Halloween (1978) Filming Locations

In December of 2015, I flew out to Los Angeles to attend the live finale of Survivor: Cambodia. This had been at the very top of my bucket list since I was about 14, so to be able to make that a reality was a dream come true.

my claim to fame

One of the cool things about LA is that besides transportation costs (and hotel if you aren't staying with friends like I did), there are tons and tons of things that you can do for very cheap or free of charge.

From the beach

to game show tapings

to awkwardly standing around in hotel lobbies meeting future winners

to gastro distress after eating at The Grove

It was an amazing week, and it felt really cool to be able to cross so many things off of my bucket list.

While each of the things I did that week were a little unique, there was one afternoon, the day of the finale in fact, that may have been the dorkiest thing of all.

Amongst the craziness of finale week, I and three other Survivor fans drove to South Pasadena. Or as we like to call it, Haddonfield, Illinois. For these were the locations from the 1978 horror classic, Halloween.

Intersection of Montrose Ave. and Oxley St.

S. Pasadena, CA 91030

As you read the rest of this, I highly encourage you to listen to Laurie's Theme from the Halloween soundtrack. Nothing has ever set the tone of a movie better than this one track. Well, not including the toilet scene from Dumb and Dumber.

The cool thing about South Pasadena is that it looks nothing like the rest of Southern California. You turn a corner and suddenly it feels like you're in the Midwest somewhere. And for the four of us, who had seen Halloween way too many times to count, it truly felt like we were in Haddonfield. 

It's been nearly 40 years since the release of Halloween, but so much of that neighborhood in South Pasadena looks the same. Even some of the trees are recognizable, like in the establishing shot above. Many of the locations are in walking distance of one another, and for a clear, sunny day in SoCal, it was just about perfect. 

After the establishing shot, we jump to the home of Laurie Strode, played by Jamie Lee Curtis. 

Other than some aging, not much has changed. As for the house, there's been a noticeable paint job.

My friends Mario and Mike wondering if they should go inside

1115 Oxley St.

S. Pasadena, CA 91030

Our next location is just a few feet away from the house. I couldn't believe this location still looked the same.

Laurie is on the way to babysit Tommy Doyle, and while she waits for her ride, she sits on a pillar.

We're basically twins

These pillars are pretty distinctive. In fact, they're so distinctive that I noticed them in another movie! I don't think anyone else has posted this, so I'll attach my business email in case CNN wants to contact me. 

If you don't recognize him due to all of the botox, that's Pee-wee Herman in his newest movie, Pee-wee's Big Holiday, exclusively on Netflix. While the movie was actually better than I thought it would be, seeing a Halloween location thrown into it made the experience especially worth it.

As a matter of fact, Pee-wee's house in his original movie, Pee-wee's Big Adventure, was also filmed in that neighborhood. It's right down the road from the establishing shot shown above. I'd love to know if the choice to return to that area was a total coincidence or if they had known about it from Big Adventure. I'm going to guess the former.

Anyway, back to something much less scary: Halloween. Our next location is when Laurie and Lynda Van Der Totally are walking home from school.

Have I mentioned how I felt like I was in 1978?

Their friend Annie "Doesn't how to speak like a normal person" Brackett catches up with them, and they chat about things all 28-year-olds posing as high schoolers chat about. Shortly after, they spot a car driving by. The dim-witted Annie yells out, "Hey, jerk! Speed kills!"

The mysterious figure in the car slams on the brakes.

One thing I love about these locations is seeing how the trees have grown in 40 years. Even after all this time they still have a distinct shape about them.

Mike wondering if speed does, in fact, kill

Highland St. and Fairview Ave.

South Pasadena, CA 91030

They continue their walk and say goodbye to Lynda when Laurie notices something near the bushes.

I bet you can't tell which one is me.

Mike #2 getting his Mike on

1019 Montrose Ave.

South Pasadena, CA 91030

One cool thing about these locations is that no matter where you walk, you're walking in an area that was shown in the movie. I'd practically have to recreate the movie shot for shot to truly capture each location. And thanks to the greatness of Halloween, all of these locations are authentic. They really filmed in those houses, they really walked around those streets, and they really had an insanely low budget. These simplistic, slow-building scenes, arguably some of the most atmospheric scenes in horror history, help make visiting these locations so much fun.  

Our next location is the Myers house. This location has seen the most change, as the house isn't in the same spot anymore! The original spot was 707 Meridian Ave, but it is now housed a few hundred yards south at the intersection of Meridian Ave. and Mission St. I believe it is now a chiropractor's office.

More than enough proof to show that osteopathy isn't a fake science

Funnily enough, this new location is right across the street from another Halloween spot. 

Stolen from Google Maps

This is the hardware store from the movie (now an Indian restaurant), where Michael buys his William Shatner mask, some rope, and a knife. When Michael does this, no one bats an eye, but when I do it, I'm considered "weird" and "someone his parents should keep an eye on." WTF, Home Depot?

At this point I was thinking more about Indian food and less about taking good pictures

If the Pee-wee thing wasn't weird enough, I noticed this location in another film I watched recently, Caddyshack. It's shown in the first couple of minutes.

