1 00:00:00,720 --> 00:00:19,680 Speaker 1: Disgraceland as a production of Double Elvis. This is a 2 00:00:19,720 --> 00:00:23,599 Speaker 1: story about a horror movie franchise, but it's also a 3 00:00:23,640 --> 00:00:28,240 Speaker 1: story about a curse and freakish events that haunted the 4 00:00:28,280 --> 00:00:33,480 Speaker 1: sets of three horror films. I'm talking about strangulation, I'm 5 00:00:33,479 --> 00:00:37,640 Speaker 1: talking about an exorcism. I'm talking about a story where 6 00:00:37,720 --> 00:00:41,600 Speaker 1: one actress from the film franchise was brutally murdered, and 7 00:00:41,680 --> 00:00:46,120 Speaker 1: a story where two more actors died unexpectedly. It's a 8 00:00:46,159 --> 00:00:50,960 Speaker 1: story about a horrible plane crash, a story about the 9 00:00:51,040 --> 00:00:56,120 Speaker 1: poltergeist curse, a movie that scared the hell out of moviegoers, 10 00:00:56,160 --> 00:01:00,760 Speaker 1: and a movie with an iconic theme. Great music, unlike 11 00:01:00,840 --> 00:01:02,720 Speaker 1: that music I played for you at the top of 12 00:01:02,760 --> 00:01:07,200 Speaker 1: the show. That wasn't great music. That was a preset 13 00:01:07,240 --> 00:01:13,480 Speaker 1: loop from my melotron called c Static MK two. I 14 00:01:13,560 --> 00:01:16,479 Speaker 1: played you that loop because I can't afford the rights 15 00:01:16,520 --> 00:01:20,880 Speaker 1: to Ebony and Ivory by Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder. 16 00:01:21,800 --> 00:01:24,720 Speaker 1: And why would I play you that specific slice of 17 00:01:24,920 --> 00:01:29,319 Speaker 1: black and white cheese? Could I afford it? Because that 18 00:01:30,040 --> 00:01:33,200 Speaker 1: was the number one song in America on June fourth, 19 00:01:33,360 --> 00:01:36,319 Speaker 1: nineteen eighty two, and that was the day of the 20 00:01:36,319 --> 00:01:41,080 Speaker 1: film franchise Poultergeist launched into theaters, scaring the hell out 21 00:01:41,080 --> 00:01:43,640 Speaker 1: of teenagers and little kids like me at the time, 22 00:01:44,319 --> 00:01:47,760 Speaker 1: and starting rumors of a cursed film franchise that would 23 00:01:47,800 --> 00:01:56,520 Speaker 1: claim the lives of many. On this episode strangulation, exorcism, murder, death, 24 00:01:56,560 --> 00:02:02,720 Speaker 1: and destruction in the Poultergeist Curse. I'm Jake Brennan, and 25 00:02:02,880 --> 00:02:32,880 Speaker 1: this this disgraceland Richard laws And thought it was his 26 00:02:33,000 --> 00:02:35,960 Speaker 1: lucky day. First, he had been able to beat the 27 00:02:35,960 --> 00:02:39,639 Speaker 1: incoming snowstorm by switching his flight from Monday to Sunday, 28 00:02:40,200 --> 00:02:42,560 Speaker 1: which meant that he'd be able to escape New York 29 00:02:42,639 --> 00:02:44,640 Speaker 1: and make it to Cleveland, where he could honor his 30 00:02:44,680 --> 00:02:48,960 Speaker 1: commitment to the Cleveland Cavaliers. As a drug counselor for 31 00:02:49,000 --> 00:02:53,440 Speaker 1: the NBA, Richard often extolled the virtues of simply showing 32 00:02:53,600 --> 00:02:56,000 Speaker 1: up and if he needed a little luck so that 33 00:02:56,080 --> 00:02:59,720 Speaker 1: he could show up well, he'd gladly take it and 34 00:02:59,760 --> 00:03:03,360 Speaker 1: then and more luck. The ticket agent at LaGuardia recognized 35 00:03:03,440 --> 00:03:06,840 Speaker 1: him not from his work with the NBA, which, despite 36 00:03:06,919 --> 00:03:11,880 Speaker 1: being real honest work, was actually his side hustle, because 37 00:03:11,960 --> 00:03:16,120 Speaker 1: Richard Lawson's day job was as an actor with appearances 38 00:03:16,160 --> 00:03:20,200 Speaker 1: and recurring roles on everything from Remington Steel to Dynasty, 39 00:03:20,800 --> 00:03:23,880 Speaker 1: and most recently, as a regular cast member on the 40 00:03:23,960 --> 00:03:28,960 Speaker 1: daytime soap All My Children. The ticket agent noticed that 41 00:03:29,080 --> 00:03:32,760 Speaker 1: Richard was sitting in coach seat six A, and as 42 00:03:32,800 --> 00:03:36,720 Speaker 1: a diehard All My Children devotee, quickly upgraded the actor 43 00:03:36,760 --> 00:03:41,080 Speaker 1: to seat one F in first class. But now from 44 00:03:41,080 --> 00:03:45,040 Speaker 1: the leathery comfort of his spacious first class seat, Richard 45 00:03:45,120 --> 00:03:48,720 Speaker 1: had a sudden, inexplicable feeling that his luck was about 46 00:03:48,720 --> 00:03:53,760 Speaker 1: to change. The snow was already coming down. Flights had 47 00:03:53,800 --> 00:03:57,440 Speaker 1: been delayed all day long as Creuz worked to thaw 48 00:03:57,520 --> 00:04:00,200 Speaker 1: out the side of the plane. Richard thought he could 49 00:04:00,280 --> 00:04:04,120 Speaker 1: actually feel the warm chemical blast of de icing fluid. 50 00:04:04,920 --> 00:04:09,800 Speaker 1: And then he felt something else, a chill. His stomach 51 00:04:09,920 --> 00:04:14,600 Speaker 1: went upside down. The plane wasn't even moving, but something 52 00:04:15,320 --> 00:04:20,440 Speaker 1: was off. Something was wrong. Richard felt it deep in 53 00:04:20,480 --> 00:04:23,920 Speaker 1: his gut. He had to get off the plane. Now, 54 00:04:24,800 --> 00:04:28,039 Speaker 1: hold up. He took a deep breath, calm down. The 55 00:04:28,120 --> 00:04:31,720 Speaker 1: basketball team was waiting in Cleveland. He had to show up. 56 00:04:32,000 --> 00:04:34,800 Speaker 1: He needed to chill the fuck out. Everything was going 57 00:04:34,800 --> 00:04:37,800 Speaker 1: to be fine. Richard convinced himself that there was nothing 58 00:04:37,880 --> 00:04:41,960 Speaker 1: to worry about. The plane took its place behind several 59 00:04:42,000 --> 00:04:46,680 Speaker 1: others on the runway. Minutes passed, ten minutes, twenty minutes, 60 00:04:47,160 --> 00:04:50,760 Speaker 1: the snow began to come down harder. Thirty minutes the 61 00:04:50,800 --> 00:04:54,599 Speaker 1: plane slowly ambled down the tarmac and the wind blew, 62 00:04:54,760 --> 00:04:59,200 Speaker 1: stinging wet against the cabin windows. As the plane was 63 00:04:59,240 --> 00:05:03,440 Speaker 1: cleared for ta off, Richards started to worry again. All 64 00:05:03,480 --> 00:05:06,640 Speaker 1: that de icing had happened thirty minutes ago. What if 65 00:05:06,680 --> 00:05:10,640 Speaker 1: the plane was covered in ice again. Richard's anxiety began 66 00:05:10,720 --> 00:05:14,320 Speaker 1: to increase in direct proportion to the plane's increase in 67 00:05:14,480 --> 00:05:19,520 Speaker 1: speed as it taxied down the runway, and then they 68 00:05:19,520 --> 00:05:24,960 Speaker 1: were airborne. The plane was barely fifty feet in the 69 00:05:25,000 --> 00:05:27,600 Speaker 1: air when it began to roll to the right. It 70 00:05:27,720 --> 00:05:31,440 Speaker 1: rolled some more hard, and then the nose pointed down 71 00:05:32,000 --> 00:05:34,120 Speaker 1: like it was a magnet being pulled down to a 72 00:05:34,160 --> 00:05:38,800 Speaker 1: steel turmac. Passengers screened and the plane was nearly sideways 73 00:05:38,839 --> 00:05:42,200 Speaker 1: when it hit the ground, and the crunch was deafening. 