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Jonathan’s Apartment from “Mannequin”

I wanted to go to Philadelphia for one reason and one reason only – to stalk Mannequin locations. The 1987 comedy is one of my all-time favorites. I loved it as a kid and love it even more today. It has pretty much everything I could ever want in a film. A mannequin that magically comes to life? Check. A dance/music montage? Check. A fabulous female lead who goes through countless costume changes? Check. Throw in the fact that the story centers around a window dresser, Jonathan Switcher (Andrew McCarthy), who gets to play around in a huge luxury department store while it is closed every night and you pretty much have my dream come true. So a few months before heading out to the City of Brotherly Love, I started investigating Mannequin filming locations. Though a few locales had been identified online, namely Wannamaker’s department store which stood in for Prince & Co. and The Dorchester where Jonathan’s ex-girlfriend Roxie (Carole Davis) lived, the apartment building Jonathan called home had yet to be pinpointed. I spent more than a few days trying to track it down myself, but came up empty-handed. So I called in the big guns, aka my friend Owen, from the When Write Is Wrong blog, and, per usual, he located the place in record time.

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The exterior of Jonathan’s apartment is only shown in two brief establishing shots in Mannequin, during the scene in which Roxie calls to invite her ex to lunch. In one of the shots, a sign with an address number of 1621 was visible hanging above a neighboring building. That information in hand, Owen did a Google search for “Mannequin,” “Philadelphia,” and “apartment” and the results yielded a 1987 Philadelphia Inquirer article about the Mannequin shoot. Sadly, that article is no longer viewable for free online, so I can’t provide a link, but in it The Dorchester was mentioned. Using Google once again, Owen pulled up a map of the neighborhood around the building and quickly spotted a South 16th Street just a few blocks east of Rittenhouse Square, which was also referenced in the article. Figuring he’d hit pay dirt, he started looking at 1621 addresses nearby, starting with 1621 Chestnut Street and venturing south, and found the right spot in less than five minutes.

This was in late May, which meant I had to wait over four months, until our trip in mid-September, to actually stalk the place. Needless to say, I was chomping at the bit and the Grim Cheaper and I headed over there pretty much immediately upon arriving in Philadelphia.

I was floored to see that virtually nothing had been changed since Mannequin was filmed in Spring 1986.

A full shot of Jonathan’s apartment was never shown in Mannequin. Only a view of the courtyard pictured above and the windows below made it onscreen.

Considering how picturesque the place is, that is rather surprising.

I absolutely love the red doors, wood shutters, and vines that flank the exterior.

Per Zillow, the 1800 building houses a 4-bedroom, 1-bath, 2,026-square-foot condo with a 3-car garage.

The property last sold for $168,000 in February 1986, shortly before Mannequin was made, which means that the people who owned it during the filming still own it today.

I would have bet money on the real life interior being utilized in the film as well, but upon closer inspection the windows that appeared in Mannequin don’t match those of the building.

The inside of Jonathan’s apartment just doesn’t have the feel of a set to me, though, and because it was only featured in two very brief scenes, I am guessing that an actual interior of a different Philadelphia building was used.

Big THANK YOU to my friend Owen, of the When Write Is Wrong blog, for finding this location!

For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: Jonathan’s apartment from Mannequin is located at 301 South Chadwick Street in Philadelphia’s Rittenhouse Square neighborhood.

November 4, 2016
Halloween 2016 at the Los Angeles Haunted Hayride

I love anything and everything having to do with the ‘80s. So when I started hearing buzz about Stanger Things, a horror series on Netflix with deep ‘80s undertones, this past summer, I knew I’d be hooked. The Grim Cheaper and I finally sat down to binge-watch it in August and immediately became obsessed, staying up until 3:30 in the morning two days in a row to finish it. Stranger Things is literally one of the best. television. shows. ever. It was also responsible for inspiring our Halloween costumes this year. As soon as I saw the first episode, I knew there was no one else I’d rather be than Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown). And the GC quickly set his sights on dressing up as Dustin Henderson (Gaten Matarazzo).

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I am nothing if not anal when it comes to Halloween costumes and, as such, I wanted my Eleven dress to be perfect. My mom was originally going to make it for me, but the only pattern we could find that came close to Eleven’s pink Peter-Pan-collared frock turned out to be wildly different once my mom started sewing. So I turned to Etsy and found a dress that was spot-on, made by FrenchieYork. Thankfully, I already owned a pair of white Converse sneakers and the GC loaned me his blue rain coat, so the only items I had to buy were a pair of green and yellow tube socks, which I found on Amazon, and a wig. While I originally wanted to wear a shaved head wig, I could not find one anywhere. I thought I might be able to buy a brown wig and shave it, but after researching that option online, quickly realized that it wouldn’t be possible. Apparently, quite a few people tried going that route with disastrous results, which I should have anticipated. I chopped enough of my Barbie dolls’ hair off as a kid to know that cutting synthetic hair, especially that drastically, never ends well. So I purchased this Hot Honey Blonde Wig and had my mom trim it slightly to match the length of Eleven’s hair.

Originally, I was not planning on accenting my costume with a box of Eggo Waffles, as I did not want to be carrying something around in my hands all evening. But the GC came home with an Eggos carton shortly before Halloween and it dawned on me that I could make a purse out of it, which I did quite easily. I just put clear packaging tape around the entire thing to make it sturdier, ran string through the sides as a strap, attached Velcro to the top flaps so that my belongings would be secured, and voila!

The GC’s costume was an easy find, as well. We purchased Dustin’s hat on eBay and his Waupaca, Wisconsin shirt on Amazon (the exact one we bought is no longer available, but you can find a similar one here), which he wore with jeans, a hoodie, and Adidas that were already in his closet. The wig was a little harder to come by. We wound up buying this Glam Rock Wig, which my mom cut to look more like Dustin’s hair.

For our Halloween festivities this year we decided to hit up the Los Angeles Haunted Hayride. For those who have never been, the Haunted Hayride is a longtime L.A. attraction in which guests travel through a frightfully decorated Old Zoo (you can read my post on that locale here) while sitting in a large tractor-pulled trailer. Though it is one of the city’s most popular Halloween events, the GC and I had never been and decided this was the year to do so. Thanks to my friend Becky, of the Temporary Rest Stop blog (she wrote this fabulous guest post about Breaking Bad filming locations for my site back in May), I learned that it was possible to walk around the Hayride venue during daytime off-hours and see all of the décor. So we actually got a double dose of the place!

First thing Halloween morning, the GC and I headed right on over to the site. Because it was closed and no one was really around, I was a little nervous about just walking right through the Hayride entrance, but thankfully a security guard happened by and when I asked if it was OK to venture in, he explained that the public is welcome to take a look around as long as they don’t touch any of the props or mess up the sets. How awesome is that?

So we wandered right on in and had an absolute blast.

