"Poltergeist" resurrected
Who says movies don’t offer a window into the truth, a mirror of
the zeitgeist? The titles, anyway. A tip of the hat to the people at Mudflats.com, a site dedicated to “tiptoeing through the muck of Alaskan politics,” for this
update on what’s playing at the local movie house in Wasilla, Alaska, Republican
Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin’s hometown.
Meanwhile, I’ve been at a loss trying to come up with
movie-related items stranger and more implausible than the recent developments
in the Presidential election. Maybe this will do. “Poltergeist,” the 1982 Stephen
Spielberg-produced,Tobe Hooper-directed horror film about evil spirits entering
a suburban household through their TV screen, a smash hit that spawned two
sequels, is being remade with Vadim Perelman (“The Life Before Her Eyes,” “House
of Sand and Fog”) directing. That despite the alleged “’Poltergeist’ Curse,” which
supposedly resulted in the death of at least four and as many as six of the
cast members.
One of these was the waif-like
star Heather O’Rourke, who died on February 1, 1988 at the age of 12 after making
"Poltergeist 3." As fate would have it, I was one of the last journalists to
interview O’Rourke, spending a day on the set of the Chicago production for the “Chicago
Sun-Times.” Perhaps the “Curse” extends to my efforts on mustering up a copy of
my article on line; I’ve been completely stymied trying to “register” to read it. All I
remember about the experience is that Zelda Rubinstein, who played the dwarf
exorcist and whom I also interviewed, was nasty and abusive. And also that they
glued a fake moustache on my lip so I would resemble Tom Skerrit’s stand-in
double..
At any rate, perhaps the only curse Perelman and company need
fear is from fans of the original film. Here’s what “horrorchick81” has to say
about the remake:
“u gotta be shittig me......like i said NOOO NEED
TO REMAKE THIS. i hope everyone dies on this set.”
Good luck, Vadim.