74 00:05:42,600 --> 00:05:45,040 Speaker 1: They caught air again briefly, and then once more came 75 00:05:45,080 --> 00:05:49,159 Speaker 1: down hard, and the nauseating screech of metal on asphalt 76 00:05:49,320 --> 00:05:52,760 Speaker 1: rang out. Flames licked the windows from outside. It was 77 00:05:52,800 --> 00:05:55,120 Speaker 1: impossible for anyone to tell where the plane was at 78 00:05:55,279 --> 00:05:57,680 Speaker 1: or what direction it was headed in. It was rolling 79 00:05:57,720 --> 00:06:01,880 Speaker 1: over on itself, tumbling towards oblivion, literally splitting apart at 80 00:06:01,920 --> 00:06:09,200 Speaker 1: the seams, and suddenly everything went black. The noises stopped, 81 00:06:09,480 --> 00:06:11,960 Speaker 1: and the passagers could barely see a thing, but they 82 00:06:12,040 --> 00:06:15,200 Speaker 1: knew they were upside down, held in place only by 83 00:06:15,240 --> 00:06:18,760 Speaker 1: their safety belts, and the sound of bubbles began to 84 00:06:18,760 --> 00:06:23,120 Speaker 1: percolate from all sides. Goddamn thing was underwater. The plane 85 00:06:23,120 --> 00:06:26,640 Speaker 1: had landed in Flushing Bay and it was slowly sinking 86 00:06:26,720 --> 00:06:30,200 Speaker 1: to the bottom. But Richard Lawson knew he was going 87 00:06:30,240 --> 00:06:34,000 Speaker 1: to die. He was trapped, His body was pinned between 88 00:06:34,040 --> 00:06:38,080 Speaker 1: two unseen objects. He began to panic for real, and 89 00:06:38,120 --> 00:06:41,440 Speaker 1: this was luck, all right, bad luck. Maybe he shouldn't 90 00:06:41,480 --> 00:06:44,159 Speaker 1: have taken that upgrade to first class, Maybe he shouldn't 91 00:06:44,160 --> 00:06:46,960 Speaker 1: have switched flights. Maybe one of his minor decisions that 92 00:06:47,040 --> 00:06:50,520 Speaker 1: day had jinxed it. And maybe his bad luck was 93 00:06:50,560 --> 00:06:54,680 Speaker 1: bigger than his choices that day. As the plane cabin 94 00:06:54,720 --> 00:06:58,400 Speaker 1: began to fill with ice cold salt water, Richard's mind 95 00:06:58,520 --> 00:07:01,640 Speaker 1: flashed back to that one movie he had made ten 96 00:07:01,760 --> 00:07:06,240 Speaker 1: years earlier, in nineteen eighty two, The legacy of Poltergeist 97 00:07:06,520 --> 00:07:11,000 Speaker 1: and its Seagulls was infamous, four actors dead in their wake. 98 00:07:11,640 --> 00:07:13,960 Speaker 1: Some said the productions were ill fated and that the 99 00:07:14,000 --> 00:07:17,360 Speaker 1: actors were the ones paying the ultimate price. One by one. 100 00:07:18,440 --> 00:07:21,920 Speaker 1: Richard Lawson struggled to free himself from the overturned airplane 101 00:07:21,960 --> 00:07:25,120 Speaker 1: as it was swallowed by flushing bay. He knew it 102 00:07:25,200 --> 00:07:28,760 Speaker 1: was futile. His fate was clear. He was about to 103 00:07:28,800 --> 00:07:38,800 Speaker 1: become the latest tragedy in the Poltergeist Curse. The skeletons 104 00:07:38,880 --> 00:07:42,520 Speaker 1: weren't supposed to be real, or that's what actress Joebeth 105 00:07:42,560 --> 00:07:47,120 Speaker 1: Williams assumed. Real skeletons would be too creepy, too gross, 106 00:07:47,760 --> 00:07:50,920 Speaker 1: But fake skeletons cost too much and took too much 107 00:07:50,960 --> 00:07:55,200 Speaker 1: time to manufacture. Real skeletons were cheap and easy to 108 00:07:55,240 --> 00:07:59,160 Speaker 1: come by, so it was real skeletons that bobbed up 109 00:07:59,200 --> 00:08:02,120 Speaker 1: in the muddy water and brushed elbows with joe Beth 110 00:08:02,200 --> 00:08:05,960 Speaker 1: Williams in the iconic pool scene from the original Poltergeist, 111 00:08:06,360 --> 00:08:11,240 Speaker 1: Toby Hooper's nineteen eighty two horror classic. Joe Beth's authentic 112 00:08:11,280 --> 00:08:15,120 Speaker 1: reaction to her close encounter with actual human bones helped 113 00:08:15,200 --> 00:08:18,320 Speaker 1: make Poltergeist not only the highest grossing horror movie of 114 00:08:18,400 --> 00:08:21,680 Speaker 1: nineteen eighty two, but the eighth highest grossing movie of 115 00:08:21,720 --> 00:08:25,680 Speaker 1: the entire year. And it wasn't the only authentic reaction 116 00:08:25,800 --> 00:08:29,679 Speaker 1: in the movie. Eleven year old Oliver Robbins, who played 117 00:08:29,760 --> 00:08:33,440 Speaker 1: Joebeth's son, was reportedly nearly choked to death by his 118 00:08:33,600 --> 00:08:37,680 Speaker 1: character's toy clown as the possessed toy wrapped a long 119 00:08:37,920 --> 00:08:41,560 Speaker 1: arm around his neck and tried to strangle him. According 120 00:08:41,600 --> 00:08:45,120 Speaker 1: to Oliver, while they were shooting the scene, the animatronic 121 00:08:45,160 --> 00:08:50,000 Speaker 1: clown malfunctioned and the arm actually constricted his airway. He struggled, 122 00:08:50,240 --> 00:08:53,360 Speaker 1: his eyes bumped out, he gasped for air, and the 123 00:08:53,400 --> 00:08:56,480 Speaker 1: crew of adults thought that Oliver was simply delivering a knockdown, 124 00:08:56,559 --> 00:08:59,960 Speaker 1: drag out performance, and it wasn't until his face began 125 00:09:00,200 --> 00:09:03,960 Speaker 1: to turn blue that they realized something was terribly wrong. 126 00:09:06,679 --> 00:09:11,480 Speaker 1: None of these terrifying onset mishaps faced child actress Heather O'Rourke, 127 00:09:11,880 --> 00:09:14,200 Speaker 1: who was all of five years old when she was 128 00:09:14,280 --> 00:09:18,160 Speaker 1: first cast as Carol Anne, the youngest member of the 129 00:09:18,200 --> 00:09:21,840 Speaker 1: Freeling family and the character who makes contact with and 130 00:09:22,000 --> 00:09:26,880 Speaker 1: later is abducted by the malevolent spirits haunting her family's house. 131 00:09:27,880 --> 00:09:30,720 Speaker 1: Heather was told there was nothing to fear. In fact, 132 00:09:30,800 --> 00:09:33,160 Speaker 1: she had been taught how to pretend she was afraid. 133 00:09:33,800 --> 00:09:36,360 Speaker 1: She hadn't acted before, but she knew the business of 134 00:09:36,400 --> 00:09:41,199 Speaker 1: making movies, the make believe business. Her older sister made movies. 