 1: people died in the span of six years, with a 14 00:00:44,640 --> 00:00:47,960 Speaker 1: fifth person having a near death experience that changed them forever. 15 00:00:48,800 --> 00:00:52,000 Speaker 1: These events led to what became known as the Poultergeist Curse, 16 00:00:52,360 --> 00:00:55,880 Speaker 1: which begged the question what exactly happened and why was 17 00:00:55,880 --> 00:00:59,560 Speaker 1: it all so suspicious? Was the curse real? Find out 18 00:00:59,600 --> 00:01:03,040 Speaker 1: in this chilling episode all about Poltergeist and I hope 19 00:01:03,040 --> 00:01:05,120 Speaker 1: you come back in a few days. When I discussed 20 00:01:05,120 --> 00:01:08,200 Speaker 1: this episode with all of you and the rap party, 21 00:01:09,760 --> 00:01:13,040 Speaker 1: this episode contains content that may be disturbing to some listeners. 22 00:01:13,440 --> 00:01:17,360 Speaker 2: Please check the show notes for more information. Hollywood Land 23 00:01:17,520 --> 00:01:29,840 Speaker 2: is a production of Double Elvis. The stories surrounding the 24 00:01:29,920 --> 00:01:35,640 Speaker 2: legend of the so called Poltergeist Curse are insane. Freakish 25 00:01:35,640 --> 00:01:38,759 Speaker 2: events were reported on the sets of the original three 26 00:01:38,840 --> 00:01:44,440 Speaker 2: horror films, including a strangulation and an exorcism. The real 27 00:01:44,520 --> 00:01:48,200 Speaker 2: life haunting that inspired the first movie was a paranormal 28 00:01:48,240 --> 00:01:53,520 Speaker 2: event so bizarre that it's stumped detectives and parapsychologists alike. 29 00:01:54,520 --> 00:01:58,240 Speaker 2: An actress from the first Poltergeist was brutally murdered outside 30 00:01:58,240 --> 00:02:01,120 Speaker 2: her own home while the film was still scaring up 31 00:02:01,160 --> 00:02:05,960 Speaker 2: business in movie theaters. Two more actors died unexpectedly around 32 00:02:06,000 --> 00:02:09,400 Speaker 2: the release of the second film. Yet another found himself 33 00:02:09,440 --> 00:02:12,240 Speaker 2: an unlucky passenger on a flight that ended in a 34 00:02:12,280 --> 00:02:15,880 Speaker 2: horrible crash that claimed the lives of twenty seven people. 35 00:02:16,840 --> 00:02:19,160 Speaker 2: Whether you believe in the curse or not, you've got 36 00:02:19,200 --> 00:02:23,760 Speaker 2: to admit that the Poltergeist trilogy are great films. Well, okay, 37 00:02:23,800 --> 00:02:26,640 Speaker 2: the first one at least, unlike that clip I played 38 00:02:26,680 --> 00:02:28,840 Speaker 2: for you at the top of the show that wasn't 39 00:02:28,840 --> 00:02:31,920 Speaker 2: from a great film. That was a fair use sample 40 00:02:32,040 --> 00:02:35,600 Speaker 2: from the Library of Congress of the Imperial Marimba Band 41 00:02:35,680 --> 00:02:40,360 Speaker 2: performing Twelfth Street Rag in nineteen twenty one. I played 42 00:02:40,400 --> 00:02:43,160 Speaker 2: you that clip because I can't afford the rights to 43 00:02:43,200 --> 00:02:47,359 Speaker 2: a clip from Barry Levinson's Good Morning Vietnam. And why 44 00:02:47,400 --> 00:02:51,200 Speaker 2: would I play you that specific slice of vivad Nang Cheese? 45 00:02:51,240 --> 00:02:55,079 Speaker 2: Could I afford it? Because that was the number one 46 00:02:55,160 --> 00:02:59,560 Speaker 2: movie in America on February first, nineteen eighty eight, And 47 00:02:59,680 --> 00:03:04,280 Speaker 2: that was the day that Poltergeist actress Heather O'Rourke mysteriously 48 00:03:04,400 --> 00:03:07,440 Speaker 2: died at the age of twelve, sending rumors of a 49 00:03:07,560 --> 00:03:13,520 Speaker 2: curse into overdrive. On this episode, a real life haunting, 50 00:03:13,880 --> 00:03:18,760 Speaker 2: a brutal murder, a horrible plane crash in the Poltergeist Curse. 51 00:03:19,760 --> 00:03:51,320 Speaker 2: I'm Jake Brennan and this is Hollywood Land. Richard Lawson 52 00:03:51,400 --> 00:03:54,400 Speaker 2: thought it was his lucky day. First, he had been 53 00:03:54,440 --> 00:03:57,480 Speaker 2: able to beat the incoming snowstorm by switching his flight 54 00:03:57,560 --> 00:04:00,600 Speaker 2: from Monday to Sunday, which meant that he'd be able 55 00:04:00,600 --> 00:04:03,040 Speaker 2: to escape New York and make it to Cleveland, where 56 00:04:03,040 --> 00:04:06,920 Speaker 2: he could honor his commitment to the Cleveland Cavaliers as 57 00:04:06,960 --> 00:04:10,880 Speaker 2: a drug counselor for the NBA. Richard often extolled the 58 00:04:10,960 --> 00:04:14,200 Speaker 2: virtues of simply showing up, and if he needed a 59 00:04:14,240 --> 00:04:17,080 Speaker 2: little luck so that he could show up well, he'd 60 00:04:17,080 --> 00:04:21,120 Speaker 2: gladly take it and then more luck. The ticket agent 61 00:04:21,160 --> 00:04:25,400 Speaker 2: at LaGuardia recognized him not from his work with the NBA, which, 62 00:04:25,520 --> 00:04:29,960 Speaker 2: despite being real honest work, was actually his side hustle, 63 00:04:30,720 --> 00:04:34,440 Speaker 2: because Richard Lawson's day job was as an actor, with 64 00:04:34,560 --> 00:04:39,360 Speaker 2: appearances and recurring roles on everything from Remington Steel to Dynasty, 65 00:04:39,960 --> 00:04:43,040 Speaker 2: and most recently, as a regular cast member on the 66 00:04:43,120 --> 00:04:48,120 Speaker 2: daytime soap All My Children. The ticket agent noticed that 67 00:04:48,240 --> 00:04:51,920 Speaker 2: Richard was sitting in coach seat six A, and as 68 00:04:51,960 --> 00:04:55,839 Speaker 2: a diehard All My Children devotee, quickly upgraded the actor 69 00:04:55,920 --> 00:05:00,240 Speaker 2: to seat one F in first class. But now from 70 00:05:00,279 --> 00:05:04,200 Speaker 2: the leathery comfort of his spacious first class seat, Richard 71 00:05:04,279 --> 00:05:07,839 Speaker 2: had a sudden, inexplicable feeling that his luck was about 72 00:05:07,880 --> 00:05:12,920 Speaker 2: to change. The snow was already coming down, flights had 73 00:05:12,920 --> 00:05:16,599 Speaker 2: been delayed all day long as crews worked to thaw 74 00:05:16,640 --> 00:05:19,320 Speaker 2: out the side of the plane. Richard thought he could 75 00:05:19,400 --> 00:05:23,279 Speaker 2: actually feel the warm, chemical blast of de icing fluid, 76 00:05:24,080 --> 00:05:28,960 Speaker 2: and then he felt something else. A chill. His stomach 77 00:05:29,080 --> 00:05:33,719 Speaker 2: went upside down. The plane wasn't even moving, but something 78 00:05:34,440 --> 00:05:39,560 Speaker 2: was off. Something was wrong. Richard felt it deep in 79 00:05:39,600 --> 00:05:42,640 Speaker 2: his gut. He had to get off the plane. Now 80 00:05:43,960 --> 00:05:47,200 Speaker 2: hold up. He took a deep breath, calm down. The 81 00:05:47,240 --> 00:05:50,880 Speaker 2: basketball team was waiting in Cleveland. He had to show up. 82 00:05:51,160 --> 00:05:53,960 Speaker 2: He needed to chill the fuck out. Everything was going 83 00:05:53,960 --> 00:05:57,000 Speaker 2: to be fine. Richard convinced himself that there was nothing 84 00:05:57,000 --> 00:06:01,120 Speaker 2: to worry about. The plane took its place behind several 85 00:06:01,160 --> 00:06:05,839 Speaker 2: others on the runway. Minutes passed, ten minutes, twenty minutes, 86 00:06:06,320 --> 00:06:09,920 Speaker 2: the snow began to come down harder. Thirty minutes the 87 00:06:09,960 --> 00:06:13,719 Speaker 2: plane slowly ambled down the Turmac and the wind blew 88 00:06:13,920 --> 00:06:18,360 Speaker 2: stinging wet against the cabin windows. As the plane was 89 00:06:18,400 --> 00:06:22,719 Speaker 2: cleared for takeoff, Richards started to worry again. All that 90 00:06:22,880 --> 00:06:25,919 Speaker 2: de icing had happened thirty minutes ago. What if the 91 00:06:25,960 --> 00:06:30,040 Speaker 2: plane was covered in ice again. Richard's anxiety began to 92 00:06:30,080 --> 00:06:34,040 Speaker 2: increase in direct proportion to the plane's increase in speed 93 00:06:34,480 --> 00:06:39,960 Speaker 2: as it taxied down the runway, and then they were airborne. 