My "Gorezone" (U.K.) Articles

Below is the article that I had published in the British horror film magazine "Gorezone." It appeared in their December 20th 2005 edition (Issue #4). Their web site is www.gorezone.co.uk. Below my first article is a quote that Mr. Sherman said in response in Issue #5, and then my second article for "Gorezone," which was published in their February issue, #6.

 
POLTERGEIST III: Mystery of the (Reshot?) Ending
 
By David Furtney
 

On Feb. 1, 1988, child star Heather O'Rourke, best known for her role as "Carol Anne Freeling" in Steven Spielberg's classic Poltergeist (1982) and Brian Gibson's mediocre Poltergeist II: The Other Side (1986) passed away at the age of 12 from septic shock caused by an undetected bowel obstruction. The previous year, she had spent three months, April through June, in Chicago filming the third chapter in MGM's profitable horror saga. Poltergeist III (or We're Back-Poltergeist Continues as it was known during shooting) was directed and co-written by Gary Sherman, best known for such films as Raw Meat and Wanted: Dead or Alive. At the time of Heather's death, all press reports (and studio PR statements) said that she had completed the film prior to her death. Tabloid stories at the time ghoulishly bantered about the "Poltergeist Curse" rumor, since on each movie at least one actor had passed away either during or shortly after filming. Poltergeist III was released June 10, 1988 to terrible reviews. Although it opened in the box office top five its first weekend, ticket sales shortly thereafter plummeted, and the film became regarded as a box office flop, earning only 14 million dollars (the budget was about 10 million). In contrast, the first film had earned 76 million domestically in 1982, and the second film had pulled in 40 million.

           

That June, I was 8 years old. My mom and I went to an early afternoon Saturday matinee showing at what was then the Plaza Theatre on North Davis Drive in my hometown of Warner Robins, Georgia. During the showing, there were only four of us in the auditorium-me, my mom, and two teenage guys who sat in the back and made ghost noises during much of the movie. My mother of course ended up falling asleep halfway through it. I, on the other hand, was totally enthralled, and quite unnerved by some scenes.  At the end, after Tangina Barrons (Zelda Rubinstein) sacrificed herself by leading the evil Reverend Kane "into the Light," two lightning bolts struck the high-rise on screen just as the credits started to go up. As Kane's laughter echoed across the Chicago skyline, I thought for sure Poltergeist IV wouldn't be far behind.

           

Poltergeist IV never came, although my interest in all three movies continued. During my freshman year of college, I discovered the power of the Internet search engine in finding web sites started by some of the people who had worked on Poltergeist III. This was late 1998. The first person I contacted was composer Joe Renzetti. During one of our email Q and A sessions, I discovered a fact about the film I'd never known before:

 

 Q: Also, did you score any scenes that ultimately did not end up in the final film? For example, I've always thought the movie ended rather too quickly. At the end, Heather O'Rourke's face is not seen after she comes out of the mirror.  Why is that?

 

 Renzetti: No. The ending was a re-shoot and sadly Heather had died by that time. The young girl was a "double."  Very observant on your part.

 

This information surprised me.  After all, I thought I'd known all there was to know about this movie. Upon further questioning, I learned a few more details from Mr. Renzetti:

 

 Q: So the ending was re-shot because something was wrong with the previous footage, or because the ending was actually changed?

 

Renzetti: The first ending just wasn't convincing, so Gary and the studio decided to redo it.

 

Q: Do you recall anything more about the old ending and why it was re-shot?

 

Renzetti: It was a combination of elements. I don't remember the old ending but it was very "dissatisfying" as most  good American endings should not be. The special FX make-up sucked, the characters were supposed to be frozen but they looked as if they just survived an egg processing plant explosion.

           

Thanking Joe for his information, I then sent an email to Gary Sherman (at the time he had his own web site; now he has a blog where he's promoting his newest film 39). On Jan. 3, 1999, Mr. Sherman responded to me with a detailed statement:

             

"Joe's recollection of the 're-shoot' was not exactly right. It wasn't a re-shoot. The unfortunate fact is that Heather  passed away before the end of the film was shot. We were waiting for the SFX make-up to be finished when we lost  her. The film came very close to not being finished or released. This would have been my choice as well as that of the  heads of the studio. The Board of MGM had a different idea. We were told to either finish it without Heather or they  would bring someone else in to do it. I replaced the original 17 page finale with the shortened 3 page abrupt ending  that you have seen. Personally, I hate the ending. Maybe if we had been allowed to take time to adjust to and accept  Heather's death, we might have created an ending that could have been a tribute to a very wonderful little girl.  Instead, a grief-sticken crew did what we had to do as quickly as possible.  I'm sure you are going to ask if you can see  the 17 pages. Sorry, I tossed my only set a long time ago. I felt it was morbid to keep the pages. As far as the final  shooting script goes, it will not be posted on the website. My only copy was  requested by, and donated to, the Academy  of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. It is in the permanent collection at the  Academy's Margaret Herrick Library. It is  hundreds of pages long and as thick as a telephone book. It contains not only the script but complete diagrams of  how all the effects were achieved. It is available for viewing, you will have to contact the Academy for details."