135 00:09:41,800 --> 00:09:44,760 Speaker 1: In fact, Heather was lunching in the MGM commissary with 136 00:09:44,800 --> 00:09:47,040 Speaker 1: her mother one day, waiting for her sister to wrap 137 00:09:47,080 --> 00:09:52,320 Speaker 1: a scene, when Stephen Spielberg spotted her. Spielberg was Poltergeist 138 00:09:52,360 --> 00:09:55,680 Speaker 1: writer and producer, and Heather fit his vision for Carol 139 00:09:55,720 --> 00:09:59,840 Speaker 1: Anne Freeling to a tea. Spielberg was in the middle 140 00:09:59,840 --> 00:10:04,360 Speaker 1: of making his latest masterpiece, E T the Extraterrestrial, and 141 00:10:04,520 --> 00:10:08,000 Speaker 1: was therefore contractually prohibited from directing another movie at the 142 00:10:08,040 --> 00:10:12,160 Speaker 1: same time, which is why MGM hired Toby Hooper of 143 00:10:12,280 --> 00:10:17,520 Speaker 1: Texas Chainsaw Massacre Fame to direct Spielberg's Poultergeist script. But 144 00:10:17,559 --> 00:10:21,319 Speaker 1: Spielberg couldn't divorce himself from the production. He was on 145 00:10:21,400 --> 00:10:24,400 Speaker 1: set just as much as Hooper, and according to which 146 00:10:24,480 --> 00:10:27,120 Speaker 1: cast or crew members you ask, he was the one 147 00:10:27,160 --> 00:10:31,400 Speaker 1: who was actually really calling the shots. What Spielberg and 148 00:10:31,440 --> 00:10:34,360 Speaker 1: Hooper did and didn't do where one of them ended 149 00:10:34,360 --> 00:10:36,760 Speaker 1: and the other began. Well, that was just a little 150 00:10:36,760 --> 00:10:39,199 Speaker 1: bit of Hollywood magic. It was all part of the 151 00:10:39,280 --> 00:10:43,000 Speaker 1: larger sleight of hand. As Heather O'Rourke would learn, it 152 00:10:43,120 --> 00:10:46,240 Speaker 1: was how movies got made. It was all make believe, 153 00:10:47,120 --> 00:10:51,080 Speaker 1: just like the scary bits were make believe. But that 154 00:10:51,360 --> 00:10:55,360 Speaker 1: wasn't entirely true. That was just something that adults said 155 00:10:55,440 --> 00:10:59,480 Speaker 1: to make children less frightened. The truth was, there were 156 00:10:59,559 --> 00:11:04,280 Speaker 1: things there, unexplainable things, things that made the hair stand 157 00:11:04,400 --> 00:11:06,120 Speaker 1: up on the back of your neck and the skin 158 00:11:06,200 --> 00:11:09,840 Speaker 1: on your arms tinkle. Who were what those things were? 159 00:11:09,960 --> 00:11:13,840 Speaker 1: It was sometimes impossible to know, but one thing was 160 00:11:13,880 --> 00:11:20,520 Speaker 1: for sure. There he and they had always been here. 161 00:11:44,360 --> 00:11:47,520 Speaker 1: James Hermann stood in the doorway to the bathroom, speaking 162 00:11:47,520 --> 00:11:50,480 Speaker 1: to his son, who was brushing his teeth. It was 163 00:11:50,520 --> 00:11:55,040 Speaker 1: a perfectly normal moment, downright prosaic, actually, one that happened 164 00:11:55,080 --> 00:11:58,040 Speaker 1: nearly every day. But it was about to be disrupted 165 00:11:58,080 --> 00:12:02,079 Speaker 1: by a very abnormal occurrence, the kind that was beginning 166 00:12:02,080 --> 00:12:05,360 Speaker 1: to happen with alarming frequency at the family's three bedroom, 167 00:12:05,440 --> 00:12:10,240 Speaker 1: single story house. It was around eleven in the morning Sunday, 168 00:12:10,679 --> 00:12:15,319 Speaker 1: February ninth, nineteen fifty eight. Strange things have been happening 169 00:12:15,320 --> 00:12:18,720 Speaker 1: in the Hermann's home at sixteen forty eight Redwood Path 170 00:12:18,840 --> 00:12:23,080 Speaker 1: in Seaford, Long Island for nearly a week. Bottles all 171 00:12:23,120 --> 00:12:25,360 Speaker 1: throughout the house were popping open on their own and 172 00:12:25,440 --> 00:12:29,600 Speaker 1: falling to the floor. Shampoo, medicine, liquid starch in the kitchen, 173 00:12:29,880 --> 00:12:32,599 Speaker 1: bleach in the basement, a bottle of holy water in 174 00:12:32,640 --> 00:12:35,439 Speaker 1: the mast at bedroom, and none of the bottles were 175 00:12:35,480 --> 00:12:39,160 Speaker 1: sealed with corks or pop tops. They all had screw caps, 176 00:12:39,440 --> 00:12:45,360 Speaker 1: which required several rotations to remove. James and Lucille, along 177 00:12:45,400 --> 00:12:48,280 Speaker 1: with their children, twelve year old James Junior and a 178 00:12:48,360 --> 00:12:52,480 Speaker 1: thirteen year old daughter, also named Lucille, listened in varying 179 00:12:52,559 --> 00:12:55,920 Speaker 1: degrees of confusion and fear as the bottles popped and 180 00:12:56,000 --> 00:12:59,920 Speaker 1: fell from nearby rooms all week long, but they hadn't 181 00:13:00,080 --> 00:13:05,959 Speaker 1: witnessed it firsthand until now. As James Junior worked the 182 00:13:06,000 --> 00:13:09,679 Speaker 1: toothbrush back and forth on his molars, James Senior stood 183 00:13:09,720 --> 00:13:12,400 Speaker 1: in the doorway of the bathroom and watched in horror 184 00:13:12,720 --> 00:13:16,720 Speaker 1: as a glass medicine bottle moved shakily across the top 185 00:13:16,760 --> 00:13:20,400 Speaker 1: of the sink eighteen inches give her take entirely on 186 00:13:20,480 --> 00:13:23,880 Speaker 1: its own, and then it crashed and shattered into the 187 00:13:23,880 --> 00:13:28,040 Speaker 1: sink basin. James Junior jumped, his toothbrush hit the floor, 188 00:13:28,320 --> 00:13:32,400 Speaker 1: and James Herman couldn't explain it. The sink top was level. 189 00:13:32,720 --> 00:13:35,520 Speaker 1: The medicine bottle shattered with such force that it must 190 00:13:35,520 --> 00:13:39,720 Speaker 1: have been shoved, but by whom or what. When Nassau 191 00:13:39,800 --> 00:13:43,959 Speaker 1: County Detective Joseph Tauzy arrived at the Herman's house to investigate, 192 00:13:44,320 --> 00:13:46,240 Speaker 1: he made it clear that he didn't believe in the 193 00:13:46,320 --> 00:13:51,720 Speaker 1: supernatural ghost spirit specters all horseshit. Surely there was a 194 00:13:51,760 --> 00:13:55,360 Speaker 1: reasonable logical explanation for what was going on, perhaps a 195 00:13:55,480 --> 00:13:59,760 Speaker 1: high frequency radio transmission, a down draft in the home's chimney, 196 00:14:01,320 --> 00:14:05,520 Speaker 1: but unexplainable things continued to happen. The bottle of holy 197 00:14:05,600 --> 00:14:09,120 Speaker 1: water once again fell from the master bedroom bureau. When 198 00:14:09,200 --> 00:14:12,280 Speaker 1: James ran to retrieve it seconds after hearing it fall, 199 00:14:12,600 --> 00:14:15,520 Speaker 1: he found it hot to the touch. And later that 200 00:14:15,559 --> 00:14:18,760 Speaker 1: same day, James Junior and Lucille were watching TV when 201 00:14:18,760 --> 00:14:22,280 Speaker 1: a porcelain figure rose from a table, moved three feet 202 00:14:22,280 --> 00:14:27,760 Speaker 1: through the air, and fell to the floor. Detective Tozy 203 00:14:27,920 --> 00:14:33,120 Speaker 1: himself bore witness to some truly weird shit. It challenged 204 00:14:33,160 --> 00:14:36,360 Speaker 1: his logical just the fact's mind. He went home each 205 00:14:36,440 --> 00:14:38,280 Speaker 1: night and thought about all the ways he could try 206 00:14:38,320 --> 00:14:40,960 Speaker 1: to explain what he had seen. And the Hermans, on 207 00:14:41,000 --> 00:14:44,080 Speaker 1: the other hand, had seen too much, and they were 208 00:14:44,160 --> 00:14:47,640 Speaker 1: freaked the fuck out, so they got the fuck out. 209 00:14:48,480 --> 00:14:51,760 Speaker 1: On February twenty first, a little over two weeks since 210 00:14:51,800 --> 00:14:55,360 Speaker 1: they had begun to experience the inexplicable, they packed their 211 00:14:55,360 --> 00:14:58,280 Speaker 1: bags and went to stay with a relative, and they 212 00:14:58,280 --> 00:15:02,600 Speaker 1: were gone for two days. No supernatural activity was detected 213 00:15:02,640 --> 00:15:05,320 Speaker 1: at their home while they were away, and now did 214 00:15:05,360 --> 00:15:07,840 Speaker 1: anything out of the