This year’s Haunted Hayride theme was “Secret Society.” As the website states, “Inside the gates of the society, members will bear witness to the clandestine lives of their faction and in a shocking turn, will be commandeered by the society and sent into an initiation, confronting the ghosts of hayrides past.”

Getting to see the decorations up-close-and-personal and in the light of day was pretty amazing.

My favorite part of the set-up was the string of former zoo enclosures, which were fashioned with all manner of gory props.

The enclosures were left open, which meant that we were able to venture inside for some fun.

The Haunted Hayride venue is huge and we spent a good hour walking around looking at everything. If you live in the L.A. area, I can’t more highly recommend stalking it.

Our nighttime visit was a blast, as well, though I will say that the evening turned out to be a lot shorter than we expected. We were able to go through all of the attractions offered in about an hour and a half. While we had a great time and enjoyed all that we did, I felt that the Haunted Hayride was lacking a bit.

Though various kiosks are set up, there just isn’t that much to do while there.

We purchased VIP tickets, so we did not wait in line at all the entire night, which, obviously, got us through things more quickly, but I still expected there to be more to experience.

That being said, we had a great time and would likely go again.

The Los Angeles Haunted Hayride consists of three main attractions, the primary of which is the Hayride itself, which was fabulous at night and a lot longer than I anticipated. At one point, guests even get off the tractor and have to find their way through a corn maze.

My favorite part of the night, though, was the Trick or Treat attraction (the exterior of which is pictured below), during which guests roam through a fake village of tiny cottages, knocking on doors in order to get candy. While treats are handed out, so are scares, as people jump out at visitors from doorways, windows and other dark places. Trick or Treat was incredibly well done and I loved every minute of it, even more so than the actual Hayride.

The third event offered was the Ouija Origin of Evil House of Shadows, which could have been really cool, except that the entire thing was lit by intense strobe lighting, which made me really dizzy. I am not one to get woozy easily (I regularly read in the car), but those lights had me feeling like I’d downed a bottle of tequila. By the end of it, I was so disoriented that I was walking into walls.

According to recent Yelp reviews, Hayrides of years past were far better executed, so I’m looking forward to going back to see how it is in 2017.

All in all, it was a fabulous Halloween and I am deeply saddened that my favorite season has come to an end. I hope all of my fellow stalkers had a fun-filled holiday. I, for one, am already looking forward to next year.

For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: The Los Angeles Haunted Hayride takes place each October at the Old Zoo, which is located at 4801 Griffith Park Boulevard inside of Griffith Park. You can find out more information about the event here.

November 3, 2016
My Latest Interview with The Blaze with Lizzie & Kat!

A couple of months ago, I had the pleasure of sitting down for an interview with two of my favorite podcasters, Lizzie and Kat of The Blaze with Lizzie & Kat. I’ve been following their show ever since the very beginning, so to finally meet them and hang out with them for a couple of hours was thrilling to say the least! If you are at all interested in Beverly Hills, 90210 and aren’t already listening to their podcast, you need to be! You can check it out here. And you can listen to my interview here. Spoiler – we talk about our shared loved for Brenda Walsh, the day the Grim Cheaper thwarted my chance at meeting D’Shawn Hardell, and that time I sent James Eckhouse a card (not joking – you can see a picture of it here).

November 1, 2016
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!

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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!

For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.

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.

October 31, 2016
Eastern State Penitentiary

Prior to traveling anywhere, I read copious amounts about the place I plan on visiting. Copious amounts, from sources including books, magazines, websites, guides, and blogs. My favorite travel guides are the Eyewitness Travel books published by DK. Before my recent trip back east, during which we visited Washington, D.C., Baltimore, and Philadelphia, I purchased DK Eyewitness Travel Guide: Philadelphia & The Pennsylvania Dutch Country. As usual, it did not disappoint and chronicled countless sites I was interested in visiting while in the City of Brotherly Love. At the top of my Philly Must-Stalk List was Eastern State Penitentiary, which Eyewitness Travel described as an abandoned former prison turned museum. Yeah, I pretty much started drooling upon reading those words. In person, the locale was even more amazing than depicted in the book. Because Eastern State has been repeatedly called “one of the most haunted places in the world,” I figured what better time to blog about it than now?

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Tickets to Eastern State Penitentiary cost $14 per person and include either an audio tour or a guide-led tour. We opted for the audio tour, in which visitors are led through the vast premises via messages digitally-recorded by various experts, former guards, former inmates, historians, and other individuals, including actor Steve Buscemi who became enamored with the prison during a location scout for his 2000 film Animal Factory. Though Buscemi did not end up choosing the site for the movie, its haunting beauty stayed with him and he generously lent his voice to become the main narrator of the audio tour, escorting guests through what he calls a “magnificent ruin still standing in the middle of a modern city.”

As we learned via Buscemi, Eastern State Penitentiary, also known as the “House,” was originally founded in 1829, thanks largely to the efforts of the Philadelphia Quakers and the Philadelphia Society for Alleviating the Miseries of Public Prisons. For years, the groups had lobbied for the reform of area jails, which were known for their poor and often brutal conditions.

The Gothic Revival-style institution, which was designed by British architect John Haviland, was established as a place where prisoners would spend time alone and seek penitence for their crimes. As such, it was given the name “Eastern State Penitentiary.”

Initial construction of the 11-acre site lasted from 1822 to 1836 and cost $780,000.

The unique pinwheel layout of the penitentiary, which consists of 14 cellblocks (originally 7) that extend like bike spokes from a central room, served as a model for more than 300 prisons across the globe.

Though Eastern State’s exteriors are extremely stark and foreboding . . .

. . . consisting of all-encompassing 30-foot high walls . . .

. . . (you can see just how tall those walls are below – use the large benches in the bottom right of the photos as reference) . . .

. . . each of the 450 original cells was considered largely modern. (And yes, I know that was a run-on sentence. Blame poetic license.)

The cells all featured skylights and, in keeping with the solitary concept of the prison, private exterior exercise yards.

Each also boasted central heating and running water, amenities that the White House did not even have at the time. Yep, that’s the toilet pictured below.

“You can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave.”

Additional cellblocks were added to the structure from 1877 to 1926 , bringing the total to 14, with space for 1,700 prisoners.

Eastern State abandoned its solitary nature in 1913, at which time inmates began gathering for meals, recreation and religious ceremonies.

During its tenure as a prison, many of history’s most infamous criminals were incarcerated at Eastern State, including Al Capone. A re-creation of his lavish cell is pictured below, though there is some debate as to how extravagant his confines actually were.

For various reasons, the site was shuttered in 1971.

It was then left to deteriorate. Some images from that time period are pictured below. As you can see, the prison became so overgrown with foliage, it looked like a virtual forest.

The city of Philadelphia purchased the property, which was becoming more dilapidated by the day, from the state in 1980 and began making plans to transform it into a commercial center.

