Back To The Future (1985)

The 1985 Robert Zemeckis classic “Back To The Future” is among the most famous of all Los Angeles area films. Countless fans continue to flock to these locations.

Doc Brown’s house can be found in Pasadena.  It’s the Gamble House, a National Historic Landmark and museum, which is open to public tours.  However, only the exterior was used for Doc’s house in the film.  The interior was shot at 1777 Hillcrest Ave, Pasadena, CA 91106, which is a private residence.

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LOCATION: 4 Westmoreland Pl, Pasadena, CA 91103

Doc’s garage, located on the same property, is now a bookstore.

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The street leading up to Marty’s house in 1984 is at the intersection of Sandusky Ave and Kagel Canyon St, not on Roslyndale Ave, where the McFly house is located.

LOCATION: Sandusky Ave / Kagel Canyon St, Los Angeles, CA 91331

Marty McFly’s house can be found in the San Fernando Valley, north of Los Angeles, in the town of Pacoima, California.

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LOCATION: 9303 Roslyndale Ave, Pacoima, CA 91331

The Burger King where Mary hitches a ride on his skateboard, grabbing onto the back of a truck, is still operational and going strong.  You can find it in Burbank, California.

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LOCATION: 535 N Victory Blvd, Burbank, CA 91502

Hill Valley High School is actually Whittier High School.

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LOCATION: 12417 Philadelphia St, Whittier, CA 90601

The Twin Pines Mall is actually the Puente Hills Mall in City of Industry.  The mall occasionally hosts events in celebration of the film.

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LOCATION: Puente Hills Mall, 1600 S Azusa Ave, City of Industry, CA 91748

Inside the mall, you can even find this replica sign for the Twin Pines Mall.  Sometimes when there are special events surrounding the film, they will place this sign outside, as it appeared in the film.

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When Marty travels back in time to 1955, he discovers his neighborhood, the Lyon Estates, has yet to be built. This spot can be found near Chino. To reach it, you take Chino Corona Rd, which passes a women’s prison. The road becomes Cucamonga Ave and there are signs posted that the road is not maintained. Just ahead you’ll find the spot, which actually has an address. We’ve also included GPS coordinates. The area hasn’t changed much since filming and it’s easily the most remote location featured in the film.

LOCATION: 17545 Cucamonga Ave, Eastvale, CA 92880 (GPS coordinates: 33.935527, -117.633307)

George McFly’s house can be found in South Pasadena.

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LOCATION: 1711 Bushnell Ave, South Pasadena, CA 91030

Marty’s mother Lorainne lives at this house, located on the same street, just a few doors down from George’s house.  It was used only for exterior shots.  This house was also used in another Michael J. Fox film, “Teen Wolf.”

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LOCATION: 1727 Bushnell Ave, South Pasadena, CA 91030

The interiors of Lorainne’s house were filmed at another property on the same road.

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LOCATION: 1705 Bushnell Ave, South Pasadena, CA 91030

The courthouse square and clock tower can be found on the Universal Studios Lot in Hollywood (100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, CA 91608).  The building has been used in countless other films, including “To Kill A Mockingbird,” “Gremlins” and “Bruce Almighty.”  In 2008, a fire destroyed much of the building, but Universal restored and reopened it in 2009.  Today, it can be seen once again as part of the Universal Studios Tour, but be warned, this area frequently hosts productions and the site is routinely closed off from the tours.  If you’re adamant about seeing the tower, it’s perhaps best to call ahead and find out if it’s showing on a given day.

Few movie cars are as famous than the Delorean, with many fans building their own replicas.  There were in fact seven vehicles built for use in the original trilogy, with only three still known to exist.  Below is the first of those three, which appeared throughout the original film and in both sequels.  After spending 25 years as part of Universal Studio’s Hollywood Tour, the car had begun showing signs of wearing and many key pieces had been removed, including the famed flux capacitor.  A team was hired to meticulously restore the car back to it’s original form and the vehicle is now on permanent display at the Peterson Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, California.  The second Delorean is on display at Universal Studios Florida, while the third is privately owned.

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LOCATION: Peterson Automotive Museum, 6060 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90036

A look inside the restored vehicle.

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Here is the restored flux capacitor.

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One vehicle from the original film which can still be seen on the Universal Studios Hollywood Tour is Biff Tannen’s 1946 Ford Convertible.  Some vehicles from the sequels can also be seen there, but here we’ll strictly focus on the first film.

