The 1984 film “Gremlins” was shot mostly at Warner Bros Studios in Burbank, California. In the opening of the film, set in Chinatown, Mr. Peltzer emerges from this alley. This was filmed on the Warner Bros. Studios Lot.
LOCATION: 4000 Warner Blvd, Burbank, CA 91505
Here is the Mogwai shop, also located on the Warner Backlot.
LOCATION: 4000 Warner Blvd, Burbank, CA 91505
The Peltzer house could be found over at the Warner Bros. Ranch. The ranch was located separate from the main Warner Bros. Studio lot and was not open to public tours. The entire ranch was demolished in 2023, with sound stages taking over the space.
LOCATION: 411 N Hollywood Way, Burbank, CA 91505 (demolished)
Kate, played by Phoebe Cates, lives at this house, located back at the main Warner lot.
LOCATION: 4000 Warner Blvd, Burbank, CA 91505
Billy, played by Zach Galligan, goes to this YMCA pool, which was back on the Warner Bros. Ranch. The pool also famously appeared in “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.” This area has likewise since been demolished.
LOCATION: 411 N Hollywood Way, Burbank, CA 91505 (demolished)
The church in the film is located back over on the main lot of Warner Bros. Studios. The same church has been seen in countless films, such as “The Lost Boys.”
LOCATION: 4000 Warner Blvd, Burbank, CA 91505
The house of Mrs. Deagle can also be found on the main Warner lot. The house was also seen in the TV series “Growing Pains” and “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles,” as well as the 80s films “The Monster Squad” and “Deadly Friend.”
Rob Zombie’s “3 From Hell,” the follow up to “The Devil’s Rejects” and “House Of 1000 Corpses,” was filmed entirely in Southern California. Some minor spoilers are contained in this article.
Prison scenes were filmed at the Sybil Brand Institute, a former women’s prison in Los Angeles. It was here that Manson Family member Susan Atkins confessed to a cell mate named Virginia Graham about the Tate Murders. Graham in turn shared what Atkins had told her, which eventually helped lead to the capture of Charles Manson. The prison shut down in 1997, but today the grounds are still owned by the Los Angeles sherrif’s office, where it’s used by warehouse companies and for filming purposes. Another film featuring Sid Haig, 1997’s “Jackie Brown” also filmed at this location. Here is the front of the former prison, although it is never seen from this angle in the film.
LOCATION: 4500 City Terrace Dr, Los Angeles, CA 90063
Much of the film is set in the town of Durango, Mexico. These scenes were actually filmed on the Melody Ranch Studio Backlot in Santa Clarita, California.
Many people know the lot as the Veluzat Movie Ranch and it is still commonly referred to by that name. However, the ranch has since changed its name to the Melody Ranch Studio Backlot. If you make it to the ranch in person, you’ll see a sign at the gates, referring to it as the Melody Ranch Studio Backlot. The lot is owned by the Veluzats, who also own Melody Ranch in Newhall, California. To make matters more confusing, right next to the Veluzat Backlot in Santa Clarita sits the Diamond V Movie Ranch. This is owned by other members of the Velutats, but not the same ones as those who own Melody Ranch and the Melody Backlot (a.k.a. Veluzat Movie Ranch). People often mistake Diamond V and Veluzat Ranch as being one in the same, but they are two separate properties with different ownership.
While perhaps not quite as well known as Melody Ranch in Newhall, the Melody Backlot is actually larger. To get to the ranch, you make a turn from Copper Hill Drive. There is a very unassuming dirt road there (GPS coordinates: 34°27’36.5″N 118°30’32.0″W). You would never guess from that road what lies at the end of that dirt road, but if you follow the long dirt road, you’ll sure enough arrive at the ranches. However, a locked fence is at the entrance and you can proceed no further without permission of the owners. The good news, however, is that the ranch is available for public tours. You must book by appointment only and if productions are in active progress, that may inhibit their availability, but the Melody Ranch owners are very generous in that they offer tours at all, because most movie ranches do not.