Thankfully, in 1988 a group of preservationists dubbed the “Eastern State Task Force” stepped in to thwart the renovation and to revitalize the site.

Around that same time, the prison’s doors were opened to a select few for tours. Due to the dangerous conditions of the building, initial guests had to sign liability waivers and wear hardhats to gain admittance.

Over the next few years, volunteers and preservation groups work to clean up Eastern State Penitentiary and to raise money in order to transform the site into a tourist attraction. On Halloween night 1991, a fundraiser was held for the prison. The event was so successful that it became an annual affair and eventually turned into a season-long Halloween attraction known as Terror Behind the Walls.

The gargoyles pictured below, who are named Frank and Carson, are not authentic to the building, but are props installed each year for Terror Behind the Walls. During the nighttime event, the prison is turned into a massive haunted house and guests are invited to explore the grounds in the dark. Sounds like my perfect evening!

In 1994, Eastern State Penitentiary opened its doors to the public for daily tours.

The tours proved immensely popular and today the prison is one of Philadelphia’s most famous attractions, well-loved by visitors and locals alike.

Though Eastern State has been “cleaned up” and visitors are no longer required to sign waivers or wear hardhats when touring the premises, caretakers had the foresight to leave much of the property’s decay intact.

Seeing it is nothing short of breathtaking.

Not only did Eastern State turn out to be one of our favorite places that we visited during our trip, but it is one of our favorite places we have visited period!

Our time in Philadelphia was extremely limited (we only had three days to explore the city) and we originally planned on spending two hours at the penitentiary, yet we just could not tear ourselves away and wound up staying for more than four hours. It still didn’t seem like enough, though. I literally could have spent all day there.

While exploring, I snapped more than 200 photos and I am pretty much in love with every single one (as evidenced by the number that appear in this post), even the ones that are overexposed . . .

. . . and underexposed.

#framer

There was beauty literally around every turn.

I just could not stop snapping.

I mean, come on!

I became just a wee bit obsessed with the gate below.

Can’t stop . . .

. . . won’t stop.

As if there wasn’t already enough to love, Eastern State Penitentiary is also a filming location!

The prison appeared in Tina Turner’s 1985 music video “One of the Living.”

The Dead Milkmen also shot their 1988 “Punk Rock Girl” music video there.

In the 1995 thriller 12 Monkeys, Eastern State Penitentiary masked as the insane asylum where James Cole (Bruce Willis) was sent.

Several areas of the site were utilized in the filming, most notably the anteroom outside of Cellblocks 2, 10 and 11.

Eastern State Penitentiary portrayed a Malaysian prison in the 1998 drama Return to Paradise.

The property’s exterior was digitally altered to appear as if it was on a coastline in the movie.

Sting shot the album cover and album art for 2001’s . . . All This Time at Eastern State.

That same year, the prison was featured in a Season 1 episode of the MTV reality show Fear.

Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) and Mikaela Banes (Megan Fox) took refuge at Eastern State in 2009’s Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Both the exterior . . .

. . . and the interior were utilized in the flick.

Eastern State was also the main location featured in Whitney Peyton’s 2010 “Crazy” music video.

For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: Eastern State Penitentiary is located at 2027 Fairmount Avenue in Philadelphia. You can visit the prison’s official website here. The nighttime Terror Behind the Walls event runs each year from mid-September through early November.

October 28, 2016
The Salem Filming Locations of “Hocus Pocus”

Today, we have a very special guest post brought to you by my good friend/Hocus Pocus aficionado Katie, who recently took a trip to Salem, Massachusetts to stalk the locations featured in the bewitching (pun intended!) 1993 film. When she kindly proposed writing a column about her adventure during my Haunted Hollywood postings, I immediately took her up on the offer and I could not be more excited about the result! So take it away, Katie!

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Growing up, Hocus Pocus was one of my absolute favorite Halloween movies, and definitely still is! I had always wanted to visit Salem, Massachusetts after watching the beloved Disney film, and as I grew up and heard more and more of the history and legends of the little town, my interest in it only grew. While planning a trip to New England this summer, I was completely shocked when I discovered that some of the production had actually been filmed in Salem, and I knew I had to check it out. So, after packing my witchiest outfit, I dragged my parents along for a quick detour to Salem, Massachusetts, and put all of the stalking skills I learned from Lindsay Blake to work! [Editor’s note – LOVE it!]

1. Ropes Mansion (318 Essex Street)- The beginning of our Hocus Pocus filming location journey began with Ropes Mansion, located a few doors down from the famous Witch House of Judge Jonathan Corwin. The Ropes Mansion is used in the film as the obnoxiously beautiful home of Max’s love interest, Allison, and where the legendary famous words from Dani, “Max likes your yabbos”, were first muttered. The mansion was recently refurbished and reopened to the public, along with the well-loved gardens frequently visited by Salem residents which are located behind the house. Unfortunately, there were no Rococo-inspired Halloween costume balls or candy filled cauldrons inside of the mansion, but if you’d like to step in and see for yourself, the mansion is open to the public for self-guided tours and a glimpse into Salem history.

Built in 1727, the Ropes Mansion housed four generations of the Ropes family before becoming a part of the Peabody Essex museum. One of the original owners of the house, Nathaniel Ropes, died as a patriot mob attacked the mansion in 1774, and Abigail Ropes died in 1839 due to her dress catching on fire. Both are said to haunt the property.

2. Old Town Hall (32 Derby Square)- The Halloween party where the Sanderson Sisters sang the iconic musical number, “I Put a Spell on You”, took place in the Old Town Hall in downtown Salem. Though the interior shots of the party were filmed elsewhere, the exterior of the building is extremely recognizable from the film. Located in the historical district in Salem, the building is now home to the Salem Museum, where tourists are able to learn about the town’s extensive past. The interactive play, Cry Innocent, is also housed by the historical hall, where the story of Bridget Bishop’s trial is depicted and the audience acts as the Puritan jury, deciding whether she is guilty or innocent.

The doors of the backside of the town hall can briefly be seen as Max and Dani’s parents leave the party after dancing the night away under the Sanderson sisters’ spell.

3. Max and Dani’s House (4 Ocean Drive)- A bit of a hike from the central locations of Hocus Pocus is the house used as the home of the Dennisons, which looks almost exact to the film. This home is so distinct that it has practically become a tourist attraction of its own! Built in the 1870s, this charming little house sits on the oceanfront in a residential area of Salem, and has a stunning view of the sea, which you don’t see in the film.

Trick-or-treaters are shown many times lingering in front of the house before Max and Dani leave to begin a Halloween adventure of their own.

I’m pretty sure every kid who grew up watching this movie was immediately jealous of the crow’s nest in Max’s bedroom, which can clearly be seen from outside the house, and definitely made this place the house goals of the 90s youth. It was the perfect place to sulk in teen angst, which Max took advantage of after a rough day of his Jimi Hendrix pickup line being rejected and having his shoes stolen.

