West Virginia

The 2011 J.J. Abrams film “Super 8” is set in the fictional town of Lillian, Ohio, but was primarily filmed in Weirton, West Virginia. Weirton is located on the Northwestern tip of West Virginia and is just minutes away from both the Ohio and Pennsylvania borders. Joe Lamb, played by Joel Courtney, lives with his father Deputy Jackson Lamb, played by Kyle Chandler, at this home.

LOCATION: 144 Fernwood Ave, Weirton, WV 26062

The boys attend Lillian Middle School. The real building is actually a church.

LOCATION: 3900 Brightway St, Weirton, WV 26062

Joe’s friend Charles Kaznyk, played by Riley Griffiths, lives at this home. In the film, the home is seen as being located just across from Joe’s house, which is accurate.

LOCATION: 200 Crystal Ln, Weirton, WV 26062

Joe eats with his father at Carol’s Diner, where his father tries to persuade him to enroll in a summer baseball camp, away from his friends.

LOCATION: 3101 Main St, Weirton, WV 26062

The home where Alice Dainard, played by Elle Fanning, lived has since been demolished. The home in the background, however, still matches up with the shot seen in the film.

LOCATION: 256 Ave F, Weirton, WV 26062 (now demolished)

Later in the film, a large monster wreaks havoc on the town and the military is deployed, turning the neighborhood into a battlefield. As explosions light up the night, tanks can be seen on S 20th St and Mineral Ave. In the area where a tank rolls through a playground, a house has since been built. The boys are seen running into Kathy’s house to seek refuge, at the top of the hill in the foreground, on the corner of S 20th St and S 17th St. No home actually exists there, as it gets largely destroyed in the film. It was entirely added by the production.

LOCATION: S 20th St / S 17th St, Weirton, WV 26062

At the climax of the film, metal objects from the town are pulled by a magnetic force to the top of a water tower. No tower actually exists at the location, this was another visual effect. The surrounding buildings all match up, however. Some of the paintings on the sides of the buildings are even the same as they appear in the film. The same area is seen earlier in the film, when the boys are riding their bikes down the street. This area is located very close to the Carol’s Diner location seen earlier in the film and the camera store the boys visit is on the left side of the street at 3061 Main St, Weirton, WV 26062.

LOCATION: 3073 Main St, Weirton, WV 26062

If you find yourself in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania or Northeast Ohio, be sure to make a stop in Weirton. It is located less than an hour from Pittsburgh and most of the filming locations are in a small, concentrated area.

The 1991 Jonathan Demme classic “The Silence of the Lambs” was filmed primarily in Western Pennsylvania, with some additional scenes shot in West Virginia, Virginia and The Bahamas.

The exterior of the Baltimore State Forensic Hospital where Hannibal Lector, played by Anthony Hopkins, is imprisoned was actually filmed at 333 Curry Hill Rd, Canonsburg, PA 15317, but the building was demolished in 2012.

The childhood home of Clarice Starling can be found in the town of Kittanning. The street it is located on, State Rte 2003, is also known as Margaret Road. It is located just minutes away from the funeral home location seen later in the film.

LOCATION: 1423 State Rte 2003, Kittanning, PA 16201

Clarice, played by Jodie Foster, follows a lead to the Your Self Storage, which can be found in Pittsburgh. Portions of the building have since been demolished, but the garage where Clarice enters still stands.

LOCATION: 201 N Braddock Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15208

Catherine gets abducted by Buffalo Bill at this apartment complex in Pittsburgh. There was some construction going on during our visit, so we didn’t venture onto the property.

LOCATION: 1767 Crafton Blvd, Pittsburgh, PA 15205

The funeral home scenes were filmed in Rural Valley, minutes from Clarice’s childhood home location.

LOCATION: 311 W Main St, Rural Valley, PA 16249

Clarice meets some entomologists at Carnegie Museum & Library, which is only seen from interior views in the film. The same building appears in the films “Flashdance” and “Pretty Woman.”

LOCATION: 4400 Forbes Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15213

Clarice is seen driving across the Bellaire Bridge, supposedly into Belvedere, Ohio. She is actually crossing between Benwood, West Virginia and Bellaire, Ohio from the angle seen in the film, which is almost an hour south of Belvedere. The Bellaire Bridge is no longer in use and has been slated for demolition for many years, but currently remains standing.

LOCATION: Bellaire Bridge, Benwood, WV 26031

Moxley’s Drugs can be found in the town of Homestead.

LOCATION: 200 E 8th Ave, Homestead, PA 15120

Late in the film, the FBI raids this home.

LOCATION: 1206 Lindbergh Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15223

While the climax to the film is set in Ohio, the home of Buffalo Bill can actually be found in the rural town of Perryopolis, Pennsylvania. You can follow the Youghiogheny River up to the railroad tracks (which are in active use), into a head-on view of the famous house where Clarice Starling faced off with Buffalo Bill. The home is now open to fans as a private rental and for tours. Some mapping systems have a terrible time finding this house, so we’ve included GPS coordinates as well.

LOCATION: 8 Circle St, Perryopolis, PA 15473 (GPS coordinates: 40.090366, -79.721970)

Just across the tracks, you can still see the same RV that was seen in the establishing shot of the house.

A replica of Hannibal Lector’s cell was built in the basement of the Hollywood Museum in Hollywood, California. While not an exact match to the film, it’s pretty close.

The guard desk.