ordinary happen at the relatives' house 215 00:15:07,880 --> 00:15:11,680 Speaker 1: where they were staying. When they returned to sixteen forty 216 00:15:11,720 --> 00:15:15,120 Speaker 1: eight Redwood Path on the evening of February twenty third, 217 00:15:15,680 --> 00:15:19,720 Speaker 1: they were greeted by a flying sugar bowl. An eighteen 218 00:15:19,800 --> 00:15:22,680 Speaker 1: inch statue of the Virgin Mary rose from a bureau 219 00:15:22,720 --> 00:15:25,800 Speaker 1: and sword twelve feet through the air. A large bureau 220 00:15:25,920 --> 00:15:29,240 Speaker 1: tipped over in James Junior's room, a record player weighing 221 00:15:29,320 --> 00:15:33,200 Speaker 1: ten pounds rose from a table and traveled fifteen feet 222 00:15:33,240 --> 00:15:39,080 Speaker 1: across the room. The Herman's predicament became a local, even 223 00:15:39,200 --> 00:15:43,240 Speaker 1: national sensation. People all over the country wrote letters, made 224 00:15:43,280 --> 00:15:46,320 Speaker 1: phone calls, even showed up the Herman's home to play 225 00:15:46,480 --> 00:15:51,560 Speaker 1: armchair ghostbuster. A priest performed a blessing. Another so called 226 00:15:51,600 --> 00:15:54,880 Speaker 1: holy man conducted a ritual to cleanse the house. Some 227 00:15:54,960 --> 00:15:59,680 Speaker 1: people blamed aliens, others said it was communists. A marche 228 00:15:59,840 --> 00:16:03,080 Speaker 1: F fifty eight profile of the Hermans in Life magazine 229 00:16:03,160 --> 00:16:08,160 Speaker 1: raised another possible suspect, James Junior. The article reported the 230 00:16:08,240 --> 00:16:11,400 Speaker 1: quote in the Annals of Poltergeist, it has been consistently 231 00:16:11,520 --> 00:16:15,160 Speaker 1: noted that the mysterious motion of objects has taken place 232 00:16:15,160 --> 00:16:20,080 Speaker 1: in households containing adolescent children. It further reported that James 233 00:16:20,200 --> 00:16:24,040 Speaker 1: Junior was often nearby when bottles popped in porcelain figures 234 00:16:24,080 --> 00:16:29,600 Speaker 1: hovered midair. Doctor J. Pratt, a psychologist from Duke University's 235 00:16:29,640 --> 00:16:34,120 Speaker 1: Parapsychology Laboratory, made the trip to New York from North Carolina, 236 00:16:34,160 --> 00:16:37,840 Speaker 1: to investigate whether or not James Junior's mind was indeed 237 00:16:38,040 --> 00:16:43,800 Speaker 1: influencing matter. Like detective Tozy, Doctor Pratt didn't believe in ghosts, 238 00:16:44,080 --> 00:16:46,240 Speaker 1: but he did believe that some people were able to 239 00:16:46,480 --> 00:16:50,280 Speaker 1: let's say, animate otherwise inanimate objects with their own minds 240 00:16:50,320 --> 00:16:54,280 Speaker 1: without even knowing it. It is within the realm of possibility. 241 00:16:54,320 --> 00:16:57,480 Speaker 1: Doctor Pratt once said that if eight million New Yorkers 242 00:16:57,480 --> 00:17:00,920 Speaker 1: at one time concentrated on moving the Empire Higher State Building, 243 00:17:01,320 --> 00:17:05,080 Speaker 1: it might move a bit. Doctor Pratt was in Seaford 244 00:17:05,200 --> 00:17:08,000 Speaker 1: for three days, and nothing moved on its own, not 245 00:17:08,119 --> 00:17:11,359 Speaker 1: the Empire State Building, not even a decorative porcelain figurine. 246 00:17:13,119 --> 00:17:15,720 Speaker 1: But as soon as he left to return to North Carolina, 247 00:17:16,359 --> 00:17:21,240 Speaker 1: it all started up again. Unlike the movies, there was 248 00:17:21,240 --> 00:17:24,960 Speaker 1: no tidy ending to explain the paranormal activity occurring in 249 00:17:24,960 --> 00:17:28,240 Speaker 1: the Herman's Long Island home. There was no discovery of 250 00:17:28,280 --> 00:17:32,520 Speaker 1: an ancient burial ground beneath the house's foundation, no four 251 00:17:32,560 --> 00:17:36,119 Speaker 1: foot three spiritual medium named Tangina who was able to 252 00:17:36,160 --> 00:17:40,600 Speaker 1: detect an unsettling dark presence called the Beast, no portal 253 00:17:40,640 --> 00:17:44,240 Speaker 1: to another sphere of consciousness that douses those who pass 254 00:17:44,320 --> 00:17:48,679 Speaker 1: through it with a sloppy layer of ectoplasm. Those, of course, 255 00:17:48,760 --> 00:17:52,680 Speaker 1: were Hollywood embellishments to the true story of the hermans 256 00:17:52,800 --> 00:17:57,359 Speaker 1: nineteen fifty eight haunting, and that true story was used 257 00:17:57,640 --> 00:18:01,040 Speaker 1: nearly twenty five years later, as that's the basis for 258 00:18:01,119 --> 00:18:05,399 Speaker 1: the Poltergeist screenplay written by Steven Spielberg. Michael Grayis and 259 00:18:05,480 --> 00:18:09,959 Speaker 1: Mark Victor in the movie Carol Anne Freeling played by 260 00:18:10,080 --> 00:18:13,600 Speaker 1: five year old newcomer Heather O'Rourke, the one Spielberg met 261 00:18:13,640 --> 00:18:18,000 Speaker 1: in the MGM Commissary is the manifestation of Life magazine 262 00:18:18,119 --> 00:18:22,080 Speaker 1: psychokinetic child. She doesn't move objects with her mind, but 263 00:18:22,160 --> 00:18:25,639 Speaker 1: she is clairvoyant and communicates with ghosts directly through the 264 00:18:25,680 --> 00:18:29,359 Speaker 1: family's TV set. Heather talked to the TV set the 265 00:18:29,400 --> 00:18:32,399 Speaker 1: way she talked to her stuffed animals and dolls. It 266 00:18:32,520 --> 00:18:35,920 Speaker 1: was make believe. She knew not to be scared for real. 267 00:18:37,000 --> 00:18:40,520 Speaker 1: Her performance, however, in the movie as a whole, scared 268 00:18:40,560 --> 00:18:44,480 Speaker 1: the pants off audiences in the summer of nineteen eighty two. 269 00:18:44,600 --> 00:18:49,159 Speaker 1: It also scared up some serious box office box throughout 270 00:18:49,200 --> 00:18:51,080 Speaker 1: the summer of eighty two, and well it's the fall. 271 00:18:51,240 --> 00:18:55,440 Speaker 1: For twenty four weeks, Poltergeist raked in more than seventy 272 00:18:55,480 --> 00:18:59,879 Speaker 1: five million in domestic gross. That said, the number was 273 00:19:00,160 --> 00:19:02,480 Speaker 1: peanuts compared to the money that the other Out of 274 00:19:02,480 --> 00:19:05,960 Speaker 1: This World Steven Spielberg blockbuster made when e T was 275 00:19:06,000 --> 00:19:10,399 Speaker 1: released the very next week. One cast member in particular, 276 00:19:10,800 --> 00:19:13,639 Speaker 1: was never able to see Poltergeist reach its full box 277 00:19:13,760 --> 00:19:17,000 Speaker 1: office potential when she was cast as he yelled this 278 00:19:17,119 --> 00:19:20,640 Speaker 1: freeling sibling. Dominique Dunn was a twenty two year old 279 00:19:20,680 --> 00:19:23,520 Speaker 1: actress with a handful of TV roles under her belt. 280 00:19:24,160 --> 00:19:28,399 Speaker 1: Poltergeist was Dominique's first movie role, in her big Hollywood break. 