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LOCATION: 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, CA 91608

Related articles: Used Cars (1980), Back To The Future Part II (1989), Back To The Future Part III (1990), Death Becomes Her (1992), Forrest Gump (1994), Cast Away (2000)

Kill Bill (2003)

Quentin Tarantino’s revenge drama “Kill Bill,” was shot around California, China, Japan and Mexico.  Here we will cover locations from both volumes of the film.

The “Two Pines Wedding Chapel,” supposedly located in El Paso, Texas, is actually in the Mojave Desert in Lancaster, California.  First called the “Hi Vista Community Hall,” the building served as a community center and did not originally feature the Spanish style front facade, which is so recognizable today.  The Mission-style facade was actually added by another film production, 1981’s “True Confessions,” starring Robert De Niro and Robert Duvall.  The building also later featured in Talking Heads’ music video for “Road  To Nowhere.”  The building wasn’t widely known, however, until “Kill Bill.”  Tarantino’s production team added the wooden porch on the front and heavily remodeled the interiors.  Sometimes known as the Sanctuary Adventist Church, most people today just refer to the building as the “Kill Bill Church.”  It’s location is a bit remote, being out in the middle of the desert, but well worth a visit if you’re a fan of the film. The owner now keeps a truck parked out front, however, blocking much of the view of the front. According to comments online, some have stated he will move the truck in exchange for a “donation.” We did not encounter any issues during our visit, but some have expressed negative experiences in attempting to photograph it.

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LOCATION: Approximately 19809 E Ave. G, Lancaster, CA, 93535 (near the corner of 198th St E)

Earl McGraw, played by Michael Parks, arrives at the church much in the same way he does (as the same character) in the opening of “From Dusk Till Dawn,” also written by Tarantino. The two locations are, in fact, just minutes apart from each other. Also located almost directly across the street from the church is the gas station from the end of the film “Straight Time.”

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The Bride’s “Death List Five” brings her to the house of Vernita Green, which is set in “The city of Pasadena, California.”  The real house is near South Pasadena, but actually located in East Los Angeles.  The house can also be seen in the 2003 “Project Greenlight” film, “The Battle Of Shaker Heights” and “Mysterious Skin.”

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LOCATION: 5500 Atlas St, Los Angeles, CA 90032

After The Bride ends up in a coma, Elle Driver, played by Daryl Hannah, comes to the hospital to kill her. Elle is briefly seen entering St Luke’s Hospital at this entrance, which has since been boarded over. The same hospital appeared in the films “Million Dollar Baby,” “Flags of Our Fathers,” “La La Land,” “Faster,” “Starsky & Hutch,” “Halloween II” (1981) and more.

LOCATION: 2632 E Washington Blvd, Pasadena, CA 91107

After waking up from her coma and escaping the hospital, The Bride makes her out into the hospital parking garage on a wheelchair, where she finds her “Pussy Wagon” truck. The real garage building is not a hospital, rather an apartment complex known as the American Cement Building, located near MacArthur Park. The bride wheels past this P2 marker, placing her on the second floor of the garage.

LOCATION: 2404 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90057

Here is the spot she finds the Pussy Wagon parked. It can be found by walking straight ahead from the above spot, up on the left. There is another P2 sign, which can be seen in the background behind The Bride as she spots the truck, which lines up the exact area where the vehicle was parked. The garage is open to public parking (via paid parking) on weekdays, but it is gated off for private residents only on weekends. There is also a lot of security present around the building and garage.

The Bride drives her Kawasaki bike along the streets of Tokyo, riding behind Sofie Fatale’s car down Yasukuni Dori.  It’s difficult to replicate the exact angles, as they were filmed by cameras mounted on moving vehicles in the middle of the street in a high traffic area.  The shots are also mostly quick cuts against moving backgrounds.  Here are a couple views of the general area used in the sequence.  First up is a shot looking down Yasukuni Dori at night.

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LOCATION: Yasukuni Dori, Shinjuku-ku, Tōkyō-to, 160-0022, Japan

Here is another view of the same street in the day, which is near Kabukicho, a red-light district of Tokyo where parts of Gaspar Noé’s “Enter The Void” were also filmed.

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After a few shots in Tokyo, The Bride pulls up beside Sofie at this tunnel entrance, which is actually in Los Angeles at the Second Street Tunnel.  The tunnel is also well known for it’s use in “Blade Runner,” “The Terminator,” “Double Dragon” and many more films.