94 00:06:42,000 --> 00:06:44,640 Speaker 2: The plane was barely fifty feet in the air when 95 00:06:44,640 --> 00:06:47,320 Speaker 2: it began to roll to the right it rolled some 96 00:06:47,480 --> 00:06:51,359 Speaker 2: more hard, and then the nose pointed down like it 97 00:06:51,400 --> 00:06:54,200 Speaker 2: was a magnet being pulled down to a steel turmac. 98 00:06:54,720 --> 00:06:58,240 Speaker 2: Passengers screened and the plane was nearly sideways when it 99 00:06:58,320 --> 00:07:02,320 Speaker 2: hit the ground. The crunch was deafening. They caught air 100 00:07:02,360 --> 00:07:05,680 Speaker 2: again briefly, and then once more came down hard, and 101 00:07:05,760 --> 00:07:09,920 Speaker 2: the nauseating screech of metal on asphalt rang out. Flames 102 00:07:09,920 --> 00:07:13,080 Speaker 2: licked the windows from outside. It was impossible for anyone 103 00:07:13,080 --> 00:07:15,240 Speaker 2: to tell where the plane was at over direction it 104 00:07:15,320 --> 00:07:19,240 Speaker 2: was headed in, was rolling over on itself, tumbling towards oblivion, 105 00:07:19,600 --> 00:07:24,920 Speaker 2: literally splitting apart at the seams, and suddenly everything went black. 106 00:07:27,000 --> 00:07:30,520 Speaker 2: The noises stopped, and the passagers could barely see a thing, 107 00:07:30,600 --> 00:07:33,800 Speaker 2: but they knew they were upside down, held in place 108 00:07:33,920 --> 00:07:37,480 Speaker 2: only by their safety belts, and the sound of bubbles 109 00:07:37,480 --> 00:07:41,280 Speaker 2: began to percolate from all sides. Goddamn thing was underwater. 110 00:07:41,760 --> 00:07:44,680 Speaker 2: The plane had landed in Flushing Bay and it was 111 00:07:44,760 --> 00:07:49,080 Speaker 2: slowly sinking to the bottom. Richard Lawson knew he was 112 00:07:49,120 --> 00:07:52,760 Speaker 2: going to die. He was trapped, His body was pinned 113 00:07:52,840 --> 00:07:56,559 Speaker 2: between two unseen objects. He began to panic for real, 114 00:07:57,120 --> 00:08:00,240 Speaker 2: and this was luck, all right, bad luck Maybe he 115 00:08:00,240 --> 00:08:02,920 Speaker 2: shouldn't have taken that upgrade to first class. Maybe he 116 00:08:02,920 --> 00:08:06,040 Speaker 2: shouldn't have switched flights. Maybe one of his minor decisions 117 00:08:06,040 --> 00:08:09,480 Speaker 2: that day had jinxed it, And maybe his bad luck 118 00:08:09,560 --> 00:08:13,480 Speaker 2: was bigger than his choices that day. As the plane 119 00:08:13,480 --> 00:08:17,280 Speaker 2: cabin began to fill with ice cold salt water, Richard's 120 00:08:17,280 --> 00:08:20,520 Speaker 2: mind flashed back to that one movie he had made 121 00:08:20,600 --> 00:08:24,680 Speaker 2: ten years earlier. In nineteen eighty two, the legacy of 122 00:08:24,720 --> 00:08:29,640 Speaker 2: Poltergeist and its Seagulls was infamous, four actors dead in 123 00:08:29,680 --> 00:08:32,880 Speaker 2: their wake. Some said the productions were ill fated and 124 00:08:32,880 --> 00:08:35,280 Speaker 2: that the actors were the ones paying the ultimate price. 125 00:08:35,720 --> 00:08:39,800 Speaker 2: One by one, Richard Lawson struggled to free himself from 126 00:08:39,800 --> 00:08:43,040 Speaker 2: the overturned airplane as it was swallowed by Flushing Bay. 127 00:08:43,679 --> 00:08:47,360 Speaker 2: He knew it was futile. His fate was clear. He 128 00:08:47,400 --> 00:08:51,560 Speaker 2: was about to become the latest tragedy in the Poltergeist curse. 129 00:08:57,120 --> 00:09:00,640 Speaker 2: The skeletons weren't supposed to be real, or that's what 130 00:09:00,760 --> 00:09:05,280 Speaker 2: actress Joe Beth Williams assumed. Real skeletons would be too creepy, 131 00:09:05,520 --> 00:09:09,640 Speaker 2: too gross, But fake skeletons cost too much and took 132 00:09:09,679 --> 00:09:13,880 Speaker 2: too much time to manufacture. Real skeletons were cheap and 133 00:09:14,000 --> 00:09:17,520 Speaker 2: easy to come by, so it was real skeletons that 134 00:09:17,720 --> 00:09:20,680 Speaker 2: bobbed up in the muddy water and brushed elbows with 135 00:09:20,800 --> 00:09:23,640 Speaker 2: Joe Beth Williams in the iconic pool scene from the 136 00:09:23,640 --> 00:09:29,560 Speaker 2: original Poltergeist, Toby Hooper's nineteen eighty two horror classic. Joe 137 00:09:29,559 --> 00:09:33,280 Speaker 2: Beeth's authentic reaction to her close encounter with actual human 138 00:09:33,320 --> 00:09:37,120 Speaker 2: bones helped make Poltergeist not only the highest grossing horror 139 00:09:37,160 --> 00:09:40,360 Speaker 2: movie of nineteen eighty two, but the eighth highest grossing 140 00:09:40,400 --> 00:09:43,800 Speaker 2: movie of the entire year. And it wasn't the only 141 00:09:43,880 --> 00:09:48,360 Speaker 2: authentic reaction in the movie. Eleven year old Oliver Robbins, 142 00:09:48,360 --> 00:09:52,280 Speaker 2: who played Joebeth's son, was reportedly nearly choked to death 143 00:09:52,320 --> 00:09:56,319 Speaker 2: by his character's toy clown as the possessed toy wrapped 144 00:09:56,320 --> 00:10:00,120 Speaker 2: a long arm around his neck and tried to strangle him. 145 00:10:00,280 --> 00:10:03,480 Speaker 2: According to Oliver, while they were shooting the scene, the 146 00:10:03,520 --> 00:10:07,840 Speaker 2: animatronic clown malfunctioned and the arm actually constricted his airway. 147 00:10:08,360 --> 00:10:11,720 Speaker 2: He struggled, his eyes bugged out, he gasped for air, 148 00:10:12,280 --> 00:10:14,560 Speaker 2: and the crew of adults thought that Oliver was simply 149 00:10:14,559 --> 00:10:18,520 Speaker 2: delivering a knockdown, drag out performance. It wasn't until his 150 00:10:18,600 --> 00:10:22,080 Speaker 2: face began to turn blue that they realized something was 151 00:10:22,320 --> 00:10:29,320 Speaker 2: terribly wrong. None of these terrifying onset mishaps faced child 152 00:10:29,400 --> 00:10:32,760 Speaker 2: actress Heather O'Rourke, who was all of five years old 153 00:10:32,800 --> 00:10:36,600 Speaker 2: when she was first cast as Carol Anne, the youngest 154 00:10:36,640 --> 00:10:39,840 Speaker 2: member of the Freeling family and the character who makes 155 00:10:39,920 --> 00:10:44,199 Speaker 2: contact with and later is abducted by the malevolent spirits 156 00:10:44,440 --> 00:10:48,400 Speaker 2: haunting her family's house. Heather was told there was nothing 157 00:10:48,440 --> 00:10:51,000 Speaker 2: to fear. In fact, she had been taught how to 158 00:10:51,040 --> 00:10:54,600 Speaker 2: pretend she was afraid. She hadn't acted before, but she 159 00:10:54,679 --> 00:10:58,080 Speaker 2: knew the business of making movies, the make believe business. 