Horror Movie Filming Locations from 1960's and 1970's
By | March 11, 2018
Amityville Horror House NEW YORK - MARCH 31: Real estate photograph of a house located at 112 Ocean Avenue in the town of Amityville.
Horror movies in the 1960’s and 1970’s were considered groundbreaking in terms of storyline, guts and gore and filling audiences with sheer terror. The fact that they were so unrealistically corny was of no consequence. Actually, looking back now, it is almost as if that was the real draw.
These early horror movies essentially set the stage for movies of today. They created the clichés, the atmosphere as well as some of the gore. Foundationally, horror movies were known for naïve characters engaging in behavior that ordinary, rational people wouldn’t dream of. Buckets of blood could also be expected when watching an early horror movie.
Most, if not all, of the horror films centered around a main house which was equally as creepy as the storyline. Below are some of the more memorable horror film houses. They look much different in the light of day but have that creepy charm that is ever present in a horror movie. Many of them are tourist attractions that can visited and toured.
The house from “The Exorcist” (1973) is the perfect example of a horror movie house. By day, it looks stately and sophisticated. All bets were off once the child of the house became possessed by demons. This story could have made the Brady Bunch house seem scary had it been filmed there.
The 1974 horror movie, “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” was blood curdling and extremely disturbing.
The fact that the story was reported to have been based on actual events made it even more unsettling. Finding out that the wasn’t actually the case, did not lessen the cult following and popularity of the horror movie. It is still highly regarded today as one of the greats.
The main house in the movie (above) is now a restaurant called the Grand Central Café. Built in Red Rock, Texas (where the movie took place), the current owners had it moved piece by piece to Kingsland, Texas after purchasing it.
The house is now a quaint and charming stopover and tourist attraction; no longer the home of a menacing psychopath. This does not, however, deter tourists who are diehard fans of horror movies from traveling across the country to eat at that famous house where Leatherface once lived.
Churches, hotels, private homes and Museums are just some of the locales for filming the most famous, eerie horror movies.
The house from “A Nightmare on Elm Street," where Nancy lived, still sits on a little street off of Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, California. Although it was released in the 80’s, it is another example of a very popular horror movie that was influenced by early horror movies. This movie was one of the popular slasher horror films.
The movie instilled fear in teenagers everywhere, even causing them to lose sleep at times. The current owners of this house have restored it to duplicate the what it was in the iconic film. Although, they don’t invite people in, they are flattered when tourists stop on the street to take a quick picture.
Directly across the street from Nancy’s house, sits the famous house where Johnny Depp’s character, in the same movie, Glen, met his gory and bloody demise. That movie was his big debut and from there, he went on to make a huge name for himself.
“The Amityville Horror” is an American supernatural horror movie based on the book by the same name. The movie is about a young couple who purchase a home that had been haunted by aggressive supernatural forces. The story chronicles the alleged experiences of the Lutz family who bought the home in Amityville, New York. The house was to have been the site of a mass murder the year prior. There were spirits there with unfinished business.
Much like other horror movie houses, it doesn’t look intimidating until you hear the story. This particular house had all the makings of a lifetime of nightmares. The wallpaper even oozed real blood, for goodness sake!
The houses exterior was shot at a home in Toms River, New Jersey after public officials refused to allow filming at the home where the actual murders took place.
Camp Crystal Lake or “Camp Blood” from Friday the 13th is actually a Boy Scout camp.
Friday the 13th is one of the most successful horror franchises in history with many sequels. This movie has inspired an uneasy suspicion of summer camps for generations.
Camp No-Be-Bo-Sco is a private Boy Scout Camp and closed to the public at all times. Many countless fans would love to visit the New Jersey cabins and campgrounds where Jason terrorized the teenagers.
Camp No-Be-Bo-Sco now has guided tours throughout the year in which fans can buy tickets and get the Crystal Lake experience – and not to anyone's surprise, every event they have is always sold out!
The Overlook Hotel in “The Shining.”
“The Shining” was released in 1980 but began filming at the end of the 70’s. This movie took place in a sprawling hotel; not a quaint house in the suburbs. Jack was tasked with taking care of the hotel during the off season. During this time, the hotel became less charming and eventually a very dark, dreary and scary place.
The isolated, cold, snowy and gloomy atmosphere led to Jack’s ultimate insanity. His son had become possessed by a demon, revealing the horrific past of the famous hotel. Similar happenings had occurred with the last caretaker.
This may well be one of the creepiest of the creepy horror movie “houses” because it was so huge! There was something potentially around every corner. It was difficult for the characters to constantly keep up with looking over their shoulders to protect themselves.
The Timberline Lodge in Oregon, is famously known for being the horror movie double of the Overlook Hotel in “The Shining.” Inspiration came from the author’s novel of the same story. In the novel, the hotel was called The Stanley Hotel and was located in California. Fans travel to both locations to get a look!
The cursed Myers’ home from “Halloween” was oddly eerie.
The original home of the scary masked killer from “Halloween” is still standing in Pasadena, California. This is where much of John Carpenter’s classic horror movie was filmed. The movie freaked out audiences and made teenaged girls afraid to babysit. Oh sure, the house looks friendly enough but if you have ever seen the movie, you know different!
One fan was so taken by the movie and the house that he constructed a full-sized replica of the famous Myers house. If you are interested in seeing it in person, you will want to plan a trip to Hillsborough, North Carolina. If you are a rabid fan of the movie, don’t get your hopes up because you won’t find and masked killers dead bodies there.
Ettington Park Hotel from “The Haunting of Hill House” (1963) is possibly one of the most famouse haunted houses!
“The Haunting of Hill House” actually used two different striking, English manors in the filming. The original 1963 version, “The Haunting,” was filmed using the exterior of the Ettington Park Hotel in Warsickshire, England. The manor has had a reported history of paranormal activities and many of the cast members claimed to have felt uncomfortable during filming.
Some of the scariest haunted houses have been shown in classic, epically scary horror films.
In the “lackluster” remake of the same movie, the exterior of Harlaxton Manor stands in for the (outside) of Hill House.
Villa Scott from “Deep Red.”
The Villa Scott in Turin, Italy, was used in the filming of “Deep Red.” It was the abandoned home at the center of the mystery in Dario Argento’s bloody and classic horror movie. At the time that the movie was filming, the villa was a actually girls’ school run by nuns. That in and of itself seems a little scary to some people. Nowadays, however, it really is abandoned, so I’m sure it is equally as scary as it was in the movie.
Dunsmuir House from “Phantasm.”
The Dunsmuir House is located in Oakland, California. It has actually appeared in more than one horror film. In the movie, “Phantasm,” the stately house was used shown as the Morningside Mortuary, as the sinister house in the late 70’s movie “Burnt Offerings.”
In addition to starring in the above-mentioned movies, The Dunsmuir House also made appearances in, “So I Married an Axe Murderer” as well as the Bond movie (Roger Moore), A View to Kill.”
This estate is available to rent for special events and weddings. Give it some thought, though… you may have an uninvited guest stop by!
For whatever reason, horror movie fans just can’t get enough of this kind of thing. It is almost similar to a train wreck. It scares us to death, but we just can’t look away!