           

Later, Gary gave some additional details in an interview with the horror website www.arrowinthehead.com:

           

"Heather died a week before we were scheduled to shoot the ending.  There were some 17 pages left to shoot, most of  which was to be the ending, a tear jerking scene in which Tangina (Zelda Rubinstein) offers herself as a sacrifice -  that she would go over into the light in exchange for Scott (Kip Wentz), Bruce (Tom Skerritt) and Carol Anne  (Heather) and everyone else. As Carol Anne and Tangina passed from one side to the other, they were to say 'Good- bye' for the last time. It was to be not only to be the end of POLTERGEIST III, but the end of the Poltergeist Trilogy.

           

We weren't even going to finish the film at all, after Heather died. I was not interested, neither was Barry Bernardi or  the studio heads, Alan Ladd, Jr. and Jay Kanter. None of us were. We got together and decided to shelve the project,  at least for the time being. But the MGM board didn't see it that way. They basically said, 'Look, either you finish this  or we'll get somebody to finish it for you.' Since we weren't about to let that happen, I half-heartedly wrote that  pathetic ending where Bruce (Tom) and Patricia (Nancy) carry out a photo double, dressed as Carol Anne, at the end.  People just weren't available anymore for it. We just didn't care about it. Scott (Kip Wentz) couldn't even show up. He  was on the east coast, that's why he's mysteriously missing. But we just didn't care at the end of it all."

           

Gary would go on to tell the E! True Hollywood Story in their "Curse of Poltergeist" special (2002) much the same story, adding that the film went on a four month hiatus in October of 1987 because of a "business obligation" of Sherman's and that the ending was later shot in one day using a double. As a result, the cast and crew "ended up with a completely different film" than what they had intended to make. However, actor/director Kipley Wentz, who played Lara Flynn Boyle's boyfriend Scott  (who mysteriously never returns at the end of the film) eventually went on record via postings to the Internet Movie Database as strongly differing with Gary's version of events:

           

"I know Gary said that in an interview a long time ago, but it's not true. I was in Los Angeles when they reshot the  ending. I was at school at USC and was a pall bearer at Heather's funeral. Nobody even told me they had reshot the  ending until I saw it at the premiere. So... I don't know what the thinking was on the production's part. They may very  well have told Gary that I wasn't available. I have no idea. But for the record, I would have gladly done the reshoots if  anyone asked. It's a bit frustrating that almost 20 years later everyone seems to think I was cut from the new ending  because I was not available or something.  The 'original' ending was shot. The movie was wrapped about seven  months before Heather died. After she died, they wanted to reshoot the ending because it obviously featured Heather  prominently and it was all very upsetting for everyone. For the record, I was at USC in Los Angeles, not on the East  Coast. Nobody even told me that they had reshot the ending until I was sitting there at the premiere. It was a very sad  time for everyone involved, and obviously a great source of confusion ever since. Why Gary would say I wasn't  available or we didn't shoot the ending or whatever, I don't understand, but it doesn't really matter. And whether  people believe my account of the story or not, well... there's nothing I can do about that. I flew to New York to work  with the special effects guys. They took a cast of my head to make the 'frozen Scott' that was seen in the original  ending. We shot it. The movie wrapped. There was a big 'wrap party'. We all celebrated finishing the movie.  The  following summer, I was at the premiere in Chicago and saw a totally different ending that nobody had told me about.  I asked the producer what happened to my character at the end, and he made a bad joke saying, 'We're leaving you  out there for Poltergeist IV'. PLEASE don't read more into that than there is... we were all sad and uncomfortable  that evening and he was no doubt just trying to avoid the subject. As I recall, he said that things had been really crazy  and they were just trying to deal with it as quickly as possible."

 

Later, others I questioned agreed more or less with Kipley, including producer Barry Bernardi, who said:

"I recall that Heather died before the re-shoot and that we used a double."

 

Jeanne Bonansinga, who served on the editing team under Ross Albert, stated:

 

"The original ending was shot in Chicago as was the entire film. The ending was later re-shot in  LA because the studio didn't like the original ending-.If you watch the ending closely, you  never see her face. We used a body double and shot only from the back. We tried to cut in  some shots from the original ending to see her face, but very few were usuable. It was quite a  challenge to shoot, and edit. Her death dictated the way the ending was written and created.  There was a time when we thought the film would be scrapped because we couldn't shoot the  ending without the main character! It certainly cast a dark shadow on the film. She was a  darling girl. What a shame. We were all just shocked."

           

In addition, special effects makeup artist Doug Drexler even wrote an article in the September 1988 issue of now defunct "Gorezone" magazine (the one "Fangoria" used to publish) called "Poltergeist III and a half: The Reshoot." In it, he states:

           

"I've been wanting to clue you in on what's shaking with 'Poltergeist III.' While you were gone, MGM shot a new climax to its Spielberg instigated spook show carried on by director Gary Sherman, and we were invited. With only 12 days of prep, it was imperative that we move quickly."

