In the opening scenes of director Paul Feig’s 2016, all-female remake of “Ghostbusters,” the ladies encounter a ghost at the Aldridge Mansion Museum, supposedly in New York. The building is actually the Boston University Castle in Boston, Massachusetts.
LOCATION: 225 Bay State Rd, Boston, MA 02215
The team sets up a new Ghostbusters headquarters above Zhu’s Authentic Hong Kong Food. The real restaurant is actually Kaze Shabu Shabu. The production added a garage on the left side of the building to house the Ecto-1 car. At the real location, the garage space is just an additional area of the parking lot.
LOCATION: 1 Harrison Ave, Boston, MA 02111
Here are some costumes and props from the film, which are on display at the Sony lot as part of their tour.
LOCATION: 10202 W Washington Blvd, Culver City, CA 90232
The 2014 comedy “Neighbors,” starring Seth Rogen and Zac Efron, as well as it’s sequel, “Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising,” starring Chloe Grace Moretz filmed around Midtown, Los Angeles, California.
Seth Rogan and his wife, played by Rose Byrne, move into this house in hopes of having a quiet homestead to raise their infant daughter.
LOCATION: 2179 W 20th St, Los Angeles, CA, 90018
Unbeknownst to them, a wild fraternity, led by Zac Efron, has just moved in next door as well to host their frat parties. As you can guess, a comedic feud arises.
LOCATION: 2203 W 20th St, Los Angeles, CA 90018
As seen in the film, the two homes really are located right beside one another. The houses were once again used in the 2016 sequel, “Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising,” when a sorority moves in and the neighbor feud is reignited.
One of the frat houses where a party takes place was filmed at a property known as The Beckett Mansion, located in the West Adams neighborhood. The house actually operates as an event space and filming location year round. The same house has been featured in Rob Zombie’s “Halloween,” “True Romance,” “No Strings Attached” and many more. It’s also located directly across the street from the house from “The People Under The Stairs.”
LOCATION: 2218 S Harvard Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90018
In the 1997 Nickelodeon film “Good Burger,” Kenan and Kel work at “Good Burger, home of the Good Burger.” The restaurant building can be found in West Covina, California, where it currently serves Mexican food.
LOCATION: 437 S Glendora Ave, West Covina, CA 91790
The rival Mondo Burger can be found just across the street, where the production added quite a few elements to the building facade.
LOCATION: 450 S Glendora Ave, West Covina, CA 91790
The 1995 teen comedy “Clueless” was filmed in Southern California. In the movie, Cher, played by Alicia Silverstone, lives at this house in Encino. Unfortunately, the home sits at the end of a long driveway behind a large entrance gate, so there isn’t much to see from the street. Here are a couple aerial views of the property. The pool and back yard are also seen in the film.
LOCATION: 5148 Louise Ave, Encino, CA 91316
There are also public real estate listings available online for the house, offering more detailed looks around the property, including interior views, where scenes from the film also shot.
Dionne, played by Stacey Dash, lives at this home in Beverly Hills. The view from the street has unfortunately since become increasingly obscured by trees and shrubs.
LOCATION: 705 Sierra Dr, Beverly Hills, CA 90210
The house where the party in the Valley takes place has unfortunately since been completely remodeled and no longer appears anything like it did in the film.
LOCATION: 16401 Knollwood Dr, Granada Hills, CA 91344
Cher finds herself being mugged at gunpoint in front of this liquor store. Her assailant then asks her to get on the ground, which she protests for not wanting to ruin her fashionable dress. The liquor store is Circus Liquor, known for it’s giant clown sign, which can be found in North Hollywood, California. It can also be seen in “Blue Thunder,” “Ken Park,” “The Living End,” the 2005 remake of “The Bad News Bears” and Snoop Dogg’s music video for “Murder Was the Case.”
