What a difference a good view makes. There's something about a movie that opts for shooting on location over relegating itself to a studio lot. Whether its Roger Deakins' work on Skyfall (or any of his other projects for that matter) or the incredible drone shots used in Michael Mann's Ferrari, plenty of movies have found ways to utilize the actual world in which we live to great effect.
This extends to horror, as well. Of course, the locales are best seen in the respective horror film's assuredly few daytime scenes, but even still. The following are the horror films that were shot in a particularly memorable location, one with a beauty that manages to elevate the movie in more ways than one, providing both entrancing vistas and whatever tone the director is going for in that particular moment.
10 Bodega Bay in The Birds (1963)
The Birds
- Release Date
- March 29, 1963
- Director
- Alfred Hitchcock
- Cast
- Rod Taylor, Tippi Hedren, Jessica Tandy, Suzanne Pleshette, Veronica Cartwright
- Rating
- PG-13
- Main Genre
- Horror
Not only one of the greatest 'When Animals Attack' movies ever made but a formative one at that, Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds is a masterclass of tension-building. The plot follows a young woman as she travels out to Bodega Bay in an attempt to win the heart of a handsome stranger she met earlier in the day. However, even before she arrives, she finds herself pecked on the head by a single bird.
What Makes It Great?
The gorgeous Bodega Bay, California (which is both where the film takes place and where it was shot) isn't just attacked by a single bird. Instead, it's tens of thousands, and before long the coastal village is consumed by squawks and flapping wings.
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9 Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts in Jaws (1975)
Jaws
- Release Date
- June 18, 1975
- Director
- Steven Spielberg
- Cast
- Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, Richard Dreyfuss, Lorraine Gary, Murray Hamilton, Carl Gottlieb
- Rating
- PG-13
- Main Genre
- Adventure
The birther of the Summer Movie Season, Steven Spielberg's Jaws is quite a few cinephiles' pick for greatest film of all time. The story of a massive Great White shark stalking an island off the coast of Long Island is ultimately the result of things going wrong. And thank goodness they did.
What Makes It Great?
Amity Island is a fictional locale, but it was filmed somewhere that's not far off from where it's supposed to be. Specifically, the film (as well as Jaws 2 and the opening of Jaws: The Revenge) was shot in historic Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts.
Stream it on Netflix and DirecTV
8 Point Reyes Station in The Fog (1980)
The Fog
- Release Date
- February 8, 1980
- Director
- John Carpenter
- Cast
- Adrienne Barbeau, Jamie Lee Curtis, Janet Leigh, John Houseman, Tom Atkins, James Canning
- Rating
- R
- Main Genre
- Horror
Two years after Halloween, Jamie Lee Curtis and director John Carpenter reteamed for his atmospheric-as-can-be The Fog. That said, Curtis' outsider character isn't the protagonist, but rather Adrienne Barbeau's radio host Stevie Wayne, whose taken it upon herself to stay in her tower and warn the fellow residents of Antonio Bay, California of the sinister, glowing fog's exact location. However, not even she knows what's within it: The vengeful spirits of leprous sailors who were cast out from Bodega Bay long ago.
What Makes It Great?
The ghost story benefits heavily from its aquatic aura, with the early ship-bound, fog-encroaching scenes building a great amount of tension. But the film's ace in the hole is Wayne's lighthouse, which was captured using Point Reyes Station in Northern California. Interestingly enough, The Birds' Bodega Bay was also used to capture Antonio Bay.
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7 Mount Hood, Oregon in The Shining (1980)
The Shining
- Release Date
- May 23, 1980
- Director
- Stanley Kubrick
- Cast
- Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, Danny Lloyd, Scatman Crothers, Barry Nelson, Philip Stone
- Rating
- R
- Main Genre
- Horror
Stephen King may hate it, but even he'd have to admit that, from a filmmaking standpoint, The Shining is one of the most impressive adaptations of his work. The film follows the Torrance family just after the patriarch gets a gig tending to the Overlook Hotel during the off-season. Unfortunately for Jack's (Jack Nicholson) wife, Wendy (Shelley Duvall), and son, Danny (Danny Lloyd), it's a gig that will prove too much for him.
The Overlook Hotel is more or less a character itself in The Shining, especially in the book. So, the exterior shots of the structure had to convey both an idyllic nature (it is a vacation spot after all) and malevolence. The Timberline Lodge, on Mount Hood in Clackamas County, Oregon, was a terrific choice.
Stream it on Max and DirecTV
6 Camp No-Be-Bo-Sco of Warren County, New Jersey in Friday the 13th (1980)
Friday the 13th (1980)
- Release Date
- May 9, 1980
- Director
- Sean S. Cunningham
- Cast
- Betsy Palmer, Adrienne King, Jeannine Taylor, Robbi Morgan, Kevin Bacon, Harry Crosby
- Rating
- R
- Main Genre
- Horror
Sean S. Cunningham's franchise-birthing Friday the 13th follows a group of teens hired to help with the re-opening of the long-shuddered Camp Crystal Lake. Over 20 years ago, two murders took place, and the re-opening may very well be a catalyst for a repetition of history.
