October 19th: Best Movie with a (Supposed) Curse Attached

21 Sunday Oct 2018

Posted by The Haunted Librarian in Halloween, Horror Movies, Uncategorized

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Dominique Dunne, Heather O'Rourke, Poltergeist, Steven Spielberg

Poltergeist

October 19^th: Best Movie with a (Supposed) Curse Attached

Steven Spielberg’s entry into the horror genre is genius. In Poltergeist (1982) unknown forces kidnap the Freeling’s youngest daughter, Carol Anne. After its release, urban legends circulated that the movie was cursed. Several people associated with the film died unexpectantly. Most notable were 1) Dominique Dunne, who played older daughter “Dana,” was strangled by her ex-boyfriend days before her 23^rd birthday and shortly after the movie was released and 2) Heather O’Rourke, who played “Carol Anne,” died on the operating table at age 12. Both are buried near one another at Westwood Memorial Park in L.A.

This film grossed over $123 million worldwide and has generated 2 sequels and a reboot. It is an iconic horror film classic with other films referencing it.

Spoiler: By the way, there is only one death in the film: Tweety the Bird.

Jaws Debuted 42 Years Ago Today

20 Tuesday Jun 2017

Posted by The Haunted Librarian in Binge this Movie, In the News, Movies, Uncategorized

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jaws, Steven Spielberg

Jaws2

Jaws Debuts on June 20, 1975

The blockbuster film Jaws (1975) debuted 42 years ago today. It is one of my all-time favorite movies. To celebrate, here are some facts about the movie:

Based on the book by Peter Benchley, who appeared in the movie as the “Interviewer” on the beach. The book is very, very different from the movie.
This was Steven Spielberg’s first large-scale film. He was initially concerned about being typecast and complained: “Who wants to be known as a shark-and-truck director?”
The opening scene, “Chrissie’s Last Swim,” took three days to shoot. It is one of the best opening scenes according to WatchMojo.com (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74BE-_jsEmc).
Roy Scheider’s famous “You’re gonna need a bigger boat” line was adlibbed.
An alternate title was Stillness in the Water.
The estimated budget was $8,000,000 and grossed over $470,000,000 worldwide. It is the 7^th highest grossing ever film in the US.
The film was nominated for 4 Oscars including Best Picture, which it lost. It won for Best Sound, Best Film Editing, and Best Music, Original Dramatic Score.
Three mechanical sharks were built for production and nicknamed “Bruce,” for Spielberg’s lawyer Bruce Ramer. None of the sharks worked well; therefore, the movie doesn’t have many shots of them.
John William’s iconic theme music was dismissed as a joke by Spielberg.
Richard Dreyfuss’ character “Hooper” dies in the novel and original script.