LOCATION: 5600 Vineland Ave, North Hollywood, CA 91601
Cher can also be seen passing the Beverly Hills Witch House, a.k.a. the Spadena House. The house was designed by art director Harry Oliver to serve as offices and dressing rooms for a Culver City film studio, but was later moved to Beverly Hills and became a private residence.
The classic Billy Wilder comedy, “Some Like It Hot,” starring Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon, filmed at the Hotel Del Coronado in Coronado, California, just across the San Diego Bay. The Victorian beach resort opened in 1888 and still goes strong today. The cast and crew made their way down from Los Angeles to film at the resort, where they also stayed as guests during the production. The same hotel appears in the films “K-9,” “My Blue Heaven,” “Wicked, Wicked,” “The Stunt Man” and many more. It has also appeared in such TV series as “Baywatch,” “Simon & Simon,” “Alfred Hitchcock Presents” and more.
The Freeling house from the 1982, Steven Speilberg produced “Poltergeist,” can be found in Simi Valley, California. Some trees have since been added to the front yard, obscuring the house a bit.
The Victorian home of horrors from the 1985 film “House” can be found in Monrovia, California. It’s an impressive house to see, even if you’re unfamiliar with the film.
Martin Scorsese’s classic Boston crime saga “The Departed,” a remake of the 2002 Hong Kong film “Infernal Affairs,” used a mixture of Boston and New York to comprise the locations of the film. After Warner Bros. purchased the rights to the film, director Martin Scorsese deliberately avoided viewing it until after he completed “The Departed.” Here we’ll take a look at some of the Boston locations from the film.
The Massachusetts State House plays a recurring role in the film, as Matt Damon’s character Colin Sullivan stares in awe at it and rents an upscale penthouse apartment with a view of it’s iconic golden dome at the center of the Boston skyline. The same building was featured in the films “Amistad,” “The Boston Strangler,” “The Verdict” and “Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol.”
LOCATION: 24 Beacon St, Boston, MA 02133
Matt Damon’s penthouse “apartment” isn’t really an apartment at all. It’s the library on the top floor of the Suffolk University Law School. For this obvious reason, the building is never seen from an exterior view in the film, but this is what it looks like from the street. Unfortunately, you must have a university ID to enter the building, so recreating the apartment view from the library is not possible for the public.
LOCATION: 120 Tremont Street, Boston, MA 02108
Frank Costello, played by Jack Nicholson, lives at this apartment overlooking the east waterfront of the Charlestown neighborhood of Boston. The building is known as Flagship Wharf. Much like Matt Damon’s apartment, the exteriors of this building are scarcely seen in the film. However, some shots of the windows and a view out over the water can be seen as Costello talks on the phone to Sullivan.
LOCATION: 197 8th St, Boston, MA 02129
Outside of Costello’s bar, two of Costello’s crew, Fitzy and Delahunt, stand and observe pedestrians walking by, claiming anyone who avoids looking at the pair are cops. As Billy, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, exits the building without looking at them, Fitzy jokingly says to him “You’re a cop.” Two buildings were actually used for this location; this exterior can be found in Boston, while the interior was an entirely different building in New York (Raul’s, 180 Prince St, New York, NY 10012).
LOCATION: 17 Charles St, Boston, MA 02114
Late in the film, Billy meets Queenan, played by Martin Sheen on a rooftop of what is supposedly 344 Washington Street. There is a hand-drawn sign in front with the numbers 344. Costello’s crew is informed of the meeting and Delahunt mistakenly tells Billy to meet them at “314 Washington.” Despite his error, Billy meets Costello’s crew at the correct address, cluing in Delahunt to Billy’s real identity.
The entrance to real building seen in the film is not on Washington Street, but rather along an alley running between Farnsworth Street and Thompson Place, just north of Congress Street in Boston’s Fort Point.