The first film is, for some unknown reason, the only entry filmed at Camp No-Be-B-Sco in Hardwick, New Jersey. It has an incredibly creepy yet utterly classic ambiance that the film's cinematography practically allows to swallow the audience.
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5 Yugoslavia in Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992)
While it doesn't have the budget of Francis Ford Coppola's Bram Stoker's Dracula, Dan Curtis' 1974 TV film by the same name is a lavish and well-produced film that stays true to Stoker's source material more than the average Dracula film. This time the iconic role is inhabited by Jack Palance, with the film covering the vast majority of his long, long life as he relays all its details to young Jonathan Harker (Murray Brown).
Curtis' film was shot in two locations. First, for Dracula's castle, was the serene and foggy Yugoslavia. And, for the England-based latter half, it was shot on location, so the movie is pleasant to look at throughout.
What Makes It Great?
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4 Cape Forchu in The Lighthouse (2019)
The Lighthouse
- Release Date
- October 18, 2019
- Director
- Robert Eggers
- Cast
- Willem Dafoe, Robert Pattinson, Valeriia Karaman
- Rating
- R
- Main Genre
- Documentary
Robert Eggers is one of several genuine auteurs currently guiding the world of horror cinema. And, while his The Witch was the bigger financial hit, there's an argument to be made that The Lighthouseis a (slightly) better film. A restrained tale of two men going insane on an island, it's ultimately a showcase for the talents of Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson.
What Makes It Great?
Like The Witch, The Lighthouse has two aces in the hole: Top-of-their-game performers and stark ambiance. It's the kind of film that doesn't even need grotesque or startling imagery to stick in the viewer's mind. After all, with expert cinematography covering the Cape Forchu Lighthouse in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, there are too many beautiful shots for The Lighthouse to be anything other than memorable.
Stream it on fuboTV, Paramount+, and Showtime
3 Budapest, Hungary in Midsommar (2019)
Midsommar
- Release Date
- July 3, 2019
- Director
- Ari Aster
- Cast
- Florence Pugh, Will Poulter, William Jackson Harper, Jack Reynor, Julia Ragnarsson, Björn Andrésen
- Rating
- R
- Main Genre
- Horror
Ari Aster announced himself as one of horror cinema's great new auteurs with Hereditary, and his follow-up, Midsommar, sure didn't disappoint. The plot follows Dani (Florence Pugh) and Christian (Jack Reynor), whose relationship has been strained more than usual since Dani's sister tragically murdered their parents and then took her own life. Christian intended to attend a midsummer festival in Sweden, and now Dani is coming as well, but one of them may end up enjoying the festivities far more than the other.
What Makes It Great?
The vast majority of Midsommar was filmed in Budapest, Hungary. The serene environment was the perfect choice to lull the audience into a false sense of security before dropping the hammer.
Stream it on Kanopy and DirecTV
2 Santa Bárbara de Samaná in Old (2021)
Old
- Release Date
- July 23, 2021
- Director
- M. Night Shyamalan
- Cast
- Aaron Pierre, Thomasin McKenzie, Rufus Sewell, Embeth Davidtz, Abbey Lee, Eliza Scanlen
- Rating
- PG-13
- Main Genre
- Horror
A further sign that the quality of M. Night Shyamalan's filmography was improving after a very weak stretch. With an inventive but relatively simple concept to fuel a horror film, Old follows several families stranded on a beach that appears to be rapidly expediting the aging process.
What Makes It Great?
The shoot took place almost entirely in the mountain-surrounded Playa El Valle beach, located in Santa Bárbara de Samaná. The town itself (located in the Dominican Republic) doesn't make an appearance, but it's idyllic, as is Playa El Valle beach...though not for Old's cast of characters.
Stream it on DirecTV and Freevee
1 Tybee Island, Georgia in The Menu (2022)
The Menu
- Release Date
- November 18, 2022
- Director
- Mark Mylod
- Cast
- Anya Taylor-Joy, Ralph Fiennes, Janet McTeer, Nicholas Hoult, Aimee Carrero, John Leguizamo
- Rating
- R
- Main Genre
- Comedy
With phenomenal performances and a knockout of an ending, Mark Mylod's The Menu is a modern horror thriller masterpiece. The plot follows a group of ultra rich individuals invited to a mysterious island to eat one of the world's greatest chef's cooking. However, there may be one course included they're not all prepared for.
What Makes It Great?
At first, The Menu was to be filmed in Scotland. That would have been undoubtedly gorgeous, but so too is the replacement of Jekyll Island in Glynn County, Georgia. Jekyll Island was used for the shot when Anya Taylor-Joy's Margot and Nicholas Hoult's Tyler, among others, arrive at the island for their final meal.
Stream it on Max and Hulu
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