           

So, what is the real story? Was the original ending in fact shot, or not? Was there a re-shoot? The above quotes are provided for the reader to decide. Repeated efforts to contact other people involved with the film (as well as MGM/Sony) for comment/clarification have been unsuccessful. Mr. Sherman clearly does not enjoy talking about the issue. It seems that the original ending was filmed and there were actually two different "re-shoots." [update: There actually was only one re-shoot]. The first was likely in December of 1987 at the MGM studios in LA, and replaced the "frozen bodies" of the family with "decomposed" corpses, and also changed the way the evil Kane met his demise (the original ending had his face exploding with light after touching Tangina's magical amulet necklace). The new ending featured Nancy Allen's character Pat slicing off Kane's head with a shovel, after which the head then melted on the floor. However, after Heather died February 1, 1988, MGM did a series of extensive test screenings, and (most likely) forced the cast and crew to do some additional filming, this time leaving Scott (Kip Wentz) out of the new ending.

           

Perhaps test audiences were confused when he returned with the family in the original version (he had been seen coming back from the "other side" much earlier in the film, but alert viewers would have recognized him as only a "possessed reflection"). In addition, what was also likely added was the abrupt sequence in which Tangina shows up to lead Kane "into the Light." Her line "Tell Carol Anne I'll always love her-and that her nightmare is over" seems to be a subtle reference to the tragic passing of Heather. As for why they felt they had to use a body double for the very last scene-I suppose they had to find some way of editing the film to reflect the fact that Scott didn't come back (the original ending apparently showed them all together in the same shot).  At least, I hope this is the case. A much more cynical theory (one I don't believe but have seen proposed by others) is that the studio's PR department may have urged the use of a body double in a re-shoot in order to take advantage of the "poltergeist curse" hype. The idea being that they could attract more attention to an otherwise bad movie by putting out a cover story that "Heather died before we could film the ending." However, if this was the case, why was this "story" not found in any media at the time (even the tabloid press)? Unless other evidence emerges to change my mind, I'll stick with the more benign interpretation.

           

One final note: in October of this year [2005], I went to Los Angeles on vacation, and made it to the Margaret Herrick Library in Beverly Hills that Gary had told me about six years ago. I was able to read through his personal copy of Poltergeist III's shooting script. It was fascinating-chock full of notes, sketches, story boards, etc. Also there were pages of the ending that now appears in the film. They were dated REVISED MARCH 14, 1988. As for the mysterious "17 pages" that were supposedly never filmed-I found no trace of them. The original ending featured in the copy of the script I purchased from Heather O'Rourke's sister Tammy ran for about 5 pages max (from the point where Pat falls into the frozen bedroom up through the point where Carol Anne tearfully waves goodbye to Tangina and the camera pulls back as the family embraces).  The ending in this shooting script ran for about the same length.

           

For more behind the scenes details on Poltergeist III, including the script pages and publicity stills and story boards for the original ending, visit my fan web site at www.poltergeistIII.com.

 

In the January 2006 issue of "Gorezone," they did a follow-up interview with P3 director Gary Sherman. Here's the excerpted interview, followed by my second article, which appeared in the Feb. 2006 issue (and which Sherman's PR guy allegedly urged "Gorezone" not to print; to their credit, "Gorezone's" editors felt I had written a solid rebuttal, and decided to publish anyway).

**********************

Gary Sherman grants "Gorezone" a rare interview discussing the topic he least likes to talk about: "Poltergeist 3: The Final Chapter." He discusses everything from P3's ending, Heather's death, and his latest film, "39-A Film by Carroll McKane."

Q: The experience of P3 for many of the cast and crew was not a very memorable experience. Why?

A: "...not a very memorable experience"? Quite the opposite, Heather's death made it a horrid experience that we would all like to erase from our memories.

Q: How did you balance being an executive producer and creating the SFX?

A: Different jobs...different hats.

Q: What's the truth about why the original ending was left on the cutting room floor? There is a statement from Joe Renzetti that it was because "The special FX make-up sucked, the characters were supposed to be frozen but they looked as if they just survived an egg processing plant explosion."

A: First, let me tell you about Joe Renzetti, aside from being about my closet friend on the planet, he is one of the funniest, smartest and most sarcastic people you could meet. The quote you mention was from an interview he did with someone he found to be "annoying, stupid, and pendantic..." This interviewer, who had been pestering everyone, including me, looking for "dirt" was barraging Joe. To get him to stop, Joe gave him a bullshit interview filled with whatever it took to stop the harassment. The answer to the first part of your question is that there was never an original ending shot...Heather's death precluded that happening.

Q: While working on set how did you feel the film was coming along? Do you think the smoke machine FX was over used?

A: Until the tragedy that marked the end of this production, I was very happy with what we were doing...And we NEVER used a "smoke machine." The fog FX was done with liquid nitrogen. And NO...It wasn't overused.

Q: Many critics back in 1988 were very unkind about the film but looking back on it now in parts it's genuinely creepy and superbly handled, making the film feel, at times, like a modern Japanese horror like "The Ring" or "The Grudge." Do you also feel that or do you just hate the whole film?