281 00:19:29,080 --> 00:19:32,160 Speaker 1: Her potential as one of the decades defining scream queens 282 00:19:32,320 --> 00:19:37,960 Speaker 1: was palpable. Audiences loved her. One person in particular professed 283 00:19:38,000 --> 00:19:41,600 Speaker 1: to love her more than anyone else. But Dominique knew 284 00:19:41,640 --> 00:19:46,200 Speaker 1: that John Thomas Sweeney was confusing love with obsession, which 285 00:19:46,240 --> 00:19:50,200 Speaker 1: was why she broke the relationship off. Sweeney was more 286 00:19:50,240 --> 00:19:54,400 Speaker 1: than just jealous and possessive. He was volatile, unhinged. Even 287 00:19:55,280 --> 00:19:58,160 Speaker 1: in August, when Poltergeist was putting fear in the hearts 288 00:19:58,200 --> 00:20:01,840 Speaker 1: of moviegoers, Dominique was busy dealing with the horror film 289 00:20:01,880 --> 00:20:06,400 Speaker 1: that was her life. During an argument, Sweeney grabbed Dominique 290 00:20:06,400 --> 00:20:09,200 Speaker 1: by the hair and pulled so hard that he ripped 291 00:20:09,240 --> 00:20:12,960 Speaker 1: out a chunk by the roots. Dominique wrote Sweeny a letter, 292 00:20:13,000 --> 00:20:16,320 Speaker 1: but never sent it. We are not compatible. It red. 293 00:20:16,760 --> 00:20:19,040 Speaker 1: When we are good, we are great, But when we 294 00:20:19,080 --> 00:20:22,920 Speaker 1: are bad we are horrendous. The bad outwetes the good, 295 00:20:23,440 --> 00:20:26,840 Speaker 1: the whole thing is made me realize how scared I 296 00:20:26,880 --> 00:20:31,120 Speaker 1: am of you. A month later, against their better judgment, 297 00:20:31,560 --> 00:20:36,360 Speaker 1: Dominique was living with Sweeney again. Around three am one night, 298 00:20:36,600 --> 00:20:41,080 Speaker 1: they fought again. Sweeney wrapped his hands around Dominique's neck 299 00:20:41,400 --> 00:20:43,959 Speaker 1: and the two fell to the floor. He was on 300 00:20:44,040 --> 00:20:48,000 Speaker 1: top of her. He squeezed tight and Dominique struggled. She 301 00:20:48,119 --> 00:20:50,760 Speaker 1: managed to escape. She scrambled out of the house of 302 00:20:50,800 --> 00:20:53,840 Speaker 1: the bathroom window. Sweeney heard her car start up and 303 00:20:53,920 --> 00:20:56,520 Speaker 1: ran outside. Suddenly he was in front of the car, 304 00:20:56,560 --> 00:20:59,679 Speaker 1: but Dominique smashed her foot into the gas pedal. Sweeney 305 00:20:59,760 --> 00:21:01,760 Speaker 1: jumped out of the way to avoid getting hit, and 306 00:21:01,840 --> 00:21:06,679 Speaker 1: the car sped off into the La darkness. Dominique Dunn 307 00:21:06,760 --> 00:21:10,360 Speaker 1: escaped for their life at least that time, but there 308 00:21:10,400 --> 00:21:14,000 Speaker 1: was no escaping the fear she lived with constantly. She 309 00:21:14,119 --> 00:21:16,760 Speaker 1: hit out at her friend's house. She only showed her 310 00:21:16,760 --> 00:21:19,120 Speaker 1: face in town when she was one hundred percent sure 311 00:21:19,200 --> 00:21:22,679 Speaker 1: that Sweeney was at work. It wasn't ghosts or an 312 00:21:22,760 --> 00:21:26,320 Speaker 1: unsettled dark presence that would come for Dominique Dunn, but 313 00:21:26,400 --> 00:21:30,240 Speaker 1: it was a beast, and not a make believe beast either. 314 00:21:33,720 --> 00:21:35,479 Speaker 1: We'll be right back after this. 315 00:21:35,640 --> 00:21:37,000 Speaker 2: We're We're where. 316 00:21:40,119 --> 00:21:43,480 Speaker 1: Dominique Dunn decided that she had left John Thomas Sweeney 317 00:21:43,560 --> 00:21:46,800 Speaker 1: for the last time. She didn't care that he was 318 00:21:46,880 --> 00:21:49,960 Speaker 1: the right hand man to fame chef Wolfgame Puck in 319 00:21:50,000 --> 00:21:53,680 Speaker 1: the kitchen of the Shishi Mamaison restaurant on Melrose Avenue, 320 00:21:54,359 --> 00:21:56,919 Speaker 1: or that he continued to profess his undying love and 321 00:21:56,960 --> 00:22:01,600 Speaker 1: remorse with a fistful of flowers. In actuality, he did 322 00:22:01,640 --> 00:22:06,040 Speaker 1: more evil with those fists than prepping food and carrying flowers. 323 00:22:06,560 --> 00:22:09,720 Speaker 1: Dominique cared about her own safety. She cared about the 324 00:22:09,720 --> 00:22:11,879 Speaker 1: fact that, when she filmed the cameo was a victim 325 00:22:11,960 --> 00:22:15,080 Speaker 1: of abuse on the gritty TV cop drama Hill Street Blues. 326 00:22:15,640 --> 00:22:18,760 Speaker 1: She didn't need any makeup to look battered. The black 327 00:22:18,800 --> 00:22:20,760 Speaker 1: and blue bruises on her neck that she wore to 328 00:22:20,840 --> 00:22:24,480 Speaker 1: set were real. Every time she looked in the mirror, 329 00:22:24,680 --> 00:22:27,040 Speaker 1: it was a reminder of that cycle of violence that 330 00:22:27,119 --> 00:22:33,240 Speaker 1: she continued to fall into, and she wanted out. October thirtieth, 331 00:22:33,600 --> 00:22:39,040 Speaker 1: nineteen eighty two, eight thirty pm, Poltergeist was still showing 332 00:22:39,119 --> 00:22:42,280 Speaker 1: well at movie theaters across the country, even if it 333 00:22:42,280 --> 00:22:44,679 Speaker 1: had slipped from the upper echelonne of the box office. 334 00:22:44,720 --> 00:22:47,240 Speaker 1: While movies like First Blood and An Officer and a 335 00:22:47,280 --> 00:22:52,000 Speaker 1: Gentleman Dominated, not to mention Spielberg's et, which was well 336 00:22:52,000 --> 00:22:55,800 Speaker 1: on its way to becoming the year's runaway smash, didn't 337 00:22:55,840 --> 00:22:58,960 Speaker 1: matter much to Dominique Donne. She was already moving on, 338 00:22:59,480 --> 00:23:04,359 Speaker 1: prepping for the next thing, the next big success. Dominique 339 00:23:04,440 --> 00:23:06,879 Speaker 1: was at her one bedroom home on Rangeley Avenue in 340 00:23:06,880 --> 00:23:09,919 Speaker 1: West Hollywood, the same one she had once shared with 341 00:23:10,040 --> 00:23:13,800 Speaker 1: John Thomas Sweeney. She was running lines with fellow actor 342 00:23:13,920 --> 00:23:16,480 Speaker 1: David Packer for the pilot of a new TV mini 343 00:23:16,560 --> 00:23:21,280 Speaker 1: series called V. Dominique and David paused when they heard 344 00:23:21,280 --> 00:23:24,639 Speaker 1: a car pull up outside the house. A car door 345 00:23:24,720 --> 00:23:29,639 Speaker 1: opened and slammed shut. A voice, A knock. Fuck. She 346 00:23:29,760 --> 00:23:35,440 Speaker 1: knew it was Sweeney again, always fucking Sweeney. Dominique opened 347 00:23:35,480 --> 00:23:38,240 Speaker 1: the front door, but left the door chain attached. She 348 00:23:38,280 --> 00:23:40,840 Speaker 1: looked through the two inch gap and saw Sweeney staring 349 00:23:40,880 --> 00:23:43,480 Speaker 1: back at her. He said he wanted to talk. He 350 00:23:43,560 --> 00:23:46,840 Speaker 1: was worked up, out of breath. She wasn't about to 351 00:23:46,880 --> 00:23:48,959 Speaker 1: let him inside, but she knew she had to get 352 00:23:49,040 --> 00:23:51,400 Speaker 1: rid of him. She hoped she could reason with him. 353 00:23:51,600 --> 00:23:54,960 Speaker 1: She told David to wait inside. She undid the door 354 00:23:55,080 --> 00:23:57,879 Speaker 1: Jean walked out onto the porch and closed the door 355 00:23:57,960 --> 00:24:01,639 Speaker 1: behind her, looked over the script in his hands and 356 00:24:01,680 --> 00:24:04,160 Speaker 1: began to run lines on his own. He could hear 357 00:24:04,240 --> 00:24:08,840 Speaker 1: Dominique and swing He talking outside. Their voices slowly began 358 00:24:08,960 --> 00:24:13,399 Speaker 1: to escalate. Sweeney's voice erupted. It dominated the argument with 359 00:24:13,440 --> 00:24:17,800 Speaker 1: aggressive force. David could no longer concentrate on memorizing lines. 