160 00:10:58,760 --> 00:11:02,400 Speaker 2: Her older sister made movies. In fact, Heather was lunching 161 00:11:02,400 --> 00:11:05,120 Speaker 2: in the MGM commissary with her mother one day, waiting 162 00:11:05,160 --> 00:11:08,360 Speaker 2: for her sister to wrap a scene, when Steven Spielberg 163 00:11:08,480 --> 00:11:13,280 Speaker 2: spotted her. Spielberg was Poltergeist writer and producer, and Heather 164 00:11:13,400 --> 00:11:16,199 Speaker 2: fit his vision for Carol Ann Freeling to a t. 165 00:11:17,520 --> 00:11:20,920 Speaker 2: Spielberg was in the middle of making his latest masterpiece, 166 00:11:21,200 --> 00:11:25,880 Speaker 2: E T the Extraterrestrial, and was therefore contractually prohibited from 167 00:11:25,920 --> 00:11:29,000 Speaker 2: directing another movie at the same time. Which is why 168 00:11:29,200 --> 00:11:33,720 Speaker 2: MGM hired Toby Hooper of Texas Chainsaw Massacre Fame to 169 00:11:33,800 --> 00:11:38,719 Speaker 2: direct Spielberg's Poultergeist script. But Spielberg couldn't divorce himself from 170 00:11:38,720 --> 00:11:42,079 Speaker 2: the production. He was on set just as much as Hooper, 171 00:11:42,640 --> 00:11:45,160 Speaker 2: and according to which cast or crew members you ask, 172 00:11:45,559 --> 00:11:48,480 Speaker 2: he was the one who was actually really calling the shots. 173 00:11:49,600 --> 00:11:52,800 Speaker 2: What Spielberg and Hooper did and didn't do, where one 174 00:11:52,840 --> 00:11:55,400 Speaker 2: of them ended and the other began, Well, that was 175 00:11:55,480 --> 00:11:57,880 Speaker 2: just a little bit of Hollywood magic. It was all 176 00:11:57,960 --> 00:12:00,920 Speaker 2: part of the larger slide of hand. As Heather O'Rourke 177 00:12:00,960 --> 00:12:04,320 Speaker 2: would learn, it was how movies got made. It was 178 00:12:04,360 --> 00:12:08,480 Speaker 2: all make believe, just like the scary bits were make believe. 179 00:12:09,920 --> 00:12:13,640 Speaker 2: But that wasn't entirely true. That was just something that 180 00:12:13,760 --> 00:12:17,640 Speaker 2: adults said to make children less frightened. The truth was 181 00:12:18,160 --> 00:12:22,520 Speaker 2: there were things out there, unexplainable things, things that made 182 00:12:22,559 --> 00:12:24,680 Speaker 2: the hair stand up on the back of your neck 183 00:12:24,720 --> 00:12:28,079 Speaker 2: and the skin on your arms tinkle. Who were what 184 00:12:28,160 --> 00:12:32,200 Speaker 2: those things were? It was sometimes impossible to know, but 185 00:12:32,280 --> 00:12:38,680 Speaker 2: one thing was for sure. There they had always been here. 186 00:13:02,480 --> 00:13:05,640 Speaker 2: James Herman stood in the doorway to the bathroom, speaking 187 00:13:05,679 --> 00:13:08,640 Speaker 2: to his son, who was brushing his teeth. It was 188 00:13:08,679 --> 00:13:13,200 Speaker 2: a perfectly normal moment, downright prosaic, actually, one that happened 189 00:13:13,240 --> 00:13:16,160 Speaker 2: nearly every day, But it was about to be disrupted 190 00:13:16,240 --> 00:13:20,240 Speaker 2: by a very abnormal occurrence, the kind that was beginning 191 00:13:20,240 --> 00:13:23,480 Speaker 2: to happen with alarming frequency at the family's three bedroom, 192 00:13:23,559 --> 00:13:28,400 Speaker 2: single story house. It was around eleven in the morning Sunday, 193 00:13:28,840 --> 00:13:33,480 Speaker 2: February ninth, nineteen fifty eight. Strange things have been happening 194 00:13:33,480 --> 00:13:36,880 Speaker 2: in the Hermann's home at sixteen forty eight Redwood Path 195 00:13:37,000 --> 00:13:41,240 Speaker 2: and Seaford Long Island for nearly a week. Bottles all 196 00:13:41,280 --> 00:13:43,520 Speaker 2: throughout the house were popping open on their own and 197 00:13:43,559 --> 00:13:47,760 Speaker 2: falling to the floor. Shampoo, medicine, liquid starch in the kitchen, 198 00:13:48,040 --> 00:13:50,760 Speaker 2: bleach in the basement, a bottle of holy water in 199 00:13:50,800 --> 00:13:54,000 Speaker 2: the master bedroom, and none of the bottles were sealed 200 00:13:54,040 --> 00:13:57,319 Speaker 2: with corks or pop tops. They all had screw caps, 201 00:13:57,600 --> 00:14:02,920 Speaker 2: which required several rotations to run move. James and Lucille, 202 00:14:03,120 --> 00:14:06,320 Speaker 2: along with their children, twelve year old James Junior and 203 00:14:06,360 --> 00:14:10,160 Speaker 2: a thirteen year old daughter also named Lucille, listened in 204 00:14:10,280 --> 00:14:13,920 Speaker 2: varying degrees of confusion and fear as the bottles popped 205 00:14:13,960 --> 00:14:17,839 Speaker 2: and fell from nearby rooms all week long, but they 206 00:14:17,840 --> 00:14:24,040 Speaker 2: hadn't witnessed it firsthand until now. As James Junior worked 207 00:14:24,080 --> 00:14:27,480 Speaker 2: the toothbrush back and forth on his molars, James Senior 208 00:14:27,560 --> 00:14:29,960 Speaker 2: stood in the doorway of the bathroom and watched in 209 00:14:30,120 --> 00:14:34,600 Speaker 2: horror as a glass medicine bottle moved shakily across the 210 00:14:34,600 --> 00:14:38,400 Speaker 2: top of the sink eighteen inches give her take, entirely 211 00:14:38,480 --> 00:14:41,920 Speaker 2: on its own, and then it crashed and shattered into 212 00:14:41,920 --> 00:14:46,200 Speaker 2: the sink basin. James Junior jumped his toothbrush at the floor, 213 00:14:46,480 --> 00:14:50,560 Speaker 2: and James Herman couldn't explain it. The sink top was level, 214 00:14:50,880 --> 00:14:53,680 Speaker 2: the medicine bottle shattered with such force that it must 215 00:14:53,680 --> 00:14:57,920 Speaker 2: have been shoved, but by whom or what. When Nassau 216 00:14:57,960 --> 00:15:02,120 Speaker 2: County Detective Joseph Tozzy arrived at the Herman's house to investigate, 217 00:15:02,480 --> 00:15:04,400 Speaker 2: he made it clear that he didn't believe in the 218 00:15:04,440 --> 00:15:09,880 Speaker 2: supernatural ghost spirit specters all horseshit. Surely there was a 219 00:15:09,880 --> 00:15:13,520 Speaker 2: reasonable logical explanation for what was going on, perhaps a 220 00:15:13,600 --> 00:15:17,880 Speaker 2: high frequency radio transmission, a down draft in the home's chimney, 221 00:15:19,480 --> 00:15:23,680 Speaker 2: But unexplainable things continued to happen. The bottle of holy 222 00:15:23,760 --> 00:15:27,280 Speaker 2: water once again fell from the master bedroom bureau. When 223 00:15:27,360 --> 00:15:30,440 Speaker 2: James ran to retrieve it seconds after