A: There are parts I'm proud of, like many of the effects. But as a whole, it is the least favorite of my films.

Q: How was the SFX created for the scene when Heather broke her way through her bedroom door to a shocked audience of Tom and Nancy?

A: That effect, like every effect in the film, was shot live on stage. My script, the one I actually used on the set, is in the library at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. In it are the diagrams, schematics, blueprints, and every detail of how every effect was shot.

Q: Was the following scene below ever shot and if so why was it cut?
The scene is the tear jerking scene in which Tangina (Zelda Rubinstein) offers herself as a sacrifice-that she would go over into the Light in exchange for Scott (Kip Wentz), Bruce (Tom Skerritt) and Carol Anne (Heather) and everyone else. As Carol Anne and Tangina passed from one side to the other, they were to say "Goodbye" for the last time.

A: I've already half answered this question...but to put it to rest for once and for all, just quote me as saying, "The original ending was NEVER shot!" Because the bullshit ending, shot after the tragic loss of Heather, was, by neccessity, so short that the overall film was too short. And because of that, the whole film had to be stretched. There was little, if any, useable footage left out of the final cut. And, unfortunately, the overall pacing of the film was destroyed by this rebalancing.

[Gorezone's research team came across a photo of Kane's face cracking. This picture is easily found on the World Wide Web search engines for "Poltergeist 3."]

Q: Was the scene where Kane's face cracks and explodes ever shot? How was this staged? And what happened before this happened?

A: I think I've already answered the "missing scenes" question...There aren't any [, and that was never shot, ever].

Q: Did you attend the rough cut screening of "Poltergeist III" or the wrap party? What was the atmosphere like if you did?

A: I believe, if I remember correctly, there was some kind of a party in Chicago before we were to move the remainder of the shoot back to LA. That was before we lost Heather, so I'm sure the mood was up and happy. After Heather's funeral, I think you can imagine what things were like.

Q: What was the original ending? Can you remember it and what SFX did you make for these scenes?

A: You seem to already know something about it, as you previously mentioned. Since it will never be shot, and I personally don't want to put myself through the pain of remembering any of this, let's just drop it...OK?

[Working on "Poltergeist 3" it was plain to "Gorezone" that for Gary it was a painful experience and something best left alone and in the past for everyone involved.]

************************

Here's my article in response, published in the Feb. 2006 issue of "Gorezone:"

 

From Mystery to Controversy:
The Last Word on the Poltergeist III Ending

 
By David Furtney
 
In the last issue of "Gorezone," director Gary Sherman had this to say about me:
 
“The quote you mention was from an interview he [composer Joe Renzetti] did with someone he found to be ‘annoying, stupid and pedantic…’ This interviewer, who had been pestering everyone, including me, looking for ‘dirt’ was barraging Joe. To get him to stop, Joe gave him a bullshit interview filled with whatever it took to stop the harassment."
 
The “someone” Sherman refers to is me. First of all, I never claimed to be an “interviewer.” I let “Poltergeist III” composer Joe Renzetti know from the beginning that I was simply a big fan of the film. At the time, Joe and I exchanged a series of polite emails back and forth. I sent the first one in July 1997, right before my senior year of high school began, and then about 3 or 4 more the next year, asking about various details regarding his work on the film. Joe may very well have thought I was “annoying and stupid,” (I was only 18 at the time, after all) but he never said so to me, nor did he in any way indicate he was tired of our correspondence. He was sarcastic, and at one point jokingly asked me how the “book” was coming along, referring to it as “the making of Polt 3.” I actually have copies of those emails still saved. You can read the extent of our conversations at www.poltergeistIII.com/score.html.
 
In the above quote, Gary claims I was “pestering everyone” involved with the film. This could not be further from the truth. As I wrote in my original “Gorezone” article, after Joe stated that the ending of P3 was a re-shoot, I sent Gary Sherman one email asking what the original ending was, since Joe didn't remember much except for the "frozen bodies." I wasn’t trying to get “dirt” on anyone; before I contacted Joe, I had never even considered the possibility that the film‘s original ending was never shot, nor that a re-shoot could have taken place (since it had always been reported that Heather finished the movie before she died); I was simply curious as to why it ended so quickly without Carol Anne‘s face being shown.
 
When Gary wrote back that polite, detailed response stating that Joe’s recollection “wasn't exactly right” and that in fact the original ending had never been shot, it made sense to me. Mr. Sherman was, after all, the director of the film. And the co-writer. And the executive producer. And the visual effects designer. So, he above anyone would know what really went on. I thanked him for his taking the time to email me back. I followed up with a few more questions, like “Was the ‘Scott’ who comes up out of the pool the real one?” And "why did lightning strike the high rise at the end?” and “What was the original ending going to be? “ to which he responded:
 
“1. Tangina was going to sacrifice herself in exchange for Carol Anne. She would have led Kane and the others ’into the light’ to the other side.
2. Re: Scott. Look closely. The Scott who comes out of the pool is a mirror image. Look at his sweatshirt.
3. The lightning was only to punch up an ending that we all hated.”
 
