The Los Angeles Filming Locations of “Hocus Pocus”

It’s finally here, folks!  The day I wait for all year long.  Halloween!  I hope all of my fellow stalkers have a fabulous, spooky and safe holiday!  I figured what better way to celebrate my favorite day than with a post about one of the world’s most beloved Halloween movies, Hocus Pocus.  Last week, my friend Katie detailed the Salem, Massachusetts locations featured in the 1993 flick, so I thought I would write about a few of its L.A. locales.  Yep, that’s right – portions of the film were lensed right here in Los Angeles!

A couple of years ago, I came across a Whittier Daily News article that chronicled the various filming that had taken place in the city over the years.  I was shocked to learn that Hocus Pocus was shot in the area.  At the time, I was under the impression that the movie had been lensed solely in Salem, but as the column stated, in December 1992, HP did some filming “in and around Central Park with inside shots at the Uptown YMCA.”  So I immediately popped in my DVD and started scanning through it.  While I did not see any scenes that looked to have taken place at the YMCA or in Central Park (as I later found out thanks to this article, the park scene was cut), I did notice an address number of 6536 posted above the door of the Victorian-style house where the Devil (Garry Marshall) lived with The Master’s Wife (Penny Marshall).

Feeling lucky, I did a Google search for “Victorian house,” “Whittier,” and “6536” and one of the first results kicked back was an article on the Historic Whittier Homes website about a residence located at 6536 Friends Avenue.  Sure enough, the images shown matched the Devil’s house to a T.  As it turns out, the dwelling is situated along the eastern side of Central Park, which is also known as Friends Park.

The picturesque property only popped up briefly in Hocus Pocus, in the scene in which the Sanderson Sisters – Winifred (Bette Midler), Sarah (Sarah Jessica Parker), and Mary (Kathy Najimy) – inadvertently find themselves on the doorstep of a hapless man dressed up as the devil on Halloween night.  Thinking he is their master, the witches head inside to do his bidding.  The man’s wife is having none of it, though, and quickly boots the three sisters.

The residence looks much the same today as it did when Hocus Pocus was filmed back in late 1992.

I am unsure if interiors were also filmed inside the home or if those segments were lensed elsewhere.

The same pad also served as the residence of Rita Robbins (Glenne Headly) in the 1996 comedy Sgt. Bilko.

In real life, the Devil’s house was constructed in 1911 and boasts 4 bedrooms, 1 bath, 1,792 square feet of living space, and a 0.16-acre lot.  According to the Historic Whittier Homes website, the dwelling has been featured in 7 movies, including Hocus Pocus, though, aside from Sgt. Bilko, I am unsure of what the others are.

After identifying the Devil’s pad, I decided to do some further digging and discovered that another scene was filmed just two doors down – a very brief set-up scene in which extras dressed in costume were shown trick-or-treating.

The property featured in that segment is another gorgeous Victorian, originally built in 1896.

The colorful 2,512-square-foot dwelling boasts 4 bedrooms, 3 baths, tin ceilings, stained glass windows, wood moldings, hardwood flooring, and a fireplace.  You can check out some interior images of it here.

A further search of “Hocus Pocus” “filming,” and “Whittier,” led me to a post about the movie on the Life at Cloverhill website in which a commenter named Efrain stated that interior school scenes were shot at East Whittier Middle School.  While I have never stalked the school, I believe that information to be correct.

I found a video about East Whittier that was filmed in one of the school’s actual classrooms and, as you can see above and below, that classroom appears to be a direct match to the Hocus Pocus classroom.

The archways visible outside of the French doors in the movie also seem to match those of East Whittier.

As I mentioned in my February 2016 post for the Mike the Fanboy website, some Hocus Pocus filming also took place at Warner Bros. Ranch.  The park where Dani (Thora Birch), Allison (Vinessa Shaw) and Max (Omri Katz) celebrated the supposed death of the Sanderson Sisters towards the end of the movie is located at the Ranch.  As I also mentioned in my Mike the Fanboy post, the park, and its fountain, should be recognizable to Friends fans – they were featured each week in the hit series’ opening credits.

The house visible behind Max in the scene is none other than the Griswold residence from Christmas Vacation, though it looks quite a bit different today than it did when both Hocus Pocus and CV were shot.

Warner Bros. Ranch makes another appearance in Hocus Pocus.  It is on the lot’s Blondie Street that Sarah haphazardly drove a city bus.  (And what do you know?  There’s the Griswold house again!)

I was thrilled to discover during a recent re-watch of the movie that the interior Halloween party scenes were shot at a place I am very familiar with – The MacArthur.  Formerly known as the Park Plaza Hotel, the oft-filmed site has popped up in hundreds upon hundreds of productions over the years.  I toured the space as a possible wedding venue back in 2009 and became quite enamored with it.

Filming of the Halloween party scene took place in The MacArthur’s Elks Hall, a grand room featuring sweeping archways, carved wooden columns, and ornate chandeliers.

And last, but not least is a location I just now figured out!  While scanning through the movie making screen captures for this post, I almost fell out of my chair when I realized that the interior of Allison’s mansion was none other than the interior of the Crank House, aka the Omega Beta Zeta house from Scream 2, aka the Strong residence from Catch Me If You Can!  As you can see in the screen captures below, the interior shown in Catch Me If You Can matches the inside of Allison’s mansion perfectly!  I had always wondered where the interiors of Allison’s residence were shot, so I am floored to have finally figured it out!  You can read a more in-depth post on the Crank House here.

I am fairly certain that a few other Hocus Pocus scenes were shot in L.A., including the trick-or-treating segments pictured below, but as of yet I have not been able to figure out where.  If any of my fellow stalkers happen to know, please fill me in!

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Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: The Devil’s house from Hocus Pocus is located at 6536 Friends Avenue in Whittier.  The residence from the movie’s trick-or-treating scene can be found two doors down at 6546 Friends Avenue.  East Whittier Middle School, where the interior school scenes were filmed, is located at 14421 Whittier Boulevard.  Warner Bros. Ranch, where Dani and Allison celebrated the supposed death of the Sanderson Sisters, can be found at 411 North Hollywood Way in Burbank.  The MacArthur, where the interior Halloween party scenes were shot, is located at 607 Park View Street in Westlake.  And the Crank House, which was used as the interior of Allison’s mansion, can be found at 2186 East Crary Street in Altadena.

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