Caddyshack was released just a couple of years after Halloween. I have to wonder, were the producers aware that they were filming at a location featured in one of the most successful horror movies of all time? Judging on the quality of that movie, I'm going to guess that the producers didn't know much about anything. 

966 Mission St.

South Pasadena, CA 91030

That's about it for the Halloween locations I saw. Special thanks to my friends Mario, Mike A., and Mike K. for such a great afternoon. It was pretty amazing and surreal to be able to walk around Haddonfield with you. 

If you're a fan of Halloween and you're ever in LA, I highly encourage you to make the drive to South Pasadena to check out these sights. But just remember, speed kills.

Oh, and before I sign off, I should mention one more location. If you're wondering where the houses Laurie and Annie babysat at are, you'll have to drive about half an hour west and head to N. Orange Grove Ave (1530 and 1537) in West Hollywood. 

The frustrating thing is that I've actually been to this neighborhood before, seeking out another prominent horror location. 

Recognize it?

What about now?

If you said Big Top Pee-wee, you would be way off. It's from the Nightmare on Elm Street series, and it's arguably more prominent than any of the Halloween locations. My dad and I were staying with friends about 10 minutes south of there, so we had to make the stop. Little did we know, however, that we were a 5 minute walk away from a couple of Halloween sights. For some reason, I had no idea about this, and I've been kicking myself ever since. So if you're ever checking out the Nightmare house, head on over to the Halloween houses too (and vice versa)! 

If you stop at that Chipotle you're going to experience 

something far more scary than anything in Halloween

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this! If you have no idea what I'm talking about in this entry, stop watching that forgettable movie with all of the jump scares and turn on the original 1978 Halloween. You won't be disappointed.

My Trip to the Jaws 2 Filming Locations

If you know me personally, there's a pretty good chance that you're aware of my biggest obsession in regard to pop culture: the reality television show Survivor. You know, that island show you thought was canceled 10 years ago? Yeah, that one. For some reason, I can't enough of it, and it's been a huge part of my life. Some of my closest friends are actually fans I've met through the show.

Me with some fellow Survivor fans

While many of my friends oftentimes associate me with Survivor, growing up that wasn't the case. For I had an obsession with a film series that changed cinema. From the movie that started the summer blockbuster to the one that tried to end it, there were four movies that childhood Ryan couldn't get enough of.

Ah, the Jaws movies. What is there to say that hasn't already been said? You know the first one is a masterpiece. You know Revenge is poo-poo. But to little ol' me, all of these movies were amazing and couldn't possibly have any flaws. Now that I have some semblance of a brain, I know that this isn't the case, but that certainly doesn't mean that I don't like them anymore. There is fun to be had with each one of these movies, even though some of them have their flaws. Their many, many flaws.

While I would love to visit the filming locations for each one of these, that sadly isn't very practical at this point in my life. The first Jaws was filmed in the northeast at Martha's Vineyard. That's quite a drive (and swim) from Texas! Jaws 3-D was filmed at SeaWorld Orlando, and let's be real, I can't be supporting that corporation (or I didn't want to pay $80 to get in the park, pick whichever option makes you feel better). Jaws: The Revenge, the movie with the least documentation, was primarily filmed in Nassau in The Bahamas. I have done a little bit of research and I discovered that there is actually a small area labeled Jaws Beach where some of the movie was filmed. Pretty cool! But even so, not practical for a college student in Texas.

Two of the other locations for Revenge are Martha's Vineyard (once again), as well as the Universal Studios backlot. The latter is especially noteworthy because back in 2006, I took a tour of the lot and they showed us the spot they filmed it in! For Revenge, most of the ocean scenes were filmed in a large tank in the backlot. (When you watch the movie, you can clearly see a canvas in the background and even see some of the waves hitting against it.) 

You're gonna need a bigger budget

On the tour of the backlot they showed us a clip of Revenge and explained the process of using the tank. Here's a snippet of it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0FQh07oQ4k

For a 9-year-old Jaws-obsessed dork who had never really been to a movie location before, I thought that this was really neat. That whole trip was, as a matter of fact.

Me getting pissed they didn't have any Revenge pennies

So I've quickly gone over three of the movies, but we're still missing one: Jaws 2. A movie that I loved then, a movie that I love now. Yeah, it's not perfect. The characters aren't very developed and the dialogue is clunky, but man, the stuff that is good is GOOD. The attacks are fun, the humor is great, and the returning cast-members all do an excellent job. And the part of it I especially like that people don't really seem to talk about, the music. John Williams' score in this is fantastic, and I urge you to go on YouTube and take a listen. I'm especially fond of The Menu: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-abDp0lqP8

A couple of scenes were filmed in Martha's Vineyard, and thanks to the dedicated fans of the first movie, those spots are easily trackable. What isn't as documented is where the rest of the movie was filmed: a little state called Florida. When I heard about this a couple of years ago, I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Florida?! Why would they go there when they were already in Martha's Vineyard? It makes sense looking back on it, as the water was warmer and its depth allowed better flexibility with the mechanical shark being used. Filming was still a disaster, however, as discussed in the book Jaws 2: The Making of the Hollywood Sequel. Nevertheless, they made the movie, and it was widely successful.