hearing it fall, 224 00:15:30,720 --> 00:15:33,680 Speaker 2: he found it hot to the touch, and later that 225 00:15:33,720 --> 00:15:36,920 Speaker 2: same day, James Junior and Lucille were watching TV when 226 00:15:36,920 --> 00:15:40,440 Speaker 2: a porcelain figure rose from a table, moved three feet 227 00:15:40,440 --> 00:15:45,920 Speaker 2: through the air, and fell to the floor. Detective Tozy 228 00:15:46,040 --> 00:15:51,280 Speaker 2: himself bore witness to some truly weird shit. It challenged 229 00:15:51,320 --> 00:15:54,480 Speaker 2: his logical, just the fact's mind. He went home each 230 00:15:54,600 --> 00:15:56,440 Speaker 2: night and thought about all the ways he could try 231 00:15:56,480 --> 00:15:59,120 Speaker 2: to explain what he had seen. And the Herman's, on 232 00:15:59,160 --> 00:16:02,240 Speaker 2: the other hand, had seen too much and they were 233 00:16:02,320 --> 00:16:05,520 Speaker 2: freaked the fuck out, so they got the fuck out. 234 00:16:06,640 --> 00:16:09,920 Speaker 2: On February twenty first, a little over two weeks since 235 00:16:09,960 --> 00:16:13,480 Speaker 2: they had begun to experience the inexplicable, they packed their 236 00:16:13,520 --> 00:16:16,440 Speaker 2: bags and went to stay with a relative, and they 237 00:16:16,440 --> 00:16:20,760 Speaker 2: were gone for two days. No supernatural activity was detected 238 00:16:20,800 --> 00:16:23,240 Speaker 2: at their home while they were away, and not that 239 00:16:23,320 --> 00:16:25,760 Speaker 2: did anything out of the ordinary happen at the relatives' 240 00:16:25,760 --> 00:16:29,400 Speaker 2: house where they were staying. When they returned a sixteen 241 00:16:29,520 --> 00:16:33,240 Speaker 2: forty eight redwood path on the evening of February twenty third, 242 00:16:33,840 --> 00:16:37,880 Speaker 2: they were greeted by a flying sugar bowl. An eighteen 243 00:16:37,960 --> 00:16:40,840 Speaker 2: inch statue of the Virgin Mary rose from a bureau 244 00:16:40,880 --> 00:16:43,960 Speaker 2: and swored twelve feet through the air. A large bureau 245 00:16:44,080 --> 00:16:47,400 Speaker 2: tipped over in James Junior's room. A record player weighing 246 00:16:47,480 --> 00:16:51,280 Speaker 2: ten pounds rose from a table and traveled fifteen feet 247 00:16:51,360 --> 00:16:57,240 Speaker 2: across the room. The Herman's predicament became a local, even 248 00:16:57,320 --> 00:17:01,400 Speaker 2: national sensation. People all over the country wrote letters, made 249 00:17:01,400 --> 00:17:04,480 Speaker 2: phone calls, even showed up the Herman's home to play 250 00:17:04,640 --> 00:17:09,720 Speaker 2: armchair ghostbuster. A priest performed a blessing. Another so called 251 00:17:09,760 --> 00:17:13,040 Speaker 2: holy man conducted a ritual to cleanse the house. Some 252 00:17:13,119 --> 00:17:17,560 Speaker 2: people blamed aliens, others that it was communists. A March 253 00:17:17,720 --> 00:17:21,200 Speaker 2: nineteen fifty eight profile of the Hermans in Life magazine 254 00:17:21,320 --> 00:17:26,320 Speaker 2: raised another possible suspect, James Junior. The article reported that 255 00:17:26,960 --> 00:17:30,000 Speaker 2: in the annals of Poltergeist, it has been consistently noted 256 00:17:30,040 --> 00:17:33,399 Speaker 2: that the mysterious motion of objects has taken place in 257 00:17:33,480 --> 00:17:38,679 Speaker 2: households containing adolescent children. It further reported that James Junior 258 00:17:38,840 --> 00:17:42,560 Speaker 2: was often nearby when bottles popped in porcelain figures hovered 259 00:17:42,600 --> 00:17:47,760 Speaker 2: mid air. Doctor J. Pratt, a psychologist from Duke University's 260 00:17:47,800 --> 00:17:51,560 Speaker 2: Parapsychology Laboratory made the trip to New York from North 261 00:17:51,560 --> 00:17:55,520 Speaker 2: Carolina to investigate whether or not James Junior's mind was 262 00:17:55,560 --> 00:18:01,200 Speaker 2: indeed influencing matter. Like detective Tozi, doctor Pratt didn't believe 263 00:18:01,240 --> 00:18:03,960 Speaker 2: in ghosts, but he did believe that some people were 264 00:18:04,000 --> 00:18:07,760 Speaker 2: able to let's say, animate otherwise inanimate objects with their 265 00:18:07,800 --> 00:18:11,199 Speaker 2: own minds without even knowing it. It is within the 266 00:18:11,240 --> 00:18:14,520 Speaker 2: realm of possibility. Doctor Pratt once said that if eight 267 00:18:14,600 --> 00:18:17,879 Speaker 2: million New Yorkers at one time concentrated on moving the 268 00:18:17,920 --> 00:18:22,400 Speaker 2: Empire State Building, they might move a bit. Doctor Pratt 269 00:18:22,440 --> 00:18:25,520 Speaker 2: was in Seaford for three days, and nothing moved on 270 00:18:25,600 --> 00:18:27,879 Speaker 2: its own, not the Empire State Building, not even a 271 00:18:27,920 --> 00:18:32,359 Speaker 2: decorative porcelain figurine. But as soon as he left to 272 00:18:32,440 --> 00:18:38,080 Speaker 2: return to North Carolina, it all started up again. Unlike 273 00:18:38,119 --> 00:18:41,320 Speaker 2: the movies, there was no tidy ending to explain the 274 00:18:41,320 --> 00:18:45,320 Speaker 2: paranormal activity occurring in the Herman's Long Island home. There 275 00:18:45,359 --> 00:18:48,359 Speaker 2: was no discovery of an ancient burial ground beneath the 276 00:18:48,400 --> 00:18:53,280 Speaker 2: house's foundation. No four foot three spiritual medium named Tangina 277 00:18:53,520 --> 00:18:56,800 Speaker 2: who was able to detect an unsettling dark presence called 278 00:18:56,880 --> 00:19:00,960 Speaker 2: the beast no portal to another sphere of consciousness that 279 00:19:01,119 --> 00:19:03,920 Speaker 2: douses those who pass through it with a sloppy layer 280 00:19:03,960 --> 00:19:08,959 Speaker 2: of ectoplasm. Those, of course, were Hollywood embellishments to the 281 00:19:09,080 --> 00:19:13,639 Speaker 2: true story of the Hermanns nineteen fifty eight haunting, and 282 00:19:13,720 --> 00:19:17,560 Speaker 2: that true story was used nearly twenty five years later 283 00:19:18,000 --> 00:19:22,560 Speaker 2: as the basis for the Poltergeis screenplay written by Steven Spielberg, 284 00:19:22,640 --> 00:19:27,280 Speaker 2: Michael Grayis, and Mark Victor in the movie Carol Anne Freeling, 285 00:19:27,560 --> 00:19:30,840 Speaker 2: played by five year old newcomer Heather O'Rourke, the one 286 00:19:30,880 --> 00:19:35,199 Speaker 2: Spielberg met in the MGM Commissary, is the manifestation of 287 00:19:35,280 --> 00:19:39,879 Speaker 2: Life magazine psychokinetic child. She doesn't move objects with her mind, 288 00:19:40,119 --> 00:19:43,720 Speaker 2: but she is clairvoyant and communicates with ghosts directly through 289 00:19:43,720 --> 00:19:47,400 Speaker 2: the family's TV set. Heather talked to the TV set 290 00:19:47,440 --> 00:19:50,000 Speaker 2: the way she talked to her stuffed animals and dolls. 