He later told me that he was brought on board the film after Jobeth Williams, Craig T. Nelson, and writer/producers Michael Grais and Mark Victor had declined to do another sequel, and that the idea of doing the story in Chicago and have Carol Anne staying with relatives was his. He described the reason for wanting to do the SFX live on stage, saying that with optical effects at the time, the film lost quality after each generation was made in the optical printer, and he wanted the image to be as clean as possible. At one point, I informed Gary of a short blurb about him I saw in "Fangoria" magazine, in which it was reported that he was about to start work on a new series. Gary asked me where'd I'd read it, and then said the report wasn't true, adding "don't believe everything you read." In the same email, he offered to mail me a copy of the EPK (electronic press kit) for "Poltergeist III." I thanked him for the offer, and gave him my address at the time. The tape never arrived (though I was able to get a copy of it from someone else later).
 
It wasn't until another year or so passed that I began to notice some contradictions, mainly when I contacted actor Kipley Wentz. He insisted that the film’s ending was a re-shoot, matching what Joe first told me. It was at this point that I emailed Gary again, to try and get some further clarification. This time Gary became far less helpful in answering my questions. When I asked him about a couple of publicity still photos I had discovered that appeared to show parts of the original scripted ending, Gary said “the publicity stills were shot at a different time than the actual scene. The original ending was never shot.” That explanation seemed to make sense (although I found even more stills later, included in this article). When I mentioned the fact that Kip Wentz said he recalled filming the original ending (showing the characters huddled together after "thawing out" and Carol Anne tearfully waving goodbye to Tangina), and was surprised when he went to the premiere and saw a totally different ending no one had told him about nor asked him to be involved in, Gary stuck by his version of the story, saying "well that's the way I remember it. I don't want to talk about it anymore."
 
Realizing that something wasn't adding up, I began trying to email all the other people I could find who worked on P3, in an attempt to obtain their recollection of what took place. I decided to stop emailing Gary, since I figured at that point I was annoying him, but not intentionally. I realized he wasn't going to give me any more details. I also recall telling him that I understood how awful the tragic loss of Heather O’Rourke must have been, and that I didn't want to make him talk about something he didn't want to discuss. However, I was still intent on obtaining any information I could from other cast and crew. Believe me, if I would have received a statement from anyone corroborating what Gary said (that “Heather died before the ending was filmed”), I would have gladly included it in my research. It’s not my fault that everyone else who spoke to me said “it was a re-shoot.” In other words, don't blame the messenger. To this date, I have yet to find even one source who can confirm Gary's account. [UPDATE: In April 2007, Nancy Allen gave a Fangoria radio interview in which she appeared to confirm Gary's story, but her claim is not credible either. See why here:
http://www.spielbergfilms.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6658 She says they still had "pick up shots" to do when Heather died, which even conflicts with Gary's version that they still had "17 pages of script, most of which was to be the ending," to film. Neither can be true because at the time of Heather's death the film had already been rated PG]
 
 
As a recap, here's what I did find:
 
Producer Barry Bernardi: “I recall that Heather died before the re-shoot and that we used a double.”
Actor Kip Wentz: “I was in Los Angeles when they re-shot the ending.”
Editor Jeanne Bonansinga: “The ending was later re-shot in LA because the studio didn't like the original ending. We tried to cut in some shots from the original ending to see her face, but very few were usable.”
SFX designer Doug Drexler: “MGM shot a new climax to its Spielberg instigated spook show carried on by director Gary Sherman, and we were invited.” (Not to mention the title of Doug’s 1988 article: “Poltergeist III and a half: The Re-shoot”).
 
So, even if Joe Renzetti was giving me a “bullshit interview” about the ending being a re-shoot (a possible, but highly unlikely and ridiculous explanation), how does Gary explain the quotes from the people above? In addition, what about his own quote, from the July, 1988 issue of “Cinefantastique” magazine: (Volume 18 No 5, page 39):
 
“I became so fascinated with Tangina’s dehydrated remains that we also did one for Bruce and Donna for the scene where Pat comes into the ice storm at the end. She’s being chased through the storm by Kane, falls and finds Bruce’s and Donna’s remains. Then I decided to change the ending. Tangina actually accomplished Kane’s death so I thought we should see Kane transformed into one of those dehydrated remains. It all became much more complicated than what we were initially going to do, but Dick, John, and Doug came up with something incredible.”
 
That “something” apparently ended up being the sequence now in the film when Nancy Allen slices off Kane’s head with a shovel, and then the head decomposes on the floor. This scene was discussed in Doug’s 1988 "re-shoot" article. When Gary was asked in the previous issue of “Gorezone” about the scene of Kane’s face exploding ("what we were initially going to do,"), he insisted this was never filmed. I was able to get some confirmation of this after speaking on the phone with legendary makeup artist Dick Smith (“The Exorcist”). When Mr. Smith looked at the Kane photo, he said that from his recollection, that photo was only a makeup effects test shot, and that the full “exploding face” effect was never filmed. [UPDATE: I think Mr. Smith may have confused the Kane "lines of light" face pic (which was an on set publicity still taken of a prop head that Smith created) with another photo of Kane with a rotting face, which WAS a makeup effects test shot that was never filmed and which can be seen on the "Ending" section of this site].
 