360 00:24:18,320 --> 00:24:20,560 Speaker 1: He couldn't make out what they were saying, but he 361 00:24:20,640 --> 00:24:24,399 Speaker 1: knew it wasn't good. A loud, smacking sound made David 362 00:24:24,480 --> 00:24:27,720 Speaker 1: jump and sent chills down his spine, and another one 363 00:24:28,000 --> 00:24:29,840 Speaker 1: in the front of the house shook with each thud. 364 00:24:30,359 --> 00:24:32,560 Speaker 1: David couldn't see what was happening, but he knew someone 365 00:24:32,680 --> 00:24:35,960 Speaker 1: or something was hitting the house. It was rattling the windows. 366 00:24:36,600 --> 00:24:40,439 Speaker 1: Then a scream. Another scream, this one more blood curdling 367 00:24:40,520 --> 00:24:44,680 Speaker 1: than the last. It horrified David. The screams were followed 368 00:24:44,680 --> 00:24:48,280 Speaker 1: by more thuds. David panicked. He picked up the phone 369 00:24:48,280 --> 00:24:51,560 Speaker 1: and called the police. Lapd responded and told him that 370 00:24:51,760 --> 00:24:55,320 Speaker 1: Rangeley Avenue, West Hollywood, that was out of their jurisdiction. 371 00:24:55,760 --> 00:24:59,680 Speaker 1: Nothing they could do out of their jurisdiction. David couldn't 372 00:24:59,680 --> 00:25:02,359 Speaker 1: believe he didn't have the number for the Sheriff's department 373 00:25:02,400 --> 00:25:06,119 Speaker 1: off hand. Lapd wasn't in a call forwarding kind of mood, 374 00:25:06,520 --> 00:25:09,480 Speaker 1: and David was terrified to open the front door. He 375 00:25:09,560 --> 00:25:11,879 Speaker 1: decided to slip up the back door, and as he 376 00:25:11,920 --> 00:25:14,359 Speaker 1: came up the side of the house and approached the driveway, 377 00:25:14,840 --> 00:25:18,000 Speaker 1: he saw Sweeney trying to blend in with the bushes 378 00:25:18,040 --> 00:25:22,080 Speaker 1: but failing, crouching hiding like the cowardly piece of shit 379 00:25:22,280 --> 00:25:28,520 Speaker 1: animal that he was, and then David saw Dominique lying 380 00:25:28,600 --> 00:25:35,000 Speaker 1: lifeless in the driveway. On November fourth, Dominique Dunn was 381 00:25:35,040 --> 00:25:39,320 Speaker 1: taken off life support at Cedar Sinai. Her funeral was 382 00:25:39,359 --> 00:25:44,760 Speaker 1: two days later. Four to six minutes that's how long 383 00:25:44,840 --> 00:25:49,600 Speaker 1: medical examiners estimated John Thomas Sweeney strangled Dominique Dunn outside 384 00:25:49,640 --> 00:25:56,320 Speaker 1: her West Hollywood house four to six minutes. The prosecuting 385 00:25:56,320 --> 00:25:59,920 Speaker 1: attorney opened Sweeney's murder trial by letting a stopwatch run 386 00:26:00,160 --> 00:26:03,480 Speaker 1: for an agonizing four minutes to drive the point at home. 387 00:26:04,720 --> 00:26:09,240 Speaker 1: But despite those chilling four minutes of silence, justice did 388 00:26:09,280 --> 00:26:13,199 Speaker 1: not prevail. First, the judge would not allow another of 389 00:26:13,240 --> 00:26:17,200 Speaker 1: Sweeney's former living girlfriends to testify about the ten times 390 00:26:17,359 --> 00:26:20,920 Speaker 1: he had beaten her during their relationship. About how Sweeney 391 00:26:20,960 --> 00:26:25,040 Speaker 1: broke her nose, punctured ear drum, collapsed or lung. The 392 00:26:25,160 --> 00:26:27,800 Speaker 1: judge said, quote the law says you judge a person 393 00:26:27,880 --> 00:26:30,439 Speaker 1: for his acts and not for the kind of person 394 00:26:30,520 --> 00:26:34,240 Speaker 1: he has been in the past. To make matters even worse, 395 00:26:34,600 --> 00:26:37,399 Speaker 1: the judge then granted the defense's motion to reduce the 396 00:26:37,520 --> 00:26:42,320 Speaker 1: charge from first degree murder to manslaughter. In the defense's eyes, 397 00:26:42,600 --> 00:26:45,439 Speaker 1: the killing was not premeditated. It was committed in the 398 00:26:45,480 --> 00:26:48,800 Speaker 1: heat of passion. Despite their personal views on the matter, 399 00:26:49,080 --> 00:26:51,560 Speaker 1: members of the jury had to deliver a verdict within 400 00:26:51,600 --> 00:26:56,000 Speaker 1: the strict confines they were being presented. Sweeney was saved 401 00:26:56,040 --> 00:26:58,679 Speaker 1: by the law. He got a max of six years, 402 00:26:58,960 --> 00:27:01,960 Speaker 1: but wound up serving lightly less than three years eight months. 403 00:27:02,440 --> 00:27:06,879 Speaker 1: To Dominique's family, it was a miscarriage of justice. The trial, 404 00:27:06,960 --> 00:27:09,679 Speaker 1: the sentence, the time, all of it. It defiled the 405 00:27:09,720 --> 00:27:13,240 Speaker 1: memory of their daughter, The tragic loss of Dominique Dunn, 406 00:27:13,280 --> 00:27:16,199 Speaker 1: and the travesty of justice would haunt them for the 407 00:27:16,240 --> 00:27:22,040 Speaker 1: rest of their lives. When John Thomas Sweeney was released 408 00:27:22,040 --> 00:27:26,280 Speaker 1: from his appallingly short prison stay in nineteen eighty six, coincidentally, 409 00:27:26,320 --> 00:27:29,000 Speaker 1: perhaps it was around the same time that the sequel 410 00:27:29,040 --> 00:27:33,359 Speaker 1: to Poltergeist hit movie theaters. Steven Spielberg didn't return to 411 00:27:33,400 --> 00:27:36,439 Speaker 1: co writer produce Poltergeist Too the other side, but the 412 00:27:36,520 --> 00:27:40,280 Speaker 1: other original screenwriters did return, as did the majority of 413 00:27:40,320 --> 00:27:44,439 Speaker 1: the original cast. Heather o'rouric, now ten years old, was 414 00:27:44,520 --> 00:27:47,480 Speaker 1: back as Carol Anne. Since she was so young in 415 00:27:47,520 --> 00:27:50,280 Speaker 1: her exposure to the media was kept to a bare minimum. 416 00:27:50,480 --> 00:27:54,000 Speaker 1: There was very little documentation of how much Dominique Dunn's 417 00:27:54,080 --> 00:27:58,320 Speaker 1: death impacted Heather on or off the set. There's also 418 00:27:58,359 --> 00:28:01,240 Speaker 1: a little documentation to back up the rumors about strange 419 00:28:01,240 --> 00:28:04,880 Speaker 1: occurrences that once again were reported to have happened during 420 00:28:04,920 --> 00:28:09,240 Speaker 1: the sequel's production, like the one that an actual exorcism 421 00:28:09,359 --> 00:28:13,080 Speaker 1: was performed in order to cleanse the set of evil spirits. 422 00:28:14,600 --> 00:28:18,960 Speaker 1: While Poltergeist Io retains a cult status among diehard movie fans, 423 00:28:19,480 --> 00:28:22,640 Speaker 1: it certainly wasn't the same phenomenon the second time around. 