291 00:19:50,480 --> 00:19:53,600 Speaker 2: It was make believe. She knew not to be scared 292 00:19:53,640 --> 00:19:57,800 Speaker 2: for real. Her performance, however, in the movie as a whole, 293 00:19:58,240 --> 00:20:01,479 Speaker 2: scared the pants off audio in the summer of nineteen 294 00:20:01,520 --> 00:20:05,679 Speaker 2: eighty two. It also scared up some serious box office 295 00:20:05,720 --> 00:20:08,800 Speaker 2: box Throughout the summer of eighty two and well into 296 00:20:08,840 --> 00:20:12,800 Speaker 2: the fall. For twenty four weeks, Poltergeist raked in more 297 00:20:12,840 --> 00:20:17,600 Speaker 2: than seventy five million in domestic gross. That said, the 298 00:20:17,720 --> 00:20:20,240 Speaker 2: number was peanuts compared to the money that the other 299 00:20:20,359 --> 00:20:23,520 Speaker 2: Out of This World Steven Spielberg blockbuster made when e 300 00:20:23,560 --> 00:20:27,840 Speaker 2: T was released the very next week. One cast member 301 00:20:27,840 --> 00:20:31,160 Speaker 2: in particular was never able to see Poltergeist reach its 302 00:20:31,200 --> 00:20:34,760 Speaker 2: full box office potential when she was cast as he 303 00:20:34,840 --> 00:20:38,320 Speaker 2: yelled this freelingk sibling, Dominique Dunn, was a twenty two 304 00:20:38,400 --> 00:20:41,200 Speaker 2: year old actress with a handful of TV roles under 305 00:20:41,200 --> 00:20:45,320 Speaker 2: her belt. Poltergeist was Dominique's first movie role in her 306 00:20:45,359 --> 00:20:48,879 Speaker 2: big Hollywood break, Her potential as one of the decades 307 00:20:48,920 --> 00:20:54,479 Speaker 2: defining screen queens was palpable. Audiences loved her. One person 308 00:20:54,520 --> 00:20:57,960 Speaker 2: in particular professed to love her more than anyone else, 309 00:20:58,640 --> 00:21:02,720 Speaker 2: But Dominique knew that John Thomas Sweeney was confusing love 310 00:21:02,800 --> 00:21:06,520 Speaker 2: with obsession, which was why she broke the relationship off. 311 00:21:07,440 --> 00:21:12,280 Speaker 2: Sweeney was more than just jealous and possessive. He was volatile, unhinged. 312 00:21:12,320 --> 00:21:16,000 Speaker 2: Even in August, when Poltergeist was putting fear in the 313 00:21:16,040 --> 00:21:19,720 Speaker 2: hearts of moviegoers, Dominique was busy dealing with the horror 314 00:21:19,720 --> 00:21:24,000 Speaker 2: film that was her life. During an argument, Sweeney grabbed 315 00:21:24,040 --> 00:21:27,000 Speaker 2: Dominique by the hair and pulled so hard that he 316 00:21:27,080 --> 00:21:30,679 Speaker 2: ripped out a chunk by the roots. Dominique wrote Sweeney 317 00:21:30,720 --> 00:21:34,040 Speaker 2: a letter, but never sent it. We are not compatible. 318 00:21:34,040 --> 00:21:36,840 Speaker 2: It red. When we are good, we are great, but 319 00:21:36,880 --> 00:21:40,639 Speaker 2: when we are bad, we are horrendous. The bad outwetes 320 00:21:40,680 --> 00:21:44,240 Speaker 2: the good. The whole thing is made me realize how 321 00:21:44,400 --> 00:21:48,520 Speaker 2: scared I am of you. A month later, against their 322 00:21:48,560 --> 00:21:53,600 Speaker 2: better judgment, Dominique was living with Sweeney again. Around three 323 00:21:53,640 --> 00:21:58,040 Speaker 2: am one night, they fought again. Sweeney wrapped his hands 324 00:21:58,040 --> 00:22:01,960 Speaker 2: around Dominique's neck, who fell to the floor. He was 325 00:22:02,000 --> 00:22:06,159 Speaker 2: on top of her. He squeezed tight. Dominique struggled, She 326 00:22:06,280 --> 00:22:08,920 Speaker 2: managed to escape. She scrambled out of the house of 327 00:22:08,960 --> 00:22:12,000 Speaker 2: the bathroom window. Sweeney heard her car start up and 328 00:22:12,080 --> 00:22:14,640 Speaker 2: ran outside. Suddenly he was in front of the car, 329 00:22:14,720 --> 00:22:17,920 Speaker 2: but Dominique smashed her foot into the gas pedal. Sweeney 330 00:22:17,960 --> 00:22:19,919 Speaker 2: jumped out of the way to avoid getting hit, and 331 00:22:20,000 --> 00:22:24,840 Speaker 2: the car sped off into the La darkness. Dominique dunn 332 00:22:24,920 --> 00:22:28,520 Speaker 2: escaped for the life at least that time, but there 333 00:22:28,560 --> 00:22:32,159 Speaker 2: was no escaping the fear she lived with constantly. She 334 00:22:32,240 --> 00:22:34,879 Speaker 2: hid out at her friend's house. She only showed her 335 00:22:34,920 --> 00:22:37,280 Speaker 2: face in town when she was one hundred percent sure 336 00:22:37,359 --> 00:22:40,840 Speaker 2: that Sweeney was at work. It wasn't ghosts or an 337 00:22:40,920 --> 00:22:44,439 Speaker 2: unsettled dark presence that would come for Dominique Dunn, but 338 00:22:44,560 --> 00:22:48,399 Speaker 2: it was a beast, and not a make believe beast either. 339 00:22:51,880 --> 00:22:57,800 Speaker 2: We'll be right back after this. We're we're where. Dominique 340 00:22:57,840 --> 00:23:00,800 Speaker 2: Dunn decided that she had left John Tom Sweeney for 341 00:23:00,840 --> 00:23:04,080 Speaker 2: the last time. She didn't care that he was the 342 00:23:04,160 --> 00:23:07,200 Speaker 2: right hand man to fame chef Wolfgame Puck in the 343 00:23:07,280 --> 00:23:11,680 Speaker 2: kitchen of the Shishi Mamaison restaurant on Melrose Avenue, or 344 00:23:11,680 --> 00:23:14,600 Speaker 2: that he continued to profess his undying love and remorse 345 00:23:14,640 --> 00:23:18,760 Speaker 2: with a fist full of flowers. In actuality, he did 346 00:23:18,800 --> 00:23:23,200 Speaker 2: more evil with those fists than prepping food and carrying flowers. 347 00:23:23,680 --> 00:23:26,840 Speaker 2: Dominique cared about her own safety. She cared about the 348 00:23:26,880 --> 00:23:29,080 Speaker 2: fact that, when she filmed the cameo was a victim 349 00:23:29,119 --> 00:23:32,240 Speaker 2: of abuse on the gritty TV cop drama Hill Street Blues. 350 00:23:32,760 --> 00:23:35,919 Speaker 2: She didn't need any makeup to look battered. The black 351 00:23:35,960 --> 00:23:37,919 Speaker 2: and blue bruises on her neck that she wore to 352 00:23:37,960 --> 00:23:41,640 Speaker 2: set were real. Every time she looked in the mirror, 353 00:23:41,840 --> 00:23:44,199 Speaker 2: it was a reminder of that cycle of violence that 354 00:23:44,280 --> 00:23:50,360 Speaker 2: she continued to fall into, and she wanted out. October thirtieth, 355 00:23:50,760 --> 00:23:56,199 Speaker 2: nineteen eighty two, eight thirty pm, Poltergeist was still showing 356 00:23:56,240 --> 00:23:59,439 Speaker 2: well at movie theaters across the country, even if it 357 00:23:59,440 --> 00:24:01,840 Speaker 2: had slipped in the upper echel onto the box office, 358 00:24:01,880 --> 00:24:04,399 Speaker 2: while movies like First Blood and An Officer and a 359 00:24:04,440 --> 00:24:09,120 Speaker 2: Gentleman dominated, Not to mention, Spielberg's et, which was well 360 00:24:09,160 --> 00:24:13,000 Speaker 2: on its way to becoming the year's runaway smash, didn't 361 00:24:13,000 --> 00:24:16,119 Speaker 2: matter much to Dominique. Done she was already moving on, 362 00:24:16,680 --> 00:24:21,560 Speaker 2: prepping for the next thing, the next big success. Dominique 363 00:24:21,600 --> 00:24:24,000 Speaker 2: was at her one bedroom home on Rangeley Avenue