 
Doug Drexler said he recalled the “frozen bodies” scene being filmed during principal photography (the bodies were created by Cal Acord’s effects crew, not Drexler’s).
 
“Poltergeist III” was rated PG in November of 1987. MGM may have wanted the film to appeal more to the PG-13 demographic, so plans were apparently made to re-shoot the rest of the ending with more graphic scenes. Mr. Drexler said he recalled Gary flying out to New York City with the rough cut of the film to discuss changes to the ending, likely in December of 1987. In some of the notes Drexler sent me from this meeting, Doug wrote: "I don't think Zelda should come back at the end. It's very confusing." Another set of notes said "Ed [Edward Ledding, the production manager] says "Budget not approved. Actors not available for shoot date. Effect should be in hold mode."
 
Through my web site, I made contact with a man named Mr. Macklin Crux. He is a writer and performer who lived in New York City in 1987-1988. He claims to have been invited to a “distributor’s screening” of P3 in late 1987. The cut he saw featured scenes not in the finished film, including what he says was an ending different from the one released theatrically:
 
"I can confirm what Kipley has written. I was invited to a "rough cut screening" of Poltergeist III. I don't remember the dates but there was very little music and some of the FX shots were still being worked on. During some scenes we saw sketches. It was at the world trade center and it was only time I ever went there… But I can verify the movie had finished shooting when O’Rourke died. It wasn't that bad of a movie, in fact I enjoyed it but it certainly deserved better from its producers…
 
This screening was at the World Trade Center (the 9/11 one in New York City). As I understand it, SFX and editing were being done in Brooklyn (I could be wrong). [Actually, Crux is right-I learned that Doug Drexler's SFX makeup lab was in Brooklyn] This was not a test screening. This was for Distributors and Industry people only and it was more of a party atmosphere. I remember hardly being able to watch the film because it wasn't dark, we sat near a window and the view was better than the movie and my (ex) wife got really plastered. There were about 30+ people and there was lots of food, drinks and an old-fashioned Pop-corn trolley. I also seem to remember a lot of security.
 
We were also invited to rough cuts of Die Hard, Good Morning Vietnam, Gaby, and several others. Poltergeist III (and Gaby) stand out because of the differences. We got a free video in the mail, immediately following the opening (we watched it July 4th with friends). So while the rest of the country was seeing it in theatres, we had somehow got on a list for an advanced copy. The box was the same, which makes me think, they almost went straight to video but it was with a disclaimer at the bottom of the entire movie and included a featurette which presented a marketing strategy for the video release. I also remember that the video did very well but mostly from corporate and small business sales (for renting, not individual sales).
 
Please forgive me for saying so but the version I had seen featured O'Rourke much more than the final cut and not just the ending. The released version is a much better cut with less O'Rourke. Many cruel things were said at the screening about O'Rourke's acting ability. She may have been a cute kid but was unable to carry a film despite a great support cast. Knowing what I know now, I believe the cut had nothing to due with O'Rourke's death and everything to due with saving a project that over estimated O'Rourke's ability and her link to the two previous films. I should also mention at the screening, no one was looking for advice. [Regarding the ending]
I remember the family frozen (and it didn't look like an egg fest), the amulet and Kane touching it (and thinking how cheesy). I remember: Carol Anne & Tangina waving goodbye, no dialogue and it was slowed down (slow Motion), they were both crying.
 
I remember a small monologue which came off pretty good at the time in which Carol Anne tells Kane to stop it, maybe 5 or six lines, they both were on the other side. I don't remember what was said but someone did remark ‘Carol Ann's getting pissed’ and we all laughed. [UPDATE: I think Crux is actually confusing the scene above with one that took place a little before the ending in which Carol Anne gives a short speech to Pat through the broken window before she transforms into Kane]
No one ever shelves a project that has finished photography. Get Real. I believe it came down to; do we release what we have or should we throw a little more money at it and get the focus off O'Rourke. I think a lot of these stories were concocted in order to save the reputation of a little girl with very limited acting ability who recently died not to mention their own collective asses. So I believe, principle photography ended, O'Rourke died while at the same time changes were being discussed and possibly being executed, and then a new final version was made and released.
 
One detail I forgot to mention - there were no credits and the invitation was for ‘Poltergeist III: The Final Chapter.’
It was around Christmas time and probably Dec. It wasn't snowing yet but that night I remarked that it wasn't far away. I had just finished a musical about Monet (I really can't remember the name) in which I had the lead and finished up with ‘Drood’ that same year. I was an Actor but I was investing in a corporation called Media Depot which distributed VHS, CD's & other media to stores in the tri-state area."
 