424 00:28:23,280 --> 00:28:25,480 Speaker 1: It barely made half the amount of money as the 425 00:28:25,520 --> 00:28:29,879 Speaker 1: first installment, but there was one eerie similarity between the 426 00:28:29,960 --> 00:28:34,640 Speaker 1: first and second Poltergeist. A few months before Poltergeist Too 427 00:28:34,800 --> 00:28:38,800 Speaker 1: was released, Julian Beck, the veteran actor who co starred 428 00:28:38,800 --> 00:28:43,360 Speaker 1: in the sequel as Reverend Harry Kane aka Evil Incarnate, 429 00:28:43,920 --> 00:28:47,520 Speaker 1: succumbed to stomach cancer at the age of sixty and 430 00:28:47,560 --> 00:28:51,000 Speaker 1: then in June nineteen eighty seven, a little over a 431 00:28:51,080 --> 00:28:54,560 Speaker 1: year after the sequel came out, another of its co stars, 432 00:28:54,600 --> 00:28:58,440 Speaker 1: Will Sampson, who played the Native American shaman protecting the 433 00:28:58,480 --> 00:29:02,400 Speaker 1: family from Harry Kane's Our Normal Voodoo, died at fifty 434 00:29:02,400 --> 00:29:08,880 Speaker 1: three from post operative kidney failure. Like the unexplained activity 435 00:29:08,920 --> 00:29:11,680 Speaker 1: that had taken place nearly thirty years earlier at the 436 00:29:11,680 --> 00:29:15,040 Speaker 1: Herman family home in Long Island. The fact that three 437 00:29:15,080 --> 00:29:19,160 Speaker 1: actors died shortly after making Poltergeist films began to make 438 00:29:19,240 --> 00:29:23,800 Speaker 1: people wonder was it all just a coincidence, a random tragedy, 439 00:29:24,400 --> 00:29:27,720 Speaker 1: or was there something more, something that couldn't be seen. 440 00:29:29,320 --> 00:29:32,640 Speaker 1: When principal photography wrapped up for Poltergeist three in the 441 00:29:32,680 --> 00:29:35,880 Speaker 1: summer of nineteen eighty seven, Heather O'Rourke went home to 442 00:29:35,920 --> 00:29:39,920 Speaker 1: Big Bear Lake in California. That winter, she turned twelve 443 00:29:40,000 --> 00:29:42,959 Speaker 1: years old, she began to prepare for the press junkid 444 00:29:43,000 --> 00:29:46,680 Speaker 1: that would precede the third movie's Hollywood premiere, But Heather 445 00:29:46,760 --> 00:29:50,240 Speaker 1: O'Rourke never made it to the premiere. She never even 446 00:29:50,280 --> 00:29:54,120 Speaker 1: got a chance to see the finished movie. What happened 447 00:29:54,160 --> 00:29:58,760 Speaker 1: next turned a series of strange coincidences into a widespread 448 00:29:58,840 --> 00:30:03,400 Speaker 1: theory that the Holtergeist movie franchise, just like the Herman's 449 00:30:03,440 --> 00:30:27,760 Speaker 1: Long Island Home, was cursed. March twenty second, nineteen ninety two, 450 00:30:28,640 --> 00:30:32,760 Speaker 1: Richard Lawson was still upside down. The entire plane was 451 00:30:32,800 --> 00:30:37,000 Speaker 1: still upside down. US Air Flight four H five was 452 00:30:37,080 --> 00:30:41,440 Speaker 1: currently inverted in Flushing Bay. The runway lights of LaGuardia 453 00:30:41,520 --> 00:30:44,600 Speaker 1: flashed in the rear distance, and the snow continued to 454 00:30:44,680 --> 00:30:50,120 Speaker 1: fall sideways. Inside the plane, it was all blackness. The 455 00:30:50,200 --> 00:30:53,440 Speaker 1: water was on its way in, the oxygen was on 456 00:30:53,520 --> 00:30:57,080 Speaker 1: its way out. It was all happening way too fast. 457 00:30:57,960 --> 00:31:01,480 Speaker 1: Richards struggled to free himself, but he couldn't move. His 458 00:31:01,600 --> 00:31:04,560 Speaker 1: head was stuck. What were these two objects pinning his 459 00:31:04,640 --> 00:31:09,560 Speaker 1: body down? See to maybe other passengers. He was trapped. 460 00:31:09,600 --> 00:31:13,280 Speaker 1: He was going to die. Up until this moment, he 461 00:31:13,320 --> 00:31:15,960 Speaker 1: had thought it was all bullshit, All that stuff about 462 00:31:15,960 --> 00:31:18,880 Speaker 1: the so called Poltergeist curse, the one that had claimed 463 00:31:18,880 --> 00:31:22,640 Speaker 1: four actors from the three films. Fucked that curses were 464 00:31:22,680 --> 00:31:26,680 Speaker 1: make believe those tragedies were real. Dominie Dunn died at 465 00:31:26,680 --> 00:31:30,080 Speaker 1: the hands of a violent abuser. Julian Sands had cancer. 466 00:31:30,400 --> 00:31:35,480 Speaker 1: Will Samson suffered complications from surgery. Heather, a uroric well 467 00:31:35,880 --> 00:31:40,040 Speaker 1: that had come out of left field, shocked everyone. They 468 00:31:40,040 --> 00:31:42,400 Speaker 1: all thought she had a nasty case of the flu. 469 00:31:43,000 --> 00:31:46,400 Speaker 1: Her family, the doctors, but her heart stopped on the 470 00:31:46,440 --> 00:31:49,080 Speaker 1: way to the hospital. They were able to revive her, 471 00:31:49,120 --> 00:31:52,120 Speaker 1: and life lighted her to the Children's Hospital in San Diego. 472 00:31:52,840 --> 00:31:55,720 Speaker 1: She died on the operating table before the doctors could help, 473 00:31:56,000 --> 00:31:58,360 Speaker 1: and they didn't even know where to begin. No one 474 00:31:58,400 --> 00:32:00,520 Speaker 1: knew that she had been born with the burn defect 475 00:32:00,520 --> 00:32:04,160 Speaker 1: that made a section of her intestine abnormally narrow. She 476 00:32:04,240 --> 00:32:07,120 Speaker 1: didn't have the flu. She suffered a bowel obstruction that 477 00:32:07,200 --> 00:32:11,000 Speaker 1: sent bacterial toxins into her blood stream. She died from 478 00:32:11,000 --> 00:32:15,719 Speaker 1: a shock caused by infection of her blood. The doctor 479 00:32:15,840 --> 00:32:18,560 Speaker 1: said that Heather's death was very unusual because she never 480 00:32:18,640 --> 00:32:21,800 Speaker 1: exhibited symptoms that anything was amiss at any point in 481 00:32:21,840 --> 00:32:24,760 Speaker 1: her life. The problem seemed to have come from nowhere. 482 00:32:26,240 --> 00:32:30,400 Speaker 1: Insights like those drove the curse conspiracy theorists wild, but 483 00:32:30,480 --> 00:32:34,800 Speaker 1: Richard Lawson put little credence into any conspiracy theory, especially 484 00:32:34,840 --> 00:32:40,920 Speaker 1: one that connected all of these tragedies until now. Because 485 00:32:40,920 --> 00:32:43,400 Speaker 1: even though his role as a parapsychologist in the first 486 00:32:43,440 --> 00:32:47,400 Speaker 1: Poltergeist movie was a small role, Richard had nonetheless acted 487 00:32:47,440 --> 00:32:51,120 Speaker 1: in a Poltergeist movie, and like four other actors before him, 488 00:32:51,360 --> 00:32:55,560 Speaker 1: he now found himself staring down an unexpected death. This 489 00:32:55,840 --> 00:32:58,560 Speaker 1: was his fate. He knew it now. He had been 490 00:32:58,600 --> 00:33:01,720 Speaker 1: foolish to doubt it in the past. He accepted what 491 00:33:01,840 --> 00:33:05,240 Speaker 1: was about to happen. He ceased to struggle. He wanted 492 00:33:05,240 --> 00:33:07,960 Speaker 1: to die with the spirit of peace. He wanted the 493 00:33:07,960 --> 00:33:09,640 Speaker 1: people who loved him on the other side of the 494 00:33:09,680 --> 00:33:12,560 Speaker 1: wreckage to know that he was okay, that he hadn't 495 00:33:12,600 --> 00:33:16,480 Speaker 1: died afraid. He continued to hold his breath under water 496 00:33:16,800 --> 00:33:19,560 Speaker 1: and was about to finally let it all go, one 497 00:33:19,640 --> 00:33:24,520 Speaker 1: giant exhale and done, when something came over him. He 498 00:33:24,600 --> 00:33:29,280 Speaker 1: felt a sensation take over his body. It was warm, friendly, 499 00:33:29,880 --> 00:33:34,200 Speaker 1: the opposite of fear. The sensation enveloped his entire body, 500 00:33:34,640 --> 00:33:36,520 Speaker 1: from the top of his head to the bottom of 501 00:33:36,560 --> 00:33:40,440 Speaker 1: his toes, and he heard a voice say, get out 502 00:33:40,440 --> 00:33:44,040 Speaker 1: of here. Take your seatbelt off and get out of here. 503 00:33:47,280 --> 00:33:50,040 Speaker 1: Richard put his hands on his belt buckle and released it. 504 00:33:50,360 --> 00:33:52,920 Speaker 1: He felt the seat belt release from around his waist. 