When Steven Spielberg and Tobe Hooper saw something in Heather O’Rourke during casting for Poltergeist, although nobody knew it as the time, a star was born. All she had to say was, “They’re here,” in Poltergeist. All those details are well explored in She Was Here – The Heather O’Rourke Story.
She went on to play the adorable Heather Pfister in Happy Days, along with a handful of other roles, before she suddenly passed away. Medical professionals at the time couldn’t pinpoint exactly which condition precipitated the eventual cardiac arrest, and to call it a result of the film’s paranormal origins is urban legend rather than fact.
What’s presented here is less about the curse and more about how a star is born. For anyone unfamiliar with the trilogy, a bit of history: four people connected to the franchise died before, during or after the release of each film.
Two of those deaths were completely unexpected. The other two are subject to interpretation, the winds of fate, or something worse. Not much is said about Dominique Dunne, who played older sister Dana Freeling. The details get glossed over, and the fact that other incidents occurred during the making of the sequel complicates exactly when the curse idea started circulating. In Heather’s case, she passed away before the third film even reached theatres.
Real skeletons were used in the eerie swimming pool construction scene, and the documentary does address that. Jo Beth Williams and other crew members later found out the prop department sourced actual human remains from a medical supply house because it was cheaper. Whether that’s enough to explain anything is another question. Unless those bones were blessed, maybe they did carry something with them. As for why the curse would target the stars specifically, nobody really knows short of someone attempting spirit communication.
Rather than dig further into that, Brian Pocrass and Nick Bailey‘s documentary shifts into something warmer. Their film is a loving tribute to a young girl who could’ve gone far in Hollywood. Whether it’s her ability to steal a scene or simply light up a room, what’s on screen is compassionate, tender, and reflective. It’s built on memories: previously unseen home videos, letters, photographs, and personal journals that the filmmakers got special access to in order to picture what Heather could’ve done had she survived.
In a way, her spirit is what holds the whole thing together, and there’s nothing threatening about it. Not even The Fonz (Henry Winkler) could resist that sweet, innocent face. The story behind the scenes is traced carefully right up to her collapse, and it’s remarkable how many people she touched. A childhood best friend has nothing but warmth to share, particularly about how Heather never let any of it go to her head. She just wanted to be a regular kid, and it showed.
The recollections from Jo-Beth Williams, Craig T. Nelson, and Gary Sherman reveal what she was working toward: not just acting, but eventually making films herself. They speak to how mature she was despite the child roles, and the affection in their voices says everything about how tightly they’ve held onto those memories. The care that went into assembling this story is evident, and I’ll admit I reached for a tissue. I remember watching the films and Happy Days as they were released, and catching those moments when she was just bright and alive brought Queen’s “These Are the Days of Our Lives” to mind. Even now, I can almost hear her say, in exactly the way a child would, “I still love you.”
5 Stars out of 5
She Was Here – The Heather O’Rourke Story
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