Here's an excerpt from a March 21, 1988 “LA Times” article titled “MGM Ponders Selling of ‘Poltergeist III‘”(the re-shoot took place the previous week):
 
The sudden death last month of "Poltergeist III" child star Heather O'Rourke brings MGM face to face with one of the toughest dilemmas any studio's movie marketers can expect to encounter.
The second "Poltergeist" sequel was already in the can, at a cost of more than $10 million, when the 12-year-old actress died of what had seemed to be flu symptoms, but proved to be septic shock from an unsuspected bowel obstruction. Now MGM has to sell the picture without seeming to exploit Heather, and without creating ghoulish confusion between screen threats to little Carol Anne Freeling and the young actress who played her.  "We're caught in a dilemma," acknowledges MGM marketing senior vice president Barry Lorie.
 
So how will MGM catch the eye of teen terror-fiends without deeply offending their parents? The studio hasn't firmed up marketing plans for the June 10 release yet. But some things are clear:
–Publicity is out: Promotional interviews are a favorite tool in selling horror films, and O'Rourke did some publicity for the earlier films. But MGM wants stars Tom Skerritt and Nancy Allen generally to avoid interviews, which would inevitably lead to maudlin questions about Heather.
–Testing is in: Before setting up an ad campaign-which might or might not feature O'Rourke-the studio plans extensive audience-reaction screenings. The tests might help MGM calculate how viewers take to such touches as a proposed dedication to O'Rourke, whose "They're here" and "They're back" lines helped sell the first two films.
David Wardlow, Heather's agent and a close associate of her mother, says the film "will be dedicated to Heather. There's no question about that." But Wardlow says the survivors have no veto rights over marketing plans.
–Meanwhile, safe is better than sorry: Scrambling to regroup after O'Rourke's death, cautious studio executives trimmed a shot of the actress from their initial trailer. But they left in a voice-over in which she delivers the new kicker: "Guess who's back in town...?"
Producer Barry Bernardi, Lorie and Wardlow all said they didn't believe the film would need special editing to defuse any horror scenes that might seem tasteless in light of O'Rourke's death.
 
When working on my initial “Gorezone” article, I was informed that their office had received a mysterious fax from someone*, apparently one of the stars they had tried to contact for comment. The message was in regards to why Kip Wentz’s character “Scott” wasn't included in the re-shoot:
 
"It was an oversight stemming from the emotional and logistical turmoil over the loss of Heather O'Rourke, in her 'iconic' role as the series' central character; and the budget had run out at that point, with 'Scott' not being considered essential enough to the movie for the studio to go through the expense and complication of arranging another re-shoot with Kip present. “
 
I’ve also heard from two different confidential sources who claimed that there are in fact deleted scenes and that the original ending from “Poltergeist III” still exists within the archives at MGM.** I of course have no way to confirm these tips, but perhaps MGM will one day shed some light on the issue. After all, they stand to make some extra money if they put any cut scenes on a special edition DVD, especially after all this controversy. Here’s an interesting excerpt from the “Poltergeist III” press kit, given to the media by MGM at the time of the film's release (emphasis mine):
 
HEATHER O'ROURKE, who died unexpectedly in February, 1988 from complications of a congenital intestinal disorder, made her film debut at age five in "Poltergeist," and was nine when she reprised her role as Carol Anne in "Poltergeist II: The Other Side." Heather was just 11 when she filmed "Poltergeist III," which was completed several months before her untimely death.
 
Here’s a posting that Tammy, Heather O’Rourke’s older sister, made in 2003 to the www.heatherorourke.net memorial site message board (again, emphasis mine):
 
Q: Hey Tammy, why did Heather like flamingos so much? About how old would you say she was when she started to like them? Thanks
Tammy:
She enjoyed the flamingos because they were so pretty. She went to Florida after filming Poltergeist 3 and that's when she fell in love with them.
 
Here’s an excerpt from the interview I did with Corey Burton, the man who provided the voice for the Rev. Kane in “Poltergeist III:”
 
Q: One of the things I've always wondered about is the film's re-shot ending. Did you ever do any dubs for the original ending?
 
Burton:  I do remember going in to record after Heather’s tragically untimely death; and I may have recorded a little something at the first session... But I seem to recall that it was already established, that the ending would be reworked, and Gary Sherman didn’t want to waste studio time recording what would most likely not be used anyway.
 
Q: One thing that always bugged me about the very end of the movie is when lightning strikes the building just before the credits go up, and Kane's laughter is heard, presumably leaving an open door for yet another sequel. Did Gary/MGM ask you to do that scene with the express purpose of a possible sequel in mind, or was it just a last ditch effort to "punch up" the ending after Heather died, when they were forced to come up with that abrupt ending?
 
Burton: Both assumptions are correct.
 
This is what the (very reliable) urban legend web site www.snopes.com had to say about the “Poltergeist Curse:”
 
http://www.snopes.com/movies/films/polter.htm
 
"O'Rourke appeared in all three Poltergeist movies. Poltergeist III had been completed at the time of her death although it had yet to be released, leading to rumors that she had expired during shooting and a double had to be used to complete the picture. (Poltergeist III was in the can by June 1987 but wasn't released until 10 June 1988; however, writer-director Gary Sherman decided to change the ending of the already-finished film after O'Rourke's death, so a double was used to shoot the alternate ending.)"
 