4. Phillips Elementary School (86 Essex Street)- “Tis a prison, for children!” Winifred Sanderson says, as she stands in front of Phillips Elementary School, which depicted Jacob Bailey High School in the film. During the sisters’ hunt for children, they are lured to the school by Max, Dani, and Allison, only to be trapped in the school’s ceramics kiln where they meet their presumed demise. The school also appears at the beginning of the film, where the story of the Sanderson Sisters was told in Allison and Max’s classroom. Apparently, the school shut down a year before Hocus Pocus was filmed, making it the perfect place for a Salem high school. The building now serves as a condominium complex overlooking the Salem Common.

“This place reeks of children!”

Smoke from the aftermath of the Sanderson Sisters’ fate of being locked in the school’s kiln can be seen billowing out of the chimney at the front of the school.

6. Salem Common (Washington Square)- Located just across from Phillips Elementary, which was used as the high school of Max and Allison, and the Salem Witch Museum, the Salem Common is a prominent area in the town. The Common was initiated in 1667, and was a partial swamp where livestock roamed freely among the 8-acre park. From around 1685, the Common was used as an area for the residents of Salem to practice shooting and training for military purposes. In 1714, the town decided that the Salem Common would be “forever kept as a training field for the use of Salem.” The Common now acts as an attractive park, and the spot in the movie where Allison hands Max a note, which he believes to be her phone number, but soon realizes after she’s left that it’s actually his own number handed back to him. Ouch.

7. Pioneer Village (98 West Avenue)- The very first location we see at the beginning of the film takes place in Salem’s Pioneer Village, which was used as the home of Thackery Binx (before his cat days). This location is shown for a brief period of time before Thackery heads to the Sanderson Sisters’ cottage, which unfortunately was filmed on a sound stage. The mock village of life in 1630 was built in 1930, and was the first ‘living’ history museum in America. The village has very strange hours and tours, so be sure to check out the website before you plan your visit. Unfortunately, we didn’t plan ahead and the museum was closed, but thanks to some wandering around the perimeter and making use of our investigative skills, we were able to sneak a peek in and could clearly see Thackery Binx’s home! [Editor’s note – again, LOVE it! I’ve taught you well, Katie!]

Well, that’s that, all of the Hocus Pocus filming locations in Salem! I want to give a huge thank you to Lindsay for giving me the opportunity to write a guest post, I had so much fun doing this and I hope you had fun following along with me! Happy Halloween stalking, everyone!

[Editor’s Note – big THANK YOU to you, Katie, for this fabulous post! I regularly receive emails from Hocus Pocus fans asking for information on locations from the movie, so I could not be more thrilled with this spellbinding compilation!]

October 27, 2016
The Trenton Family Home from “Cujo”

Cujo is regularly hailed as one of the best cult horror movies of all time. I never actually saw the 1983 flick until just prior to writing this post, but I came across some information about the main house – or, more accurately, houses – used in it while researching filming locations in Sonoma County in preparation for my recent trip up north. What I read fascinated me and I became obsessed with tracking the residences down. Thanks to a major assist from my aunt Lea, who lives in the area, I was able to do so!

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The article that piqued my interest was originally published by Fort Bragg Advocate-News in 1982 and was then reprinted by the newspaper as part of a “Glance at the Past” series in 2012. According to the blurb, a façade based upon a real life home in Santa Rosa was constructed around a mansion in Mendocino for the Cujo shoot. As you can imagine, this information had me practically foaming at the mouth (see what I did there?) to locate both properties.

I headed right on over to Netflix to scan through Cujo and fairly quickly discerned that the façade referenced in the newspaper article was built to represent the sprawling home where the Trenton family – Donna (Dee Wallace), Vic (Daniel Hugh Kelly), and their son, Tad (Danny Pintauro, in his first movie role) – lived in the flick. Yes, as shocking as it may seem, the dwelling pictured below is not real, but a false front constructed around an actual residence!

My first move was to track down the Mendocino property where the façade was built. Fort Bragg Advocate-News had referenced the home as the “Mullner Mansion” and noted that it overlooked Mendocino Bay. A Google search of “Mullner Mansion” and “Mendocino” did not yield as much as I had expected in the way of information, but it did kick back a PDF of a pamphlet published by the Mendocino Coast Chamber of Commerce titled Mendocino Coast & Beyond. The pamphlet contained a four-page section on films made in the area and Cujo was one of the movies detailed. In it, the Mullner Mansion was said to be located on Crestwood Drive. Thank you, Chamber of Commerce!

I immediately opened up Google Street View and was thankful to see that Crestwood Drive was a short road with only a few residences situated on it. After lining up the houses visible across the street from the Trenton home in Cujo (those houses are pictured below via Street View), I quickly discerned that the façade was constructed around the property located at 44777 Crestwood Drive.

A view of the real home (via Google Street View) as compared to the Cujo façade is pictured below.

I was thrilled to see that the fencing visible in Cujo is still intact today, more than three decades after filming took place!

I was also thrilled to spot what I believe is the top of the actual home’s turret in a shot. You can check out some additional photos of the real life dwelling here.

Next up, I was desperate to locate the property that the façade was based upon, which is also where interiors were filmed. That hunt proved easier said than done. As noted in the Fort Bragg Advocate-News article, the Santa Rosa pad was known as the “Nielson Mansion.” A Google search of “Nielson Mansion” and “Santa Rosa” yielded nothing, though. At what seemed to be a dead end, I called for reinforcements! My aunt Lea lives in the Santa Rosa area and I asked if she wouldn’t mind going to her local library to search through some 1980s phone books to see if there was a listing for a Nielson family. She did me one better and called the library to inquire if they had any information on Cujo filming in the area. A very nice woman ended up returning Lea’s call and provided her with a wealth of info! As it turns out, Fort Bragg Advocate-News made an error in their reporting. The librarian explained to my aunt that filming had actually taken place at the Nielsen (not Nielson) Mansion located at 3415 Nielsen Road. The 1933 dwelling was named for Mrs. Francis Nielsen, who lived on the premises until her death in 1980.

While the librarian was not sure if the home was still standing, Lea ran right out to stalk the place for me and reported back that it was, indeed, still intact. I then headed over to stalk it for myself during my trip up north earlier this month. Unfortunately, as you can see below, the residence is gated and not much is visible from the road.

Though some portions of it can be seen through the fencing.

Thankfully, aerial views provide us with much better imagery. As you can see below, the property is an exact match to the Trenton home from Cujo.

In real life, the pad boasts 5 bedrooms, 4.5 baths, 4,438 square feet of living space, a 2.03-acre lot, and a 600-square-foot attached garage.

As mentioned in the Fort Bragg Advocate-News article, most scenes involving the interior of the Trenton home were shot at the property.