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LOCATION: 620 W 2nd St, Los Angeles, CA 90012 (facing S Figueroa St.)

Budd, played by Michael Madsen, lives in a remote trailer on a dirt road near Barstow.  At the base of these hills toward the right is where Budd’s trailer sat.  Mule Canyon Road is a popular site for off road vehicles.  While you may be able to reach it in a regular vehicle (this site is about 1 mile down from the nearest paved road), we recommend a 4×4 vehicle or at least something that doesn’t sit low to the ground, as there are many rocks and dips along the way.  Also keep in mind this area gets very hot in the summer months.

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LOCATION: Mule Canyon Rd, Newberry Springs, CA 92365 (GPS coordinates are 34.936439, -116.837655)

The area to the right is where Bill parks his car, with these rock formations in the background.  This is located in the same general vicinity as Budd’s trailer.

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Looking back towards Calico Rd is the view where Elle Driver races down the road with a dust trail kicking up behind her.  This is also in the same general area as Budd’s trailer.

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The interior of the bar where Budd works is Sam’s Hofbrau, a real topless bar, also featured in “Jackie Brown.”

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LOCATION: 1751 E Olympic Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90021

After The Bride escapes being buried alive, she wonders into this roadside diner in Victorville.

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LOCATION: 17143 N D St, Victorville, CA 92394

Here is the exterior of the diner, although it is never seen from this angle in the film.

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Related articles: Reservoir Dogs (1992), Pulp Fiction (1994), Jackie Brown (1997), Death Proof (2007), Django Unchained (2012), Once Upon A Time In… Hollywood (2019)

Halloween (2007)

For Rob Zombie’s 2007 remake of “Halloween,” the fictional town of Haddonfield is actually South Pasadena, where the original film likewise shot.  In fact, just a few blocks down from the Myers house from the John Carpenter original, you’ll find the Michael Myers home from Rob Zombie’s remake.  The house was also notably used in the TV series “My So-Called Life.”

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LOCATION: 1110 Glendon Way, South Pasadena, CA 91030

The interior of young Michael Meyers’ bedroom and bathroom was a completely different location, found in the West Adams neighborhood of Los Angeles.  Known as The Beckett Mansion, the property actually operates as an event space and filming location year round.  The same house has been featured in “True Romance,” “Neighbors,” “No Strings Attached” and many more.  It’s also located directly across the street from the house from “The People Under The Stairs.”

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LOCATION: 2218 S Harvard Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90018

Here is the house of Laurie Strode.  The same home was featured in the films “Space Jam” and “Sky High.”

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LOCATION: 1002 Highland St, South Pasadena, CA 91030

Here is the Wallace house.  The same house was featured in the film “The Battle Of Shaker Heights.”

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LOCATION: 1937 La France Ave, South Pasadena, CA 91030

The Doyle house can be found on the same street as the Wallace house.  The same house can also be seen in several other films, including “She’s Out Of Control,” “Flowers In The Attic,” “Little Fockers,” “Bruce Almighty” and “Star Kid.”

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LOCATION: 1960 La France Ave, South Pasadena, CA 91030

Young Michael Myers attends school at this building, which is actually an administration building for the South Pasadena Unified School District.

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LOCATION: 1020 El Centro St, South Pasadena, CA 91030

Directly across the street is Laurie’s school, which is actually the entrance of the Community Room of the South Pasadena Public Library.  The same library was featured in a deleted scene in the film “Say Anything…

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LOCATION: 1115 El Centro St, South Pasadena, CA 91030

Smith’s Grove Sanitarium, where Michael Meyers is housed later in the film, is actually a Veteran’s Hospital in North Hills.  There are quite a number of buildings and roads on the premises,  so it can be tricky finding the exact spot used in the film.  To locate it, you must first turn onto Puller Rd.  Each building has a large number on it.  A bit down Puller Rd, you’ll see the building from the film, which is building 4.  It can be easily identified by the long wall surrounding the yard in front of it. The same building was also featured in the films “Step Brothers,” “Argo,” and “Accepted.”

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LOCATION: 16111 Plummer St, North Hills, CA 91343

Related articles: Halloween II (2009), House Of 1000 Corpses (2003), The Devil’s Rejects (2005), 3 From Hell (2019)