in 364 00:24:24,040 --> 00:24:27,080 Speaker 2: West Hollywood, the same one she had once shared with 365 00:24:27,200 --> 00:24:30,960 Speaker 2: John Thomas Sweeney. She was running lines with fellow actor 366 00:24:31,040 --> 00:24:33,639 Speaker 2: David Packer for the pilot of a new TV mini 367 00:24:33,720 --> 00:24:38,440 Speaker 2: series called V. Dominique and David paused when they heard 368 00:24:38,440 --> 00:24:41,840 Speaker 2: a car pull up outside the house. A car door 369 00:24:41,880 --> 00:24:46,800 Speaker 2: opened and slammed shut. A voice A knock. Fuck. She 370 00:24:46,920 --> 00:24:52,600 Speaker 2: knew it was Sweeney again, Always fucking Sweeney. Dominique opened 371 00:24:52,640 --> 00:24:55,359 Speaker 2: the front door, but left the door chain attached. She 372 00:24:55,440 --> 00:24:57,959 Speaker 2: looked through the two inch gap and saw Sweeney staring 373 00:24:58,000 --> 00:25:00,600 Speaker 2: back at her. He said he wanted to talk. He 374 00:25:00,720 --> 00:25:04,000 Speaker 2: was worked up, out of breath. She wasn't about to 375 00:25:04,040 --> 00:25:06,120 Speaker 2: let him inside, but she knew she had to get 376 00:25:06,200 --> 00:25:08,560 Speaker 2: rid of him. She hoped she could reason with him. 377 00:25:08,760 --> 00:25:12,440 Speaker 2: She told David to wait inside. She undid the door chain, 378 00:25:12,600 --> 00:25:15,720 Speaker 2: walked out onto the porch and closed the door behind her. 379 00:25:16,720 --> 00:25:19,080 Speaker 2: David looked over the script in his hands and began 380 00:25:19,160 --> 00:25:21,959 Speaker 2: to run lines on his own. He could hear Dominique 381 00:25:22,000 --> 00:25:26,880 Speaker 2: and Sweeny talking outside. Their voices slowly began to escalate. 382 00:25:27,480 --> 00:25:31,520 Speaker 2: Sweeney's voice erupted. It dominated the argument with aggressive force. 383 00:25:32,240 --> 00:25:35,960 Speaker 2: David could no longer concentrate on memorizing lines. He couldn't 384 00:25:35,960 --> 00:25:38,159 Speaker 2: make out what they were saying, but he knew it 385 00:25:38,200 --> 00:25:42,080 Speaker 2: wasn't good. A loud, smacking sound made David jump and 386 00:25:42,119 --> 00:25:45,359 Speaker 2: sent chills down his spine, and another one in the 387 00:25:45,359 --> 00:25:48,080 Speaker 2: front of the house shook with each thud. David couldn't 388 00:25:48,080 --> 00:25:50,320 Speaker 2: see what was happening, but he knew someone or something 389 00:25:50,400 --> 00:25:53,960 Speaker 2: was hitting the house. It was rattling the windows. Then 390 00:25:54,240 --> 00:25:57,800 Speaker 2: a scream, Another scream, this one more blood curdling than 391 00:25:57,840 --> 00:26:02,000 Speaker 2: the last. It horrified David. The screams were followed by 392 00:26:02,080 --> 00:26:05,520 Speaker 2: more thuds. David panicked. He picked up the phone and 393 00:26:05,560 --> 00:26:09,840 Speaker 2: called the police. LAPD responded and told him that Rangeley Avenue, 394 00:26:09,960 --> 00:26:13,280 Speaker 2: West Hollywood, that was out of their jurisdiction, nothing they 395 00:26:13,320 --> 00:26:17,359 Speaker 2: could do out of their jurisdiction. David couldn't believe it. 396 00:26:17,680 --> 00:26:20,040 Speaker 2: He didn't have the number for the sheriff's apartment off hand. 397 00:26:20,520 --> 00:26:23,760 Speaker 2: LAPD wasn't in a call forwarding kind of mood, and 398 00:26:23,880 --> 00:26:27,080 Speaker 2: David was terrified to open the front door. He decided 399 00:26:27,119 --> 00:26:29,240 Speaker 2: to slip up the back door, and as he came 400 00:26:29,320 --> 00:26:31,520 Speaker 2: up the side of the house and approached the driveway, 401 00:26:31,960 --> 00:26:35,160 Speaker 2: he saw Sweeney trying to blend in with the bushes 402 00:26:35,200 --> 00:26:39,240 Speaker 2: but failing, crouching hiding like the cowardly piece of shit 403 00:26:39,440 --> 00:26:45,679 Speaker 2: animal that he was, And then David saw Dominique lying 404 00:26:45,720 --> 00:26:52,119 Speaker 2: lifeless in the driveway. On November fourth, Dominique Dunn was 405 00:26:52,200 --> 00:26:56,479 Speaker 2: taken off life support at Cedar Sinai. Her funeral was 406 00:26:56,520 --> 00:27:02,919 Speaker 2: two days later. Six minutes that's how long medical examiners 407 00:27:03,040 --> 00:27:07,120 Speaker 2: estimated John Thomas Sweeney's strangle Dominique Dunn outside her West 408 00:27:07,200 --> 00:27:14,280 Speaker 2: Hollywood house four to six minutes. The prosecuting attorney opened 409 00:27:14,280 --> 00:27:17,600 Speaker 2: Sweeney's murder trial by letting a stopwatch run for an 410 00:27:17,680 --> 00:27:21,960 Speaker 2: agonizing four minutes to drive the point at home. But 411 00:27:22,119 --> 00:27:28,560 Speaker 2: despite those chilling four minutes of silence, justice did not prevail. First, 412 00:27:28,640 --> 00:27:31,480 Speaker 2: the judge would not allow another of Sweeney's former living 413 00:27:31,560 --> 00:27:35,240 Speaker 2: girlfriends to testify about the ten times he had beaten 414 00:27:35,280 --> 00:27:38,840 Speaker 2: her during their relationship. About how Sweeney broke her nose, 415 00:27:39,280 --> 00:27:43,360 Speaker 2: punctured ear drum, collapsed, or lung. The judge said, quote 416 00:27:43,440 --> 00:27:45,720 Speaker 2: the law says you judge a person for his acts 417 00:27:46,040 --> 00:27:48,120 Speaker 2: and not for the kind of person he has been 418 00:27:48,200 --> 00:27:52,240 Speaker 2: in the past. To make matters even worse, the judge 419 00:27:52,240 --> 00:27:55,160 Speaker 2: then granted the defense's motion to reduce the charge from 420 00:27:55,200 --> 00:28:00,280 Speaker 2: first degree murder to manslaughter. In the defense's eyes, theailing 421 00:28:00,320 --> 00:28:03,520 Speaker 2: was not premeditated. It was committed in the heat of passion. 422 00:28:04,160 --> 00:28:06,720 Speaker 2: Despite their personal views on the matter, members of the 423 00:28:06,800 --> 00:28:09,919 Speaker 2: jury had to deliver a verdict within the strict confines 424 00:28:09,960 --> 00:28:13,720 Speaker 2: they were being presented. Sweeney was saved by the law. 425 00:28:14,320 --> 00:28:16,719 Speaker 2: He got a max of six years, who wound up 426 00:28:16,760 --> 00:28:20,840 Speaker 2: serving slightly less than three years eight months to Dominique's family. 427 00:28:21,119 --> 00:28:24,640 Speaker 2: It was a miscarriage of justice. The trial, the sentence, 428 00:28:24,720 --> 00:28:27,320 Speaker 2: the time, all of it. It defiled the memory of 429 00:28:27,320 --> 00:28:31,160 Speaker 2: their daughter, the tragic loss of Dominique Dunn. The travesty 430 00:28:31,240 --> 00:28:34,880 Speaker 2: of justice would haunt them for the rest of their lives. 