The story behind the Trenton house begs the question, if producers liked the look of the Nielsen Mansion exterior (not to mention the interior) that much, then why not just film at the home? Why did they instead go to all of the trouble of building an exact replica of the place around another residence in a different city? My guess is that they wanted to make use of the fabulous views the Mullner Mansion had to offer. But yikes, it sure does seem like a heck of a lot of effort to go to just to showcase a pretty view. Either way, I cannot imagine how cool it must have been for the Nielsen family. I would absolutely love it if an exact replica of the exterior of my home was re-created in another location for a movie shoot!

A big THANK YOU to my aunt Lea for tracking down this location for me!

For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: The façade of the Trenton family home from Cujo was built at 44777 Crestwood Drive in Mendocino. The façade was modeled after the Nielsen Mansion located at 3415 Nielsen Road in Santa Rosa, where interiors were also filmed.

October 26, 2016
My Experience at Halloween Horror Nights (Hint – It Was Fabulous!)

Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Hollywood is something I have wanted to do forever. Considering my obsession with Halloween, all things spooky and movie studios, it’s kind of a shock that I had never been. The rather steep ticket prices – as well as the fact that everyone told me I shouldn’t bother attending unless I was also going to purchase a Front of Line pass – are what deterred me year after year. When my best friends, Robin and Steffi, announced that they were coming to visit us from Switzerland for a week in mid-October, though, I decided that they were not leaving America without a nighttime visit to Universal. Not only is Halloween Horror Nights a perfect way to celebrate my favorite holiday, but Robin is obsessed with The Walking Dead and the park features a maze themed after the AMC series. So we headed right on over there after picking them up from the airport. While this is not my typical Haunted Hollywood column, because I always had so many questions about Halloween Horror Nights (if it was worth the cost, if Front of Line passes were necessary, if the crowds were prohibitive, etc.), I thought a post on our experience would be a good idea. (I do have to apologize for the quality of my photographs – they were all taken on my iPhone and, being that lighting was low at the park, are not the greatest.)

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In short, I loved, loved, LOVED Halloween Horror Nights. The ticket prices may be high (we paid $90 a person, but the rates fluctuate depending upon which night you attend and how far in advance you are purchasing), but they are worth every penny! We opted not to buy Front of Line passes and, as it turns out, we really didn’t need them. For those who have never attended or looked into attending, Front of Line tickets run about $200 a person (that includes admission to the park). Again, the rates fluctuate depending on the date you attend and how far in advance you are purchasing (late in the game, Front of Line passes cost about $260 per guest!). Our group (read: the Grim Cheaper) just wasn’t willing to pay that much, which, in hindsight, was a good decision. While the lines were definitely long (some over 100 minutes), it is my opinion that Front of Line tickets are not at all necessary.

Because Robin and Steffi were extremely tired from their long flight (and had been awake for more than 24 hours straight at that point), we only stayed at Universal for about two and a half hours. During that time, we were able to go through two mazes and grab a bite to eat. While we, admittedly, saw very little of what Horror Nights has to offer, we had a blast and definitely felt that we got our money’s worth. Heck, just being there and walking through all of the Halloween madness was worth it! And had we arrived when the park opened and stayed until closing, we easily could have experienced most of the attractions sans Front of Line tickets – especially considering that early admission (two hours before the park actually opens) is offered every single night for free, during which time a few select mazes are accessible. So my best advice for enjoying Halloween Horror Nights is to skip the pricey Front of Line tickets and instead get to the park right at 5 p.m., when it opens, and stay until closing at 2 a.m.

I would also suggest purchasing a hotel package if you don’t live in the area. We opted to go that route and our package included tickets to the park and a King Bed Corner Room at the Hilton Los Angeles/Universal City.

Our room was large and had a queen-sized sofa-bed, which was perfect for our group. The Hilton is also within walking distance to the park (it’s about a block to the Universal Studios entrance) and shuttle service to CityWalk is provided, as well.

Our room also boasted incredible views of the park!

It happened to be cloudy the night we attended Halloween Horror Nights, which made for the perfect ambiance. Even our hotel looked spooky!

As I said earlier, just being at Universal, seeing all of the frightening décor and witnessing the many masked figures, aka the “scareactors,” who walk around terrorizing guests was an experience in and of itself. Throw in the multitude of chilling attractions and it was pretty much the perfect night for me!

The first maze we hit up was The Walking Dead Attraction (which is now open during the day and year-round).

I have never seen The Walking Dead (I know, I know – I’m missing out), so I did not really know what to expect, but the maze was uh-maz-ing (pun intended!). I honestly felt like I was walking through a live movie set – the decorations were that good. Add to that the fact that scareactors were jumping out at every turn and the whole thing made for an absolutely terrifying experience. We all screamed our heads off the entire way through. (Though photos were allowed inside and I did attempt to take some at the beginning, with scareactors jumping out at us regularly, I became afraid I might drop my phone and opted to put it away rather quickly.)

My favorite portion of the evening, though, was hands-down the Terror Tram! As part of the attraction, guests are not only able to walk right through the Bates Motel set from Psycho . . .

. . . but right up to the Bates house . . .

. . . and onto the front porch to take a photo with Norman Bates himself! The daytime tram ride does not allow visitors to get up-close-and-personal with the Psycho house (heck, guests aren’t even allowed to get off the tram during the daytime ride), so, for me, this felt like a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Y’all better be sitting down for this next part because it’s downright incredible! Following the visit to the Bates home, guests are invited to walk through the War of the Worlds plane crash set! Yes, you read that right – visitors are actually allowed to walk through the plane crash set from the 2005 film.

I’ve talked about the set – which is comprised of an actual commercial 747 jetliner that was chopped up for the movie – numerous times on my blog. Heck, the site – or at least a free view of it – even made it onto My L.A. Must-Stalk List!

During the daytime tram ride, guests are only driven through the set, so being able to walk through it at a slow speed and see every aspect of it so closely was downright remarkable!

All in all, Halloween Horror Nights was an incredible experience and I cannot more highly recommend it! It might be one of my favorite Halloween events ever!

For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: Halloween Horror Nights takes place annually from mid-September through the beginning of November at Universal Studios theme parks in Universal City, Orlando, Japan, and Singapore. This year, Halloween Horror Nights Universal Studios Hollywood runs through November 5th. You can find out more information about the event and purchase tickets here.

October 25, 2016
The Filming Locations of “Scream 3”

As promised on Friday, today’s post is dedicated to the filming locations of Scream 3. Though the third installment is not my favorite of the franchise, I love anything and everything having to do with Scream and figured what better way to celebrate Haunted Hollywood month than by putting together a massive two-part article detailing all of the locations featured in both the first and second sequels. (In case you missed my post on Scream 2 locations, you can read it here.)