The main attraction of the ranch is the full scale Mexican town set, which is of course featured prominently in this film. There are a few other sets there as well. The ranch was also featured in Zombie’s “House of 1000 Corpses,” as well as such films as “Dante’s Peak,” “Friday The 13th Part III,” “Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter,” “Last Man Standing,” “Chaplin,” “The Laundromat” and many more. It was also featured in the TV show “Westworld” as the Mexican town of “Las Mudas.”
Here is the establishing shot of the town square.
LOCATION: Melody Ranch Studio Backlot (a.k.a. Veluzat Movie Ranch), Forest Rte 5N28, Santa Clarita, CA 91390 (GPS coordinates: 34°29’03.5″N 118°30’25.1″W)
The “three from hell “look down on the town from this hilltop before entering.
They make their way down into the town through these gates.
Here is another view of the hill they drive down entering the town.
They then pass through this arched gate toward the main town square.
Baby, played by Sheri Moon Zombie, sees company approaching near the Estrella del Motel.
Baby and Winslow Foxworth Coltrane, played by Richard Brake, sit on this fountain.
Otis Driftwood, played by Bill Moseley, emerges from this church for a showdown.
The 2001 film “Jurassic Park III” was filmed in Hawaii and Southern California. Early in the film, Dr. Alan Grant, played by Sam Neill, visits the home of Ellie, played by Laura Dern. Ellie’s house can be found in South Pasadena, California. The same house was featured in the film “Bringing Down The House,” as well as the TV shows “Family” and “Fatal Attraction.”
LOCATION: 1230 Milan Ave, South Pasadena, CA 91030
Much like the original “Jurassic Park” and the sequel “The Lost World: Jurassic Park,” this third installment also shot scenes at Jurassic Kahili Ranch in Kauaʻi, Hawaii. In Spring 2019, the ranch began offering tours to the public for the first time. However, it is unclear if they are still offering them, as most of their tour information has been removed from their website. It’s difficult to pinpoint specific scenes from the film, as the ranch is quite large and mostly credited for being featured in general outdoor and jungle scenes. The ranch’s movie tour focused primarily on the original film and the 2015 hit “Jurassic World,” with little mention of where scenes from the third film specifically shot. Here are some looks around the grounds of Jurassic Kahili Ranch. Please note that this land is private and unless you have express permission from the owners, it is trespassing to attempt to enter the grounds.
LOCATION: Jurassic Kahili Ranch, 5-1771D, Kuhio Hwy, Kilauea, HI 96754
One scene that can be matched up comes late in the film is when Dr. Grant and the survivors ride a barge along the water and pass herds of dinosaurs standing along the banks. This was filmed at the Pu’u Ka Ele Reservoir. After a breach of the nearby Ka Loko Reservoir in 2006, located about 2 miles east of the ranch, the owners decided to decommission the Pu’u Ka Ele Reservoir in 2009 and downsize it into a lake. This is how it appears now. This is the same area where Grant sees the dinosaur herds at the lake in the original film.
The fictional Eastland School in New York, from the 1980s TV series “The Facts of Life,” was actually the Harwood Court residential hall on the campus of Pomona College in Claremont, California. The same building has been featured in such comedies as “Teen Wolf Too” and “Real Genius.”
The beach house from the TV show “Hannah Montana,” where Hannah, played by Miley Cyrus, lives with her father, can be found in Malibu, California. The property sits near Zuma Beach and can be seen from the beach. The house has since been remodeled a bit.
The 2019 movie “Captain Marvel” was filmed in Louisiana, New York and Southern California. Early in the film, Carol Danvers, played by Brie Larson, crash lands on Earth in the mid-90s, busting through the roof of a Blockbuster Video. This was filmed at a largely abandoned shopping plaza in North Hollywood sometimes referred to as the Valley Plaza. The same plaza was featured heavily in the Nicolas Winding Refn TV series “Too Old To Die Young.”
LOCATION: 6321 Laurel Canyon Blvd, North Hollywood, CA 91606 (this is facing away from the street and the door number says 221)
Here is the wreckage of the inside of the building, which is still painted in the Blockbuster colors.