431 00:28:37,240 --> 00:28:40,520 Speaker 2: When John Thomas Sweeney was released from his appallingly short 432 00:28:40,520 --> 00:28:44,160 Speaker 2: prison stay in nineteen eighty six, coincidentally, perhaps it was 433 00:28:44,200 --> 00:28:47,160 Speaker 2: around the same time that the sequel to Poltergeist hit 434 00:28:47,280 --> 00:28:51,360 Speaker 2: movie theaters. Steven Spielberg didn't return to co writer produce 435 00:28:51,440 --> 00:28:55,080 Speaker 2: Poltergeist Too the Other Side, but the other original screenwriters 436 00:28:55,120 --> 00:28:58,400 Speaker 2: did return, as did the majority of the original cast. 437 00:28:59,320 --> 00:29:02,120 Speaker 2: Heather A. Roar, now ten years old, was back as 438 00:29:02,200 --> 00:29:05,360 Speaker 2: Carol Anne. Since she was so young and her exposure 439 00:29:05,400 --> 00:29:07,800 Speaker 2: to the media was kept to a bare minimum, there 440 00:29:07,840 --> 00:29:11,520 Speaker 2: was very little documentation of how much Dominique Dunn's death 441 00:29:11,640 --> 00:29:15,600 Speaker 2: impacted either on or off the set. There's also a 442 00:29:15,600 --> 00:29:19,120 Speaker 2: little documentation to back up the rumors about strange occurrences 443 00:29:19,480 --> 00:29:22,160 Speaker 2: that once again were reported to have happened during the 444 00:29:22,200 --> 00:29:26,600 Speaker 2: sequel's production, like the one that an actual exorcism was 445 00:29:26,680 --> 00:29:30,240 Speaker 2: performed in order to cleanse the set of evil spirits. 446 00:29:31,760 --> 00:29:36,120 Speaker 2: While Poltergeist Io retains a cult status among diehard movie fans. 447 00:29:36,640 --> 00:29:39,800 Speaker 2: It certainly wasn't the same phenomenon the second time around. 448 00:29:40,440 --> 00:29:42,640 Speaker 2: It barely made half the amount of money as the 449 00:29:42,640 --> 00:29:47,000 Speaker 2: first installment, but there was one eerie similarity between the 450 00:29:47,080 --> 00:29:51,800 Speaker 2: first and second Poltergeist. A few months before Poltergeist Too 451 00:29:51,960 --> 00:29:55,959 Speaker 2: was released, Julian Beck, the veteran actor who co starred 452 00:29:55,960 --> 00:30:00,520 Speaker 2: in the sequel as Reverend Harry Kane aka Evil in Carnate, 453 00:30:01,080 --> 00:30:04,680 Speaker 2: succumbed to stomach cancer at the age of sixty and 454 00:30:04,720 --> 00:30:08,160 Speaker 2: then in June nineteen eighty seven, a little over a 455 00:30:08,240 --> 00:30:11,720 Speaker 2: year after the sequel came up, another of its co stars, 456 00:30:11,720 --> 00:30:15,600 Speaker 2: Will Sampson, who played the Native American shaman protecting the 457 00:30:15,640 --> 00:30:19,800 Speaker 2: family from Harry Kane's paranormal voodoo, died at fifty three 458 00:30:19,880 --> 00:30:26,160 Speaker 2: from post operative kidney failure. Like the unexplained activity that 459 00:30:26,200 --> 00:30:29,200 Speaker 2: had taken place nearly thirty years earlier at the Herman 460 00:30:29,280 --> 00:30:32,720 Speaker 2: family home in Long Island. The fact that three actors 461 00:30:32,800 --> 00:30:36,720 Speaker 2: died shortly after making Poltergeist films began to make people 462 00:30:36,800 --> 00:30:40,960 Speaker 2: wonder was it all just a coincidence, a random tragedy, 463 00:30:41,560 --> 00:30:44,880 Speaker 2: or was there something more, something that couldn't be seen. 464 00:30:46,480 --> 00:30:49,800 Speaker 2: When principal photography wrapped up for Poltergeist three in the 465 00:30:49,800 --> 00:30:53,040 Speaker 2: summer of nineteen eighty seven, Heather O'Rourke went home to 466 00:30:53,080 --> 00:30:57,040 Speaker 2: Big Bear Lake in California. That winter, she turned twelve 467 00:30:57,160 --> 00:30:59,920 Speaker 2: years old. She began to prepare for the press junk 468 00:31:00,160 --> 00:31:03,840 Speaker 2: that would see the third movie's Hollywood premiere, but Heather 469 00:31:03,880 --> 00:31:07,400 Speaker 2: O'Rourke never made it to the premiere. She never even 470 00:31:07,440 --> 00:31:11,280 Speaker 2: got a chance to see the finished movie. What happened 471 00:31:11,280 --> 00:31:15,920 Speaker 2: next turned a series of strange coincidences into a widespread 472 00:31:16,000 --> 00:31:20,520 Speaker 2: theory that the Poltergeist movie franchise, just like the Herman's 473 00:31:20,600 --> 00:31:45,480 Speaker 2: Long Island Home, was cursed. March twenty second, nineteen ninety two, 474 00:31:45,800 --> 00:31:49,920 Speaker 2: Richard Lawson was still upside down. The entire plane was 475 00:31:49,960 --> 00:31:54,160 Speaker 2: still upside down. US Air Flight four H five was 476 00:31:54,240 --> 00:31:58,600 Speaker 2: currently inverted in Flushing Bay. The runway lights of LaGuardia 477 00:31:58,680 --> 00:32:01,760 Speaker 2: flashed in the rear distance, and the snow continued to 478 00:32:01,800 --> 00:32:07,240 Speaker 2: fall sideways. Inside the plane, it was all blackness. The 479 00:32:07,360 --> 00:32:10,600 Speaker 2: water was on its way in, the oxygen was on 480 00:32:10,680 --> 00:32:14,240 Speaker 2: its way out. It was all happening way too fast. 481 00:32:15,120 --> 00:32:18,640 Speaker 2: Richards struggled to free himself, but he couldn't move, His 482 00:32:18,760 --> 00:32:21,720 Speaker 2: head was stuck. What were these two objects pinning his 483 00:32:21,800 --> 00:32:26,840 Speaker 2: body down seas maybe other passengers. He was trapped. He 484 00:32:26,920 --> 00:32:30,760 Speaker 2: was going to die. Up until this moment, he thought 485 00:32:30,800 --> 00:32:33,320 Speaker 2: it was all bullshit, all that stuff about the so 486 00:32:33,440 --> 00:32:36,800 Speaker 2: called Poltergeist curse, the one that had claimed four actors 487 00:32:36,800 --> 00:32:40,360 Speaker 2: from the three films. Fucked that curses were make believe 488 00:32:40,600 --> 00:32:44,240 Speaker 2: those tragedies were real. Dominie Dunn died at the hands 489 00:32:44,240 --> 00:32:48,360 Speaker 2: of a violent abuser. Julian Sands had cancer. Will Samson 490 00:32:48,360 --> 00:32:53,840 Speaker 2: suffered complications from surgery. Heather auroric well that had come 491 00:32:53,880 --> 00:32:57,840 Speaker 2: out of left field shocked everyone. They all thought she 492 00:32:57,920 --> 00:33:01,560 Speaker 2: had a nasty case of the flu. Her family the doctors, 493 00:33:02,080 --> 00:33:04,600 Speaker 2: but her heart stopped on the way to the hospital. 