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1. 101 Freeway (West Shoreline Drive, north of West Ocean Boulevard, Long Beach) – In Scream 3’s opening segment, Cotton Weary (Liev Schreiber) receives his first Ghostface phone call while sitting in traffic, thereby setting off the events of the movie. Though he is said to be stuck on the 101 Freeway in Hollywood, filming actually took place on Shoreline Drive in Long Beach, a popular section of road that is often utilized to mask as a thoroughfare onscreen. A nearby stretch of Shoreline was the site of the memorable freeway scene in the 1995 comedy Clueless. After pushing his way through the stopped cars, Cotton is next shown on the actual 101 Freeway– racing down the southbound Vine Street exit, to be exact, before making a right onto Vine, sailing past the Capital Records Building, and darting down Hollywood Boulevard.

2. Harper House (1336 North Harper Avenue, West Hollywood) – Ghostface terrorizes and eventually kills both Cotton and his girlfriend, Christine (Kelly Rutherford), at Cotton’s Spanish Baroque-style West Hollywood apartment complex, Harper House. The 1929 property, designed by Leland Bryant, originally provided housing for show business and studio professionals and has long been a location manager favorite. Besides Scream 3, the building also popped up in Cop, The Big Picture, The Last Boy Scout, and The Big Fix. The four-story, 21-unit, L-shaped structure, as well as the entire block that it is located on, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Though the interior of an actual Harper House unit was initially utilized in the filming of Scream 3, Cotton’s death scene was later rewritten and reshot. Producers were not able to return to the complex for the reshoot, so an exact replica of the original apartment used was built on a soundstage for the segment. (You can read a more thorough post on this location here.)

3. Sidney’s House (21914 Goldstone Road, Topanga) – Sidney Prescott’s (Neve Campbell) remote cabin in Scream 3 is just that – remote. The rustic pad sits on a forty-acre parcel of land located at the end of a long private road in Topanga. Known as Windwalk Ranch, the sprawling property is comprised of a horse corral, a barn, a ranch house, three dwellings, and a water tank. Unfortunately, none of it is visible to the public. (I wrote a more thorough post on this location here.)

4. Gale’s “Faces of Journalism” Lecture (Moore Hall, Moore 100, UCLA, 457 Portola Plaza, Westwood) – Cast and crew returned to UCLA to film a sequence for Scream 3. It is in Moore 100, a large wood-paneled lecture hall, that Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox) addresses a group of young reporters about the cut-throat nature of the business as part of the F.W. Bestor “Faces of Journalism” Lecture Series. As you can see in my photo, the space is currently undergoing renovations.

Immediately following her speech, Gale learns of Cotton’s shocking murder from Detective Mark Kincaid (Patrick Dempsey) while in the hallway just outside of Moore 100.

5. CBS Studio Center (4024 Radford Avenue, Studio City) – CBS Studio Center pulled double duty in Scream 3. Not only did the production film on the premises, utilizing numerous soundstages and exteriors, but the property also portrayed the fictional Sunrise Studios, where the movie-within-the-movie, Stab 3, was being shot. Originally established as Mack Sennett Studios in 1928, the 38-acre site was renamed CBS Studio Center in 1963 when the CBS Television Network became the lot’s largest tenant. The network purchased the property four years later and, though there have been several name and partnership changes since, it is still owned by CBS today. Countless hits have been lensed on the premises including Gilligan’s Island, Big Brother, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Gunsmoke, The Bob Newhart Show, My Three Sons, Roseanne, Falcon Crest, and Seinfeld. Though the lot does not offer tours, CBS’s main gate on Radford Avenue, which was utilized in a scene in Scream 3 and was also where Jimmy Hughes (Mike O’Malley) worked as a studio security guard on the television series Yes, Dear, is visible from the road.

6. Le Pain Quotidien (8607 Melrose Avenue, West Hollywood) – Gale and Deputy Dewey (David Arquette) meet for an off-the-record chat about the recent murders – as well as their failed romance – on the large wraparound porch of former West Hollywood eatery Replay Café. The family-run Italian-style restaurant, situated next door to the Replay vintage clothing store, became an outpost of Le Pain Quotidien in 2002. Despite the change, the café and its porch still look very much the same today as they did onscreen in Scream 3.

7. Runyon Ranch (3050 Runyon Canyon Road, Hollywood Hills West) – After Roman Bridger (Scott Foley) is taken to the police station to be questioned about the murder of Stab 3 actress Sarah Darling (Jenny McCarthy), the remaining cast members, along with Dewey and Gale, gather at the hilltop home of Jennifer Jolie (Parker Posey). Her rustic, barn-like residence is known as Runyon Ranch in real life. Located on a private road inside of Runyon Canyon Park, the site cannot be reached via car, but is accessible to pedestrians via a short five-minute walk. Both the interior and the exterior of Runyon Ranch were utilized in Scream 3. Though the dwelling was eventually blown up and destroyed in the film, a ¼-scale model was built for the filming of that scene. In real life, the property remains intact and is extremely recognizable from its onscreen appearance. Even Dewey’s airstream trailer is still on the premises! Runyon Ranch has been featured in countless productions over the years, most notably as the spot where David Silver (Brian Austin Green) lived during Season 7 of Beverly Hills, 90210. The locale has also been featured in It’s My Party, Crazy in Alabama, and Hollywood Homicide. (You can read my 2011 post on Runyon Ranch here.)

8. North Hollywood Police Station (11480 Tiara Street, North Hollywood) – Though Scream 2 utilized a police station set at the now defunct Lindsay Studios (love the name!) in Valencia, Scream 3 made use of an actual LAPD office. Detective Kincaid investigates the murders – and delves deep into Sidney’s past – while at the former North Hollywood Police Station, which was originally established in 1957. The North Hollywood Division moved to a new, much larger and modernized facility located less than a mile away at 11640 Burbank Boulevard in May 1997. After that time, the Tiara Street site sat vacant, which made it the perfect spot to shoot the police station scenes for Scream 3. Though there were once plans to turn the property into a senior citizen center, they never came to fruition and the former station was razed in the mid-2000s. The land where it once stood now comprises Tiara Street Park. The original North Hollywood Police Station also appeared in the pilot episode of Adam-12.

9. American Cement Building (2404 Wilshire Boulevard, Westlake) – One of Scream 3’s more memorable locations, the American Cement Building in Westlake served as the office of horror movie producer John Milton (Lance Henriksen). When Wes Craven scouted the site and noticed that it offered stunning views of MacArthur Park’s lake, he mentioned that installing a diving board just outside of Milton’s window would add a whimsical touch. The production team made it happen and the result is an understated, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it bit of humor. The architecturally stunning building was originally constructed as the headquarters for the American Cement Company in 1964. Designed by the Daniel, Mann, Johnson & Mendenhall architecture firm, the dramatic 13-story structure was manufactured out of reinforced concrete and boasts striking latticework on its north and south sides. The location underwent a multi-million-dollar renovation in 2002, during which the office spaces were transformed into 71 live/work lofts. Scream 3 is hardly the first production to make use of the site. The American Cement Building has also appeared in Kill Bill: Vol. 1, the 2015 Entourage movie, Pharrell Williams’ “Come Get It Bae” music video, and Get Him to the Greek. (You can check out my post on the American Cement Building here.)

