Quote:A lot of strange things happened to those involved with the film.  I don't believe in such things, but there were many unusual circumstances.

 

• Dominique Dunne, who played the eldest daughter Dana in the first movie, died on November 4, 1982, at age 22 after being strangled by her abusive former boyfriend John Thomas Sweeney.^[14] He was convicted of voluntary manslaughter and sentenced to six years in prison, but was paroled after serving three and a half years.^[12]
  
• Julian Beck, 60-year-old actor who played Henry Kane in <i>Poltergeist II: The Other Side</i>, died on September 14, 1985, of stomach cancer diagnosed before he had accepted the role.^[15]
  
• Will Sampson, 53 years old, who played Taylor the medicine man in <i>Poltergeist II</i>, died as a result of post-operative kidney failure and pre-operative malnutrition problems on June 3, 1987.^[16]
  
• Heather O'Rourke, who played Carol Anne in all three <i>Poltergeist</i> movies, died on February 1, 1988 at the age of 12 after what doctors initially described as an acute form of influenza but later changed to septic shock after bacterial toxins invaded her bloodstream.^[17]^[18] At the time, she had suffered acute bowel obstruction, initially diagnosed as Crohn's disease, which may have been the cause of death.
  

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poltergeist..._series%29

 

Looks like there's an upcoming reboot/remake due in 2014.  Sam Raimi from Evil Dead fame involved, but that doesn't mean much as I didn't care for his Evil Dead remake.