494 00:33:05,000 --> 00:33:07,200 Speaker 2: They were able to revive her, and life lighted her 495 00:33:07,240 --> 00:33:10,600 Speaker 2: to the Children's hospital in San Diego. She died on 496 00:33:10,640 --> 00:33:13,440 Speaker 2: the operating table before the doctors could help, and they 497 00:33:13,440 --> 00:33:15,960 Speaker 2: didn't even know where to begin. No one knew that 498 00:33:16,000 --> 00:33:18,080 Speaker 2: she had been born with a birth defect that made 499 00:33:18,080 --> 00:33:21,760 Speaker 2: a section of her intestine abnormally narrow. She didn't have 500 00:33:21,840 --> 00:33:25,240 Speaker 2: the flu. She suffered a bowel obstruction that sent bacterial 501 00:33:25,320 --> 00:33:28,600 Speaker 2: toxins into her blood stream. She died from a shock 502 00:33:28,720 --> 00:33:33,280 Speaker 2: caused by infection of her blood. The doctors said that 503 00:33:33,320 --> 00:33:36,800 Speaker 2: Heather's death was very unusual because she never exhibited symptoms 504 00:33:36,800 --> 00:33:39,400 Speaker 2: that anything was amiss at any point in her life, 505 00:33:39,840 --> 00:33:44,000 Speaker 2: and the problem seemed to have come from nowhere. Insights 506 00:33:44,040 --> 00:33:47,920 Speaker 2: like those drove the curse conspiracy theorists wild, but Richard 507 00:33:48,000 --> 00:33:52,160 Speaker 2: Lawson put little credence into any conspiracy theory, especially one 508 00:33:52,160 --> 00:33:58,240 Speaker 2: that connected all of these tragedies until now, because even 509 00:33:58,280 --> 00:34:01,200 Speaker 2: though his role as a parapsychologist in the first Poultergeist 510 00:34:01,240 --> 00:34:04,640 Speaker 2: movie was a small role, Richard had nonetheless acted in 511 00:34:04,680 --> 00:34:08,239 Speaker 2: a Poultergeist movie, and like four other actors before him, 512 00:34:08,520 --> 00:34:12,719 Speaker 2: he now found himself staring down an unexpected death. This 513 00:34:13,000 --> 00:34:15,719 Speaker 2: was his fate. He knew it now. He had been 514 00:34:15,760 --> 00:34:18,800 Speaker 2: foolish to doubt it in the past, and he accepted 515 00:34:18,800 --> 00:34:22,000 Speaker 2: what was about to happen. He ceased to struggle. He 516 00:34:22,080 --> 00:34:25,040 Speaker 2: wanted to die with the spirit of peace. He wanted 517 00:34:25,040 --> 00:34:26,719 Speaker 2: the people who loved him on the other side of 518 00:34:26,760 --> 00:34:29,239 Speaker 2: the wreckage to know that he was okay, that he 519 00:34:29,360 --> 00:34:33,359 Speaker 2: hadn't died afraid. He continued to hold his breath under 520 00:34:33,400 --> 00:34:35,759 Speaker 2: water and was about to finally let it all go, 521 00:34:36,480 --> 00:34:41,239 Speaker 2: one giant exhale and done, when something came over him. 522 00:34:41,600 --> 00:34:46,440 Speaker 2: He felt a sensation take over his body. It was warm, friendly, 523 00:34:47,000 --> 00:34:51,320 Speaker 2: the opposite of fear. The sensation enveloped his entire body, 524 00:34:51,800 --> 00:34:53,680 Speaker 2: from the top of his head to the bottom of 525 00:34:53,719 --> 00:34:57,600 Speaker 2: his toes, and he heard a voice say, get out 526 00:34:57,600 --> 00:35:01,200 Speaker 2: of here. Take your seatbelt off and get out of here. 527 00:35:04,440 --> 00:35:07,120 Speaker 2: Richard put his hands on his belt buckle and released it. 528 00:35:07,520 --> 00:35:10,919 Speaker 2: He felt the seatbelt release from around his waist. Get 529 00:35:10,960 --> 00:35:13,880 Speaker 2: out of here now, Richard. He put his hands on 530 00:35:13,920 --> 00:35:16,000 Speaker 2: the things that had trapped him in place for minutes, 531 00:35:16,239 --> 00:35:19,920 Speaker 2: things that had been unmovable before. Now they easily moved 532 00:35:20,000 --> 00:35:22,840 Speaker 2: the side with the gentlest of touches from his hands. 533 00:35:23,360 --> 00:35:26,359 Speaker 2: He could hardly believe it. His body began to move. 534 00:35:26,760 --> 00:35:28,719 Speaker 2: He didn't know if it was off or down. He 535 00:35:28,840 --> 00:35:32,200 Speaker 2: just wanted to find an air pocket. When his head 536 00:35:32,239 --> 00:35:36,319 Speaker 2: finally surfaced the twisted wreckage below his feet kicking and 537 00:35:36,400 --> 00:35:40,440 Speaker 2: thrusting him towards salvation, he took a deep breath. He 538 00:35:40,560 --> 00:35:44,000 Speaker 2: inhaled bay water and jet fuel and spat it back out. 539 00:35:44,800 --> 00:35:47,040 Speaker 2: He looked up in an arm and reached down through 540 00:35:47,080 --> 00:35:49,520 Speaker 2: a hole in the side of the plane. He couldn't 541 00:35:49,560 --> 00:35:51,880 Speaker 2: see who it was attached to, if it was a 542 00:35:51,880 --> 00:35:55,160 Speaker 2: man or a woman, a first responder or another passenger. 543 00:35:55,680 --> 00:35:58,120 Speaker 2: He just saw the arm, and the hand at the 544 00:35:58,200 --> 00:36:01,719 Speaker 2: end of that arm was reaching out for him. Let 545 00:36:01,760 --> 00:36:05,360 Speaker 2: me help you, a voice said, and with that Richard 546 00:36:05,480 --> 00:36:08,239 Speaker 2: was hoisted from a watery grave to a place where 547 00:36:08,280 --> 00:36:11,799 Speaker 2: the snow and wind were so cold you knew you 548 00:36:11,880 --> 00:36:17,120 Speaker 2: were alive. Twenty seven people died in the crash of 549 00:36:17,239 --> 00:36:20,520 Speaker 2: US Air Flight four h five that day. Richard Lawson 550 00:36:20,719 --> 00:36:23,560 Speaker 2: later learned that at least one of those deaths had 551 00:36:23,600 --> 00:36:26,600 Speaker 2: been a passenger sitting in row six, back in coach 552 00:36:27,120 --> 00:36:30,840 Speaker 2: where he was originally assigned. If that wasn't a sign, 553 00:36:31,320 --> 00:36:36,040 Speaker 2: he didn't know what was. His life hadn't been taken 554 00:36:36,120 --> 00:36:38,960 Speaker 2: by some evil spirit. It had been saved by a 555 00:36:38,960 --> 00:36:43,640 Speaker 2: benevolent force, something unexplainable, the kind of thing that made 556 00:36:43,680 --> 00:36:45,719 Speaker 2: the hair stand up on the back of your neck 557 00:36:45,760 --> 00:36:49,040 Speaker 2: and the skin on your arms tingle. Who or what 558 00:36:49,280 --> 00:36:54,640 Speaker 2: that thing was it was impossible to know. But curses, bullshit, 559 00:36:55,320 --> 00:36:58,919 Speaker 2: curses weren't real. Just asked the Hermann family in Long 560 00:36:58,920 --> 00:37:02,400 Speaker 2: Island back in nineteen fifty eight. They eventually moved out 561 00:37:02,440 --> 00:37:06,840 Speaker 2: of their supposedly haunted house and never experienced another paranormal event. Again, 562 00:37:07,560 --> 00:37:11,000 Speaker 2: evil spirits didn't follow them. Maybe it was just some 563 00:37:11,080 --> 00:37:14,960 Speaker 2: easily explained natural phenomenon that had eluded the experts. But 564 00:37:15,000 --> 00:37:18,520 Speaker 2: it was not a curse, curses, or just make belief 565 00:37:19,080 --> 00:37:23,200 Speaker 2: and make belief stuff Well, everyone knows it ought to 566 00:37:23,239 --> 00:37:35,719 Speaker 2: be in pictures, I'm Jake Brennan in this this hollywood Land. 567 00:37:44,480 --> 00:37:47,560 Speaker 3: Hollywood Land was created by Years Truly and is produced 568 00:37:47,560 --> 00:37:51,440 Speaker 3: in partnership with Double Elvis. Follow like, rate and review 569 00:37:51,440 --> 00:37:53,719 Speaker 3: hollywood Land wherever you get your podcasts and get in 570 00:37:53,760 --> 00:37:55,359 Speaker 3: touch with us on social media. 571 00:37:55,239 --> 00:37:56,520 Speaker 2: At Double Elvis. 572 00:37:56,920 --> 00:37:58,839 Speaker 3: If you like hollywood Land, check out my other show, 573 00:37:58,880 --> 00:38:01,560 Speaker 3: the award winning discretion Graceland, which looks at the world 574 00:38:01,600 --> 00:38:02,880 Speaker 3: of music through the lens. 575 00:38:02,600 --> 00:38:05,319 Speaker 2: Of true crime. Just search for Disgraceland or wherever you 576 00:38:05,320 --> 00:38:13,280 Speaker 2: get your podcasts. Good there's a lab