10. Canfield-Moreno Estate (1923 Micheltorena Street, Silver Lake) – A 22,000-square-foot Italianate-style villa that has long been the subject of Hollywood lore masqueraded as John Milton’s sprawling manse, where Scream 3’s gory climax took place. Known as the Canfield-Moreno Estate, as well as The Paramour Mansion and The Crestmont, the massive property was designed by Robert D. Farquhar in 1923 for silent film star Antonio Moreno and his wife, oil heiress Daisy Canfield Danziger. When the couple decided to separate in 1928, they deeded the 22-room property to the Chloe P. Canfield Memorial Home, a finishing school for girls that was established by Daisy and her sisters. Just a few years later, the heiress tragically lost control of her car while driving on Mulholland Drive, plunged off a 300-foot cliff, and died instantly. Her ghost is said to haunt her former residence to this day. The Canfield Memorial Home was dissolved in the 1950s and the estate later became a boarding house for troubled girls. After being damaged in the 1987 Whittier Narrows earthquake, the site was left abandoned for more than a decade. It was finally purchased in 1998 by a developer who set about returning the once-grand home to its original glory. It has since become an onscreen regular, appearing in such productions as Halloween H20: 20 Years Later, Alias, Monk, Britney Spears’ “My Prerogative” music video, and Brothers & Sisters. It is inside the colorful, Moroccan-style residence that Sidney finally puts an end to the killings that have plagued her since high school. That is until Scream 4, which was shot in Michigan, came along in 2011 and re-opened the mystery, proving Randy’s rule from the second movie correct – “Never, ever, under any circumstances, assume the killer is dead.” (You can read a more in-depth post on the property here.) Big THANK YOU to Mike, from MovieShotsLA, for the photograph below.

Well, that’s it! The complete list of locations featured in Scream 3. If you missed Friday’s post on the L.A. locales from Scream 2, be sure to check it out here. I hope you all enjoyed reading these two articles as much I enjoyed putting them together!

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

October 24, 2016
The L.A. Filming Locations of “Scream 2”

“Hello, Sidney.” Two simple words, spoken by a gravelly-voiced serial killer shrouded by a Father Death mask in one of Scream’s early scenes, and the face of the horror movie genre was changed forever. An empty house and a ringing telephone suddenly had a much more sinister meaning. Scream, which will be celebrating its twentieth anniversary on December 20^th, went on to spawn three sequels, a 2015 television series, and countless imitations. Though the original film was shot in its entirety in Northern California and Scream 4 was filmed in Michigan, large portions of 1997’s Scream 2 and all of 2000’s Scream 3 were lensed in Los Angeles. I recently went on a trek to track down all of the franchise’s SoCal locales. Today, I will be covering Scream 2 and on Monday, Scream 3. Enjoy!

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1. Rialto Theatre (1023 Fair Oaks Avenue, South Pasadena) – Scream 2 opens upon a chaotic scene at a sneak preview of Stab – the franchise’s movie-within-a-movie – which is taking place at the supposed Ohio-area Rialto Theatre. The historic 1925 venue is actually located in South Pasadena and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Though the exterior was dressed with an animatronic knife-wielding arm for the shoot, the Rialto is still very recognizable in person. Don’t go hoping to catch a horror movie screening on the premises, though. The 1,200-seat theatre, one of the last single-screen venues in L.A., was closed to the public in 2010. Plans are currently in the works to re-open it, though. In 2015, the Lewis A. Smith-designed property was purchased by a developer who intends to restore the site to its original glory. In the meantime, fans can enjoy the venue via its many onscreen appearances in such productions as A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master, Modern Family (Season 6’s “Crying Out Loud”), The Kentucky Fried Movie, and The Player. (You can read a more in-depth post I wrote about the location back in 2008 here.)

2. Vista Theatre (4473 Sunset Drive, Los Feliz) – Though the lobby of the Rialto was utilized in the Stab sneak preview scene, the auditorium where the actual screening took place is located a good twelve miles west. The spot where Maureen (Jada Pinkett Smith) met her rather public untimely end is the Vista Theatre in Los Feliz. Another Lewis A. Smith creation, the single-screen venue features both Spanish and Egyptian detailing. Originally opened to the public as the Lou Bard Playhouse on October 16th, 1923, the Vista still screens films today. An onscreen regular, the theatre has also appeared on 90210 (Season 3’s Women on the Verge”), in the movies True Romance and Get Shorty, and in Pharrell William’s “Happy” music video. [The unusual Egyptian-themed bathroom where Phil (Omar Epps) was stabbed to death is a spot I am still trying to track down. It does not appear to have been a bathroom at either the Vista or the Rialto and, though several crew members have said otherwise, I am leaning towards it having been a set.]

3. Stab Casey’s House (5730 Busch Drive, Malibu) – “You know, I don’t even know you and I dislike you already.” So says Casey (Heather Graham) to the Ghostface killer in Stab’s opening scene, which was shot at a sleek wood and glass house in Malibu Park. The 4-bedroom, 3-bath residence was designed by Doug Rucker in 1961 and then once again renovated by the prolific Malibu architect in 1989. It is in the home’s sprawling manicured backyard, underneath a massive tree, that Stab Casey meets her grizzly end in a sequence that mimics Casey Becker’s (Drew Barrymore) death from the original Scream. Segments of the scene shot at the house also popped up in 2011’s Scream 4. (I covered this location in greater detail and told the story of the hunt to track it down here.)

4. Omega Beta Zeta Sorority House (2186 East Crary Street, Altadena) – While serving as a sober sister for the night (“Drink with your brain! That’s our motto!”), Cici (Sarah Michelle Gellar) finds herself alone in the Omega Beta Zeta sorority house, where she becomes the third victim of the Ghostface killer, who stabs her and throws her off of a third-floor balcony. Both the interior and the exterior of a large Victorian-style estate in Altadena known as the Crank House were used to represent the Omega Beta Zeta pad in the film. Originally constructed in 1882 by a New Yorker named James Crank, the massive 7-bedroom, 4-bath, 6,450-square-foot property, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is not very visible from the road. The stately manse can be viewed in countless productions, though. The Crank House posed as the supposed New Orleans residence belonging to Roger Strong (Martin Sheen) and his family in Catch Me If You Can. The location also served as Martin Sheen’s home in another production – on the television series The West Wing the interior was used as the interior of the Bartlett Family Farm in New Hampshire. The Crank House is also where Donald “Ducky” Mallard (David McCallum) lives on NCIS and it belonged to Trunchbull (Pam Ferris) in the 1996 movie Matilda. (You can read my previous post on this location here.)

