10 Things You Didn't Know About Poltergeist
6. The House Implosion Was Done In One Take
One of the most impressive, ageless moments of Poltergeist is near the very end, when the Freeling household gets sucked into a blackhole. Being a movie that was made before the use of computer graphics, it required an elaborate stunt to make the scene look as realistic as possible.
First off, a model house had to be built to look like the real one. Within the structure, the replica had approximately one-hundred wires attached to various points, as well as a built-in vacuum generator. The shot was arranged with the camera directly above the model (the front door was facing directly up, straight at the camera).
As the wires were yanked, several special effects crew blasted the house with pump-action guns. The entire scene only took two seconds, and they had to wait until the film was developed before they knew if they would have to do it again.
Such a stunt cost at least $25,000, and it was very lucky for the team that they got it right on the first take.