A great horror movie does not only take good actors to express their emotions. It also means choosing the right music that gives a real creepy feeling to the audience and a perfect location that would take the audience to their greatest fears.
While a few eerie scenes on your favorite scary movie were created straight out from the computer, most of these places that give you chills actually exist in real life. Want to learn more about these hair-raising zones?
Scroll down below and find five of the most iconic creepy settings film producers love to shoot horror, action and sci-fi movies.
1. The Single House in the movie The Amityville Horror
Located in 108 Ocean Ave Amityville, New York, this house was known to be the dream house of the Lutz couple in the movie, The Amityville Horror, who immediately fled after 28 days out of fear. It is a single family home near Berner Middle School and Amityville Memorial High School.
Even if the movie entails the house has an interesting history, the real estate agency claims there is nothing spooky about it and the couple who purchased it in 1977 lived in the place for more than a decade happily.
2. . Ponte City in Johannesburg, South Africa
Ponte City is Johannesburg’s tallest and grandest urban slum in the world with over fifty floors. The city was infested with gang activities and crimes started to soar in the late 1980’s while the building started to rot. It became a symbol of crime and urban decay which was once on top of the society’s crust in mid seventies.
The place was featured in a documentary film Ponte Tower by director Philip Bloom. It also made significant appearances in the movies like District 9, SEAL Team 8, Chappie and documentary film Africa Shafted.
#3. Underground Labs in The Thing and Event Horizon
Getting trapped in an isolated research center in Antarctica buried thousands of feet beneath the mountains of South Dakota or getting lost in other dimensions is the last place you want to be but the first thing that comes into the mind of a horror film director.
Sanford Underground Laboratory in Lead, South Dakota is a space deep underground project is one of the famous labs that film directors would like to shot.
4. Danvers State Mental Hospital in the movie Session 9
Also known as the State Lunatic Hospital or The Danvers Lunatic Asylum, this hospital is definitely a place for fear. Built in 1878, the asylum was known to be the birthplace of the pre-frontal lobotomy but it has been demolished in the late 2000’s.
Aside from Session 9, movies like Home before Dark in 1958 was also filmed in this asylum.
#1. Medfield State Hospital in Medfield, Massachusetts
Think about Leonardo DiCaprio’s Shutter Island or The Box starring Cameron Diaz and you will see one common thing, the Medfield State Hospital setting.
Established in 1892, the hospital is a psychiatric building dealing with mental patients which raised its own livestock and generated its own heat, light and power. Part of the building has been demolished but the rest of the grounds are open to public.
Setting, just like characters, is a very important factor to consider when doing a movie, especially when it is a horror film. And these directors definitely know just how to make your spine chill when watching their movies.