505 00:33:53,560 --> 00:33:56,640 Speaker 1: Get out of here, now, Richard. He put his hands 506 00:33:56,680 --> 00:33:58,840 Speaker 1: on the things that had trapped him in place for minutes, 507 00:33:59,120 --> 00:34:02,440 Speaker 1: things that had been on moor before. Now they easily 508 00:34:02,480 --> 00:34:05,680 Speaker 1: moved the side with the gentlest of touches from his hands. 509 00:34:06,240 --> 00:34:09,200 Speaker 1: He could hardly believe it. His body began to move. 510 00:34:09,600 --> 00:34:11,560 Speaker 1: He didn't know if it was up or down. He 511 00:34:11,680 --> 00:34:15,040 Speaker 1: just wanted to find an air pocket. When his head 512 00:34:15,080 --> 00:34:19,160 Speaker 1: finally surfaced, the twisted wreckage below his feet kicking and 513 00:34:19,239 --> 00:34:23,319 Speaker 1: thrusting him towards salvation. He took a deep breath. He 514 00:34:23,400 --> 00:34:26,839 Speaker 1: inhaled bay water and jet fuel and spat it back out. 515 00:34:27,640 --> 00:34:29,919 Speaker 1: He looked up in an arm and reached down through 516 00:34:29,920 --> 00:34:32,360 Speaker 1: a hole in the side of the plane. He couldn't 517 00:34:32,400 --> 00:34:34,719 Speaker 1: see who it was attached to, if it was a 518 00:34:34,760 --> 00:34:38,000 Speaker 1: man or a woman, a first responder or another passenger. 519 00:34:38,520 --> 00:34:40,960 Speaker 1: He just saw the arm, and the hand at the 520 00:34:41,040 --> 00:34:44,080 Speaker 1: end of that arm was reaching out just for him. 521 00:34:44,400 --> 00:34:47,080 Speaker 1: Let me help you, a voice said, and with that 522 00:34:47,840 --> 00:34:50,840 Speaker 1: Richard was hoisted from a watery grave to a place 523 00:34:50,880 --> 00:34:54,240 Speaker 1: where the snow and wind where so cold, you knew 524 00:34:54,560 --> 00:34:59,800 Speaker 1: you were alive. Twenty seven people died in the crash 525 00:35:00,120 --> 00:35:03,440 Speaker 1: US Air flight four or five that day. Richard Lawson 526 00:35:03,560 --> 00:35:06,399 Speaker 1: later learned that at least one of those deaths had 527 00:35:06,440 --> 00:35:09,440 Speaker 1: been a passenger sitting in row six, back in coach 528 00:35:09,960 --> 00:35:13,680 Speaker 1: where he was originally assigned. If that wasn't a sign, 529 00:35:14,160 --> 00:35:18,880 Speaker 1: he didn't know what was. His life hadn't been taken 530 00:35:18,960 --> 00:35:21,799 Speaker 1: by some evil spirit. It had been saved by a 531 00:35:21,800 --> 00:35:26,520 Speaker 1: benevolent force, something unexplainable, the kind of thing that made 532 00:35:26,520 --> 00:35:28,560 Speaker 1: the hair stand up on the back of your neck 533 00:35:28,600 --> 00:35:31,880 Speaker 1: and the skin on your arms tingle. Who or what 534 00:35:32,120 --> 00:35:37,399 Speaker 1: that thing was it was impossible to know. But curses, Nah, 535 00:35:38,160 --> 00:35:41,719 Speaker 1: curses aren't real. Just ask the Herman family in Long 536 00:35:41,760 --> 00:35:45,839 Speaker 1: Island back in nineteen fifty eight. They eventually moved out 537 00:35:45,840 --> 00:35:51,040 Speaker 1: of their supposedly haunted house and never experienced another paranormal event. Again, 538 00:35:52,160 --> 00:35:55,759 Speaker 1: evil spirits didn't follow them. Maybe it was just some 539 00:35:56,320 --> 00:36:01,400 Speaker 1: unknown natural phenomenon, or maybe someone playing some sort of 540 00:36:01,560 --> 00:36:06,800 Speaker 1: sick joke on them, which would of course be a disgrace. 541 00:36:08,760 --> 00:36:27,120 Speaker 1: I'm Jake Brennan. This this disgraceland. All right, Poulter, Guys, listen, 542 00:36:27,160 --> 00:36:29,560 Speaker 1: I'm going to rewatch this now. I hope you guys 543 00:36:29,600 --> 00:36:32,680 Speaker 1: are too. As I mentioned in the a Bloc, this movie, 544 00:36:32,719 --> 00:36:35,279 Speaker 1: the original one anyways, scared the hell out of me 545 00:36:35,320 --> 00:36:37,680 Speaker 1: as a kid. So this week's question of the week 546 00:36:37,880 --> 00:36:41,080 Speaker 1: is which movie do you remember scaring the hell out 547 00:36:41,080 --> 00:36:43,719 Speaker 1: of you as a child and why? I want to know? 548 00:36:44,200 --> 00:36:46,440 Speaker 2: Six one seven nine six six six three eight. Leave 549 00:36:46,480 --> 00:36:48,000 Speaker 2: me a voicemail, send me a text, let me know. 550 00:36:48,040 --> 00:36:49,960 Speaker 2: We'll get into it in the after party bonus episode. 551 00:36:50,160 --> 00:36:52,560 Speaker 2: You can also reach me at disgrace Slam pod as 552 00:36:52,560 --> 00:36:55,040 Speaker 2: well on Instagram, X and Facebook. 553 00:36:55,280 --> 00:36:57,800 Speaker 1: Leave a review for the show on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. 554 00:36:57,920 --> 00:37:00,120 Speaker 1: Win some free merch. All right, here come some credits es. 555 00:37:01,920 --> 00:37:04,719 Speaker 1: Disgracelam was created by Yours Truly and is produced in 556 00:37:04,760 --> 00:37:08,160 Speaker 1: partnership with Double Elvis. Credits for this episode can be 557 00:37:08,200 --> 00:37:11,839 Speaker 1: found on the show notes page at disgracelampod dot com. 558 00:37:11,920 --> 00:37:15,000 Speaker 1: If you're listening as a Disgraceland All Access member, thank 559 00:37:15,000 --> 00:37:17,719 Speaker 1: you for supporting the show. We really appreciate it. And 560 00:37:17,760 --> 00:37:20,080 Speaker 1: if not, you can become a member right now by 561 00:37:20,080 --> 00:37:24,760 Speaker 1: going to disgracelampod dot com. Slash Membership members can listen 562 00:37:24,800 --> 00:37:28,560 Speaker 1: to every episode of disgracelan ad free. Plus you'll get 563 00:37:28,600 --> 00:37:33,400 Speaker 1: one brand new exclusive episode every month, weekly unscripted bonus episodes, 564 00:37:33,480 --> 00:37:37,360 Speaker 1: special audio collections, and early access to merchandise and events. 565 00:37:37,920 --> 00:37:42,319 Speaker 1: Visit disgracelampod dot com slash membership for details, Rate and 566 00:37:42,360 --> 00:37:44,920 Speaker 1: review the show, and follow us on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter 567 00:37:44,960 --> 00:37:48,919 Speaker 1: and Facebook at disgracelampod and on YouTube at YouTube dot 568 00:37:48,920 --> 00:37:58,320 Speaker 1: com slash at disgracelanmpod Rock Arolla Henn