LOCATION: 11 Farnsworth St, Boston, MA 02210 (this entrance is along a side alley of the building, running between Farnsworth Street and Thompson Place)
Billy narrowly escapes from the rooftop to avoid exposure as an undercover cop. He races down a fire escape into this alley, just beside the entrance seen above. The real building does not have a fire escape, but some skillful editing makes it appear as if this is where the fire escape reaches the streets.
LOCATION: Alley between 11 Farnsworth St and 12 Thompson Pl, Boston, MA 02210
Just as Billy reaches the front of the building, he is shocked as Queenan is thrown from the rooftop. His body falls in front of these windows. Director Martin Scorsese had X marks taped over all the windows, as an homage to the 1932 film “Scarface.”
Billy looks in horror back in front of the building entrance, as Costello’s crew pours out and meet up with him, unaware he was the undercover cop they were just seeking. The police observe the scene and, against Sullivan’s orders, engage in a shootout with Costello’s crew. Billy and Sullivan’s fateful meeting also takes place in this building and on the rooftop.
In Robert Zemeckis’ 1992 black comedy “Death Becomes Her,” Madeline, played by Meryl Streep and Ernest, played by Bruce Willis, live at this estate in San Marino, California. Later in the film, Helen, played by Goldie Hawn, pays the couple a visit with sinister plans. The same home can be seen in the film “The Last Boy Scout.”
LOCATION: 1125 Oak Grove Ave, San Marino, CA 91108
The funeral home seen in the film is actually the Greystone Mansion in Beverly Hills. Ernest does reconstructive work on bodies in what is actually the kitchen. The mansion is owned by the City of Beverly Hills and frequently hosts productions. The building has been used in countless films. This room alone has also been seen in “Spider-Man 3,” “The Bodyguard,” “The Loved One” and “The Witches Of Eastwick.” While the exterior grounds of the mansion are open the the public, the interior usually is not. However, once or twice a year, the city does allow the public access inside. It is one of our most highly recommended places if you’re a movie fan and can manage to get on one of these self-guided tours. Short of a film studio, you’ll be hard pressed to find another place with so many film locations.
LOCATION: 905 Loma Vista Dr., Beverly Hills, CA 90210
At the end of the film, the story jumps ahead several decades as Madeline and Helen attend a funeral. After they leave, the two fall down these stairs. The exterior scenes were filmed at Mary Chapel on the Chalon Campus of Mount Saint Mary’s University, Los Angeles, while the interior scenes were filmed at St James Episcopal Church (3903 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90010).
The 2005 Steven Spielberg remake “War Of The Worlds,” starring Tom Cruise, was filmed in New Jersey, New York, Virginia, Connecticut and California. The home of Ray Ferrier, played by Cruise, can be found in Bayonne, New Jersey.
LOCATION: 11 John F. Kennedy Blvd, Bayonne, NJ 07002
Ray is seen driving past the Bayonne Bridge on his way home, which runs right beside the house.
In one scene, Ray stands in the street in front of his home and notices a disturbance in the sky.
On the Universal Studios Tour at Universal Studios Hollywood, you can see the plane crash set from the film. It is a very intricate set, with lots of full-scale, realistic wreckage. Cars, ambulances and even an actual, out of use, Boeing 747 were all used for film. Universal made it an interactive exhibition, with fires and smoke as you pass through.
LOCATION: 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, CA 91608
One tip for those perhaps not interested in paying the full price for admission into Universal Studios Hollywood, this set can actually be seen free of charge from a hilltop behind the studio. Just head up to the 3400 block of Blair Dr in Los Angeles for a view of the crash set. It’s obviously not as good as viewing it up close from ground level, but if you’ve got some time to spare, it’s still an interesting sight.
LOCATION: 3400 block of Blair Dr, Los Angeles, CA 90068
Ray and Rachel, played by Dakota Fanning, make their way to Boston, where they find the alien vegetation withering. These scenes were actually filmed in Los Angeles.
LOCATION: Witmer St / Ingraham St, Los Angeles, CA 90017
A tripod has collapsed into this building, seen at the same intersection.