Finally, the key piece of evidence proving that “Poltergeist III” was finished at the time of Heather’s death is the fact that the film was originally rated PG in 1987, the week of November 23, 1987, to be exact. I learned this from Joan Graves, the head of the Motion Picture Association of America Ratings Board. According to Joan:
 
“We always see the entire film before issuing a rating. There have been times when computer graphic effects have been incomplete initially but we see a complete version before a final rating is given.”
 
In my last article, I reported that I believed there were two re-shoots on the film, the first one likely in December of 1987, the second after Heather died in March of 1988. Upon closer examination of the notes and calendar evidence I had been provided by Doug Drexler, I now believe this to be wrong. There was evidently only one re-shoot, and it took place the week of March 14, 1988. Apparently the planning for the re-shoot began in December 1987. Doug’s notes on the new SFX continued into January, and the re-shoot may have been initially scheduled for February. After Heather died February 1st, the re-shoot got pushed back to March. It was announced the week of April 25, 1988 by the MPAA that “Poltergeist III” had been “re-edited” and was awarded a new rating of PG-13, apparently satisfying the studio heads. The scene of Kane getting his head sliced off with the shovel was probably the deal breaker that upped the rating from PG to PG13.
 
Perhaps we'll never know exactly what really happened with "Poltergeist III" after Heather O’Rourke’s tragic death. Maybe one day MGM will dig into its archives to see what, if any, footage still exists. If the original ending can be found, it would only be fair that her fans be allowed to see it.
 
One last note: I emailed this article to Mr. Sherman’s PR firm, in the hopes he‘d provide a comment in response that I could include before I submitted the final version to “Gorezone.” I never heard anything back. 
 
******************************
David Furtney resides in Atlanta. He is the webmaster of www.poltergeistIII.com.
 
NOTE:
*=This "someone" I believe was Tom Skerritt. I had sent "Gorezone" the email/phone/fax contacts for the PR reps for Skerritt, Nancy Allen, Lara Flynn Boyle, Nathan Davis, and Zelda Rubinstein. I doubt the comments about Kip were written by Nancy Allen (whose PR contact refused any interview requests when I contacted them), or Lara Flynn Boyle. It also was unlikely it came from Nathan Davis (who sent me a handwritten note in the mail which said "Hi David...sorry I can't help you." ). "Gorezone" did do a brief interview with Zelda via phone, but unfortunately she didn't seem to remember anything of substance about the re-shoot, and her interview wasn't used. Therefore, the sender of the fax was most likely Tom Skerritt.
 
Here's the interview "Gorezone" did with Zelda:
 
GZ: Was the ending completed and ready to be put together before Heather's death?
 
Zelda: Maybe.
 
GZ: Do you recall the original death of Kane? Was it filmed? Was it the head explosion?
 
Zelda: Could have been.
 
GZ: Do you prefer the original ending or the re-shoot?
 
Zelda: Yes.
 
GZ: Joe Renzetti made the following statement. Can you confirm it or deny it? "The special FX make-up sucked, the characters were supposed to be frozen but they looked as if they just survived an egg processing plant explosion."
 
Zelda: No I cannot confirm it. NO.
 
GZ: Did MGM put pressure on everyone involved to take part in the re-shoot, and why was Kipley not asked back?
 
Zelda: No.
 
Zelda also did this interview with Iconsoffright.com in October 2007, for the promotion of the "Poltergeist" 25th Anniversary DVD. She seems to have again offered a wishy washy response regarding the re-shoot:
 
Q: What about the rumors that multiple endings had been shot for "POLTERGEIST III?"

A:
The ending that I did was what I saw on screen. If there were other endings it must have been done because Gary Sherman wasn't happy. Gary's a good director, and he's also remained a good friend.
 
 
**-I later found both my sources who claimed to be "studio insiders" and who said the original ending stil
l existed were dubious, at best. One of them I found had stated things which were patently untrue; the other raised similar doubts. However, that only means that the question of whether the original ending still exists remains open; the fact remains that the original ending WAS shot in June of 1987. In addition, it was confirmed to me that MGM has over 100 boxes of footage related to P3 in their vaults...perhaps the original ending can be found there. 
 
Finally, the following is what craft services man Michael Kehoe told me. He worked on the re-shot ending in Los Angeles. He also knew the first assistant director on the original film, who happened to share the same last name: 

David, I have worked on so many films that most of the past is but a blur. I was the craft service person on that picture [P3] and knew the first assistant director. We happen to share the same last name, no relationship.  I am writing and directing now as well as keeping the craft service biz alive while handing the torch to someone else. I do remember the shots with the new girl and remember her being a little larger than Heather the original actress. I also remember them being cautious about covering her face. It was an odd shoot to say the least but I know that Gary Sherman had a great deal of weight on his shoulders in regards to this film. And the tragedy of the loss of two young actresses Heather and Dominique was a shame. I wish I had more interesting information to share but it seems that you have just about all the info there already.