5. Delta Lambda Zeta Sorority House (350 South Grand Avenue, Pasadena) – At the beginning of Scream 2, Hallie (Elise Neal) drags Sidney (Neve Campbell) to a “martini mixer” at Windsor College’s Delta Lambda Zeta sorority house. While there, Sorority Sister Lois (Rebecca Gayheart) and Sorority Sister Murphy (Portia de Rossi) try to woo Sidney into joining their ranks by uttering such classic lines as, “Hi. No I really mean that. Hi.” The Delta Lambda Zeta residence clears out once party-goers learn of Cici’s death and Sidney once again finds herself alone in a house, on the receiving end of a “Hello, Sidney” phone call, and eventually face-to-face with a masked killer. Filming of the scene did not take place at a sorority house at all, but at an enormous 8-bedroom, 4-bath, 7,913-square-foot private residence located in Pasadena’s South Arroyo neighborhood.

6. Kerckhoff Coffeehouse (Kerckhoff Hall, Level 2, UCLA, 308 Westwood Plaza, Westwood) – While at a Windsor College coffee shop over a couple of Baskin-Robbins sundaes, Randy schools Dewey Riley (David Arquette) on “the rules” of making a successful movie sequel. “Number 1 – The body count is always bigger. Number 2 – The death scenes are always much more elaborate. More blood. More gore. Carnage candy. Your core audience just expects it. And Number 3 – If you want your sequel to become a franchise, never, ever, under any circumstances, assume the killer is dead.” (The third rule is only heard in its entirety in the Scream 2 trailer.) The rules segment was shot at UCLA’s first coffee shop, Kerckhoff Coffeehouse, originally established in 1976. The charming café, which is open to the public, offers espresso drinks, pastries, soups, and sandwiches. And while it did serve Baskin-Robbins ice cream at the time of the filming, sadly that is no longer the case.

7. Lecture Hall/Hallway (Humanities Building, A51, UCLA, 415 Portola Plaza, Westwood) – It is at a large auditorium inside one of the University of California, Los Angeles’ oldest structures, the Humanities Building, that Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox) and Dewey look through some of Gale’s crowd footage in the hopes of identifying Ghostface. Though the two are first shown walking through a hallway at Agnes Scott College in Georgia (which was largely used to portray Windsor College in Scream 2) while looking for a room with a VCR to play the footage, the scenery then flips to Humanities A51, a vast UCLA lecture hall, where Gale and Dewey wind up rekindling an old flame. It is not long before Ghostface shows up and destroys their rendezvous, though. Gale is subsequently chased by the killer through a Humanities Building hallway and then into a large sound booth that was actually a set built at a recording studio in Burbank.

Originally known as Kinsey Hall, the Humanities Building was shuttered for renovations in 2005 and renamed. The exterior of the site was also utilized in Scream 2, in a later scene in which Gale rushes outside to make a frantic phone call to the police to announce that Cotton Weary (Liev Schreiber) is the killer, while Debbie Salt (Laurie Metcalf) looks on.

8. Officer Andrews and Officer Richards Death Scene (Green Street in between South Los Robles Avenue and Madison Avenue, Pasadena) – The harrowing scene in which Officer Andrews (Philip Pavel) and Officer Richards (Christopher Doyle) are murdered, leaving Sidney and Hallie trapped inside of their locked, crashed police car with Ghostface, was lensed on a quiet tree-lined stretch of Green Street in Pasadena’s Playhouse District. After Sidney and Hallie escape from the destroyed cruiser by discreetly crawling over the unconscious masked killer, the two run east on Green towards South Oakland Avenue, whereupon Sidney decides to head back to the car to remove Ghostface’s mask and learn the killer’s true identity. Ghostface has long since made his getaway, though, and as Sidney walks to the accident scene, Hallie is murdered while standing in front of the First Church of Christ Scientist.

9. Exterior of Windsor College Theatre (Kerckhoff Hall, UCLA, 308 Westwood Plaza, Westwood) – It’s back to UCLA for the start of the film’s climactic finale. Kerckhoff Hall, erected in 1931, stands in for the exterior of the Windsor College Theatre, where Agamemnon, the play Sidney is starring in, is set to be staged. In the segment, Sidney rushes through UCLA’s Election Walk . . .

. . . and up the steps of the Collegiate Gothic-style building, though as soon as she steps inside, she is standing about 15 miles away at a theatre in downtown L.A.

The movie’s final scene, in which Gale forgoes her moment in the spotlight in order to accompany Dewey to the hospital, was also shot in front of Kerckhoff Hall. The building is named in honor of William G. Kerckhoff, a businessman/philanthropist who was not only an original founder of Beverly Hills, but was also responsible for helping to develop hydroelectric power and founded the Southern California Gas Corporation in 1910.

10. Variety Arts Theatre (940 South Figueroa Street, downtown L.A.) – The interior of the Windsor College Theatre, where Scream 2’s bloody climax takes place, was portrayed by the Variety Arts Theatre in downtown Los Angeles. It is there, onstage amongst the crumbling Agamemnon scenery, that the Ghostface identities are finally revealed and Sidney and Cotton form an unlikely alliance. The Variety Arts Theatre was originally constructed as part of the headquarters of the Friday Morning Club, an organization for women, in 1924. Designed by Allison and Allison, Architects, the five-story Neo-Italian Renaissance-style property, now known as the Variety Arts Center, is comprised of offices, meeting space, and two theatres. It is the larger, lower-level venue, originally named The Playhouse, that was featured in Scream 2. After remaining largely closed since the late ‘80s, the Variety Arts was leased by the Los Angeles branch of the Hillsong Church in 2015. Renovations are currently underway and the Pentecostal organization is expected to begin holding services on the premises in 2017. Because of the renovation, I was not able to get inside to take photos, but you can see some interior images of it here. The Variety Arts Theatre also made an appearance in Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story.

The one location I have as yet been unable to track down (aside from the theatre bathroom featured in the opening scene) is the film theory classroom where loveable film geek Randy Meeks (Jamie Kennedy) discussed the inferiority of sequels with fellow film theory students Cici, Mickey (Timothy Olyphant) and Film Class Guy #1 (Joshua Jackson). (How would Randy make sequels better? He’d “let the geek get the girl!”) Originally lensed at Agnes Scott College’s Winter Theatre in the Dana Fine Arts Building, the segment was later re-shot in Los Angeles in order to give Sarah Michelle Gellar more screen time. While I do know via several cast and crew members that the reshoot took place at UCLA, I have not been able to pinpoint exactly where. One UCLA employee I spoke with thought that filming might have taken place in Moore 1003 in Moore Hall, but I was able to see that room in person a couple of weeks ago and it does not seem to be the correct spot.

As you can see below and above, the two rooms do not appear to be one and the same. Granted, the space could have been remodeled in the 19 years since Scream 2 was filmed, but there is just not enough that matches up structurally for me to believe it is the right spot. I’d welcome any help any of my fellow stalkers can give me with this one.

Stay tuned for Monday’s post on the L.A. locations featured in Scream 3!

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

October 21, 2016