This summer, my sister and I drove from Texas to Florida for the annual Hearts of Reality fundraiser benefitting the charity Give Kids the World, which helps kids with life-threatening illnesses go on vacations in the Orlando area with their families. Several Survivor castaways and fans alike go to this event every year, so we were even more excited to be a small part of it.

This drive was 16 hours, however. How in the world could we break the trip up on the way? Surely there has to be something.

That's when it hit me. Finally, after all of these years, I was finally going to see some Jaws locations that weren't filmed in a bathtub. I couldn't wait. I mapped out the route and discovered that from Fort Worth to Orlando, the stops we'd make were essentially right along the way. 

Our first Jaws stop was in Pensacola, Florida. This location was only seen for a minute in the movie, but it's a location nonetheless. It involved Chief Brody (played by Roy Scheider) going to the Amity Town Hall to warn Mayor Vaughn (Murray Hamilton) that they might have another shark problem.

The location is in a pretty funky part of town. The area was very clean, everyone was wearing nice clothes, driving nice cars, and overall looking very rich. An environment I obviously knew nothing about. We pulled up to the spot, and there it was. 

As insignificant as the scene is in the movie, it still felt really surreal to be in a place where Roy Scheider and Murray Hamilton, two actors who I've idolized since I was a little kid, conversed in one of my favorite movies. I was surprised to see that the railings and windows were still there after all these years. Pretty cool. 

One thing I found interesting was that the building next to it has a sign out front that hasn't changed much. Must be quite a business.

Once we were about done, I had my sister take a picture of me in front of the building. However, as soon as I started to pose, a car drove right up front. I thought to myself, "Ohhhh, crap. This must the owner of this place. We're about to have a very awkward conversation." A man looking to be in his fifties gets out of the car, and I wave hello as I await certain doom. 

"Hi there! Did you know that they filmed one of the Jaws movies here?" he enthusiastically asked.

"Why yes I did...I'm wearing a Jaws shirt."

"Ha ha, good for you! I live around here. A couple of years ago I was watching the movie on cable and I saw the sheriff walk by this building. I completely lost it! I may have had a few too many glasses of wine that night."

I breathed a sigh of relief as I realized that this man wasn't going to reaffirm how weird I am. We talked a bit more before he kept walking down the street to wherever it was he was going. What a wonderful moment, and I hope to be half as kind a person as that Pensacola local was to my sister and I. 

Thanks, Pensacola. xoxo

416 E Government St

Pensacola, FL 32502

*Shout out to AW Ratliff, who was the first person to physically document this site. Follow him on Instagram @jaws_2_ *

While this was a fun pit stop, our main Jaws 2 destination was Navarre Beach, about 40 minutes east of there. It's in Navarre where my favorite scene of the movie was filmed, when Brody mistakenly shoots at a school of bluefish thinking it's the shark. He goes berserk and as a result, the whole town thinks he's a crazy person. The scene goes from humorous to suspenseful to downright sad. 

Humorous

Humorous

Suspenseful

Suspenseful

Humorous

Downright sad

Downright sad

It's a legitimately great scene, and I was excited to finally get to see the area in person. Because it's Florida, there were threats of thunderstorms the whole time we were in the state, but we luckily had great weather. We pulled up to the pier, and suddenly, there we were.

I was a little giddy

I even had time to get some reading in

My sister thinks Jaws is set in a dentist's office but she enjoyed it too I guess

After the beach, we went to the East Bay Crab House. (This doesn't have any significance to Jaws but we were hungry, okay?) While it wasn't quite as good as food we've had in some of the busier Texas coast cities like Galveston, it was still well worth it. When we got there, the owner came up to us and shook our hands, which I really appreciated.

We split the seafood platter because we have nice, frugal values. This is my half.

The next morning, it was time for us to head to Hearts of Reality. Before we left, however, I wanted to stop at the beach one last time. This time I was a few hundred yards west, down where an old Holiday Inn used to be. This Holiday Inn was used at the beginning of the movie, and it was where the cast and crew stayed during filming. It was sadly destroyed by Hurricane Ivan in 2004.

It seemed like a really pretty hotel, and it's a shame what happened to it.

I know who I'm blaming

Anyway, I pulled up to the beach and said one last goodbye. 

Thanks, Navarre. xoxo

Navarre Beach

Pensacola Beach, FL 32566

There are certainly other Jaws 2 locations out there. About an hour west of Navarre is Fort Pickins, where the famous waterskiing scene, lighthouse scenes, and scene when Brody finds the corpse were all filmed. East of Navarre, in Choctawhatchee Bay, is where the scenes at "Cable Junction" were shot. It would have been fun to visit these areas, but accessibility was iffy, and the short time we had limited us. Nonetheless, it was a great experience, and I'm so happy I can finally cross a Jaws visit off my bucket list. 

Many many thanks to Jaws fans Michael Smith and Alex Ratliff for answering some of my questions I had about these. Just like the guy we met in Pensacola, they were way too kind.