Carol makes her way over to “The Slow Club,” where she uses a payphone. Nick Fury meets her here. The same property also serves as “The Lone Drifter” in “Too Old To Die Young.” Both establishments were fictional and the actual building has long been vacant.
LOCATION: 2124 Sylvan St, North Hollywood, CA 91606
Here is a view of where the payphone was located, which was of course a prop for the film. The wall was covered in 90s music posters.
A Skrull suddenly opens fire on Carol from atop this roof.
LOCATION: 6255 Laurel Canyon Blvd, North Hollywood, CA 91606
Carol runs down the sidewalk in pursuit as the Skrull feels across the roof of the same building.
Carol steals a man’s bike at this plaza. The same location also appeared in the TV show “The Bionic Woman.”
LOCATION: 1402 W 6th St, Los Angeles, CA 90017
She turns out of the plaza and rides down Valencia Street on the bike.
The 1999 Joel Schumacher film “8MM,” starring Nicolas Cage and Joaquin Phoenix, was filmed all over the U.S., including New York, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Florida and California. The porn shop where Tom Welles, played by Nicolas Cage, follows his investigation can be found in Los Angeles. The building really is an adult store.
LOCATION: 1117 N Western Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90038
The back of the store is also seen in the film.
Tom stops in front of this famous mural in Hollywood, known as “You Are A Star,” which can also be seen in such films as “La La Land” and “Nowhere.”
LOCATION: 1648 Wilcox Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90028
The home of Machine can be found at 60-05 168th St, Flushing, NY 11365.
The 1991 sequel “Bill And Ted’s Bogus Journey” shot in Southern California. The film begins at Bill and Ted University, which was shot at the Japanese Garden of the Tillman Water Reclamation Plant in Van Nuys, California. The location has been used in countless TV shows and films, notably serving as the “Starfleet Academy” in “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine,” “Star Trek: Voyager” and “Star Trek: Enterprise.” Other TV shows to film there include the original “Knight Rider,” “Murder She Wrote” and the original “Charmed.” Films such as “Bio-Dome,” “Twins,” “Ghost In The Machine,” “Rising Sun,” “Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery,” “Nowhere,” “Zoombies,” “Cyber Tracker” and “Most Wanted” also filmed at the location.
LOCATION: 6100 Woodley Ave, Van Nuys, CA 91406
Bill and Ted, played by Alex Winter and Keanu Reeves, audition for the Battle of the Bands at the San Dimas Civic Auditorium, which is actually the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium. The building is now closed to the public, but available for filming and private events.
LOCATION: 1855 Main St, Santa Monica, CA 90401
Bill and Ted live at this apartment in West Hollywood. The same building has been featured in the films “L.A. Story,” “The Limey,” “Rush Hour” and more.
LOCATION: 1400 N Hayworth Ave, West Hollywood, CA 90046
Evil Bill and Ted, two robot replicas from the future, arrive at the Circle K. This is not the same location from the first film, which is located in Tempe, Arizona. Instead, this incarnation can be found in Santa Clarita.
LOCATION: 28200 Bouquet Canyon Rd Ste Q, Santa Clarita, CA 91350
Evil Bill and Ted toss Bill and Ted off the top of the famous Vasquez Rocks, after which they meet the Grim Reaper, played by William Sadler. One of the most popular filming locations in all of California, the iconic rocks have appeared in such films as “The Flintstones,” “Dante’s Peak,” “Jingle All The Way,” “Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back,” “Starship Troopers,” “Hail, Caesar!,” “Blazing Saddles,” “Paul” and dozens more. Television shows which featured Vasquez Rocks in episodes include “The Fugutive,” “The A-Team,” “MacGuyver” and perhaps most famous of all, the original “Star Trek” series, where the rocks were seen in numerous episodes, serving as multiple different planets. The rocks have also been seen in music videos for Michael Jackson, 311 and many more, as well as countless commercials.
LOCATION: 10700 Escondido Canyon Rd, Agua Dulce, CA 91350
While set in Chicago, the apartment building from 1980s TV series “Punky Brewster,” starring Soleil Moon Frye, can be found in Los Angeles, California.
