Poltergeist

Continuity mistake: The wicker headboard of Carol Anne's bed is ripped apart when she holds onto it to try to keep from flying into the closet. Towards the end of the movie, when her mom tucks her into bed, the headboard is intact and has had no repairs.

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Suggested correction: Diane could've bought a new headboard obviously.

Revealing mistake: When Diane is pulled back from the front door near the end of the movie, they use a stunt double, as you can see the stunt person scramble off to the right after the real Diane lands behind the stairs.

jerimiah

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Suggested correction: You're close. They did use a stunt double but you don't see the double "scrambling off." The stunt double is barefoot and the person you see clearing the shot is wearing shoes. Most likely a stage hand helping the stunt double with the landing.

Stupidity: The family ask 3 so-called ghost experts into the house. After seeing flying objects in the kids' room, they are suitably impressed. But later on, the female expert is sleeping, one of the men is in the kitchen wanting to cook a steak, and the second man has his back to the monitors, his head buried in a crossword puzzle and he has headphones on with music on, so he can't see, hear or see what is going on.

kh1616

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Suggested correction: The only one acting stupid in this scene is the guy at the monitors. They have to eat and sleep sometime; if anything, having two people awake and one asleep at a time is the cautious route. The one guy goes into the kitchen to cook a steak, but the guy at the monitors, despite being told he'll be the only one watching them, doesn't put down his drawing or take off his headphones, depriving him of sight and sound.

Anson Gordon-Creed

Continuity mistake: When Carol Anne is being sucked into the closet vortex she clearly lets go of the white wicker headboard of her bed. In the next shot, the child (actually a dummy or a stunt double) is seen sailing into the closet, grasping a sizeable section of the now broken headboard.

More mistakes in Poltergeist

Carol Anne Freeling: They're here.

More quotes from Poltergeist

Trivia: In the swimming pool scene with the mother near the end, the actress didn't know it, but those weren't fake skeletons.

More trivia for Poltergeist

Question: Why was only the Freelings' house sucked into the vortex? Since it was discovered that the developer only moved the headstones but left the bodies, shouldn't other houses that were also built over the cemetery have also been dragged in?

Answer: It seems that the majority of the activity was focusing in on the Freeling house exclusively. It's not fully explained why they were the only house affected, but there are a number of possibilities. Possibly because it's where the highest concentration of spirits were at unrest. Possibly because it could be inferred that the Freelings moved in first given Steven was involved with the company that built the community, and thus they became the first targets. And possibly because they were trying to get to Carol-Anne since she was an easy target.

Also, it is mentioned in the movie that Carol Anne was actually born in the house. That likely caused everything to focus on her.

It was not meant that Carol Anne was literally born inside the house, just while the family was living there. It was just a casual colloquial expression Steven's boss made.

raywest

Answer: A poltergeist haunts a person rather than a place. Though building the neighborhood over their graves is what initially disturbed the ghosts, they are fixated on Carol Anne.

TonyPH

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