Seeing Stars: Where the Movies Were Shot (on Location)

We all remember the "house with the glowing jack-o-lantern on the porch" from the 1978 horror classic Halloween, but if you keep count, there are actually four separate houses shown in the movie: 1. The old Myers' house where young Michael Myers murders his sister in the very beginning of the movie. 2. The house where Jamie Lee Curtis lived (not seen very often in the film.) 3. The house where Jamie Lee Curtis' friend Annie babysat; it's here that her friends are killed, and it's here that Jamie is attacked by the Shape. 4. The house where Jamie Lee Curtis babysat, and where the Shape pursues her after she finds the bodies of her friends in the other house.



The original Myers' house and Laurie's house are both located in South Pasadena , California. But the two babysitting houses are actually located in Hollywood , right across the street from each other. Both residential neighborhoods look similar (with large street trees and wood-frame homes) even though they are 15 miles apart - and thus were able to pass for the same town. [Click on the small photos below to see larger images.]











Jamie Lee Curtis made her movie debut in the thriller , " HALLOWEEN ." The movie was supposed to be set in the little Midwestern town of Haddonfield, Illinois. But those tree-lined residential streets were really right here in sunny California. One of those streets was Orange Grove Avenue in suburban Hollywood , just north of Sunset Blvd., where two of the film's familiar houses are still to be found. Much of the action in the movie took place in the Doyle residence, where Jamie was baby-sitting Tommy. at house is located at 1530 N. Orange Grove Avenue .

(See the photo to the right)

That's on the east side of Orange Grove Ave.,

between Sunset Blvd & Selma Ave.



Her best friend, Annie, was murdered while baby-sitting in the Wallace residence across the street (the house with the jack-o-lantern on the porch), at 1537 N. Orange Grove Avenue .

(see the photo to the right)

That's on the west side of Orange Grove Ave.,

between Sunset Blvd & Selma Ave.

Warning : these are private homes. Do not trespass on their property,

knock on their doors, or do anything else that might disturb the residents!







However, many of the other scenes from "Halloween" were filmed a good 15 miles to the east of Hollywood, in the city of South Pasadena , where they found a residential neighborhood which somewhat resembles Orange Grove Avenue. It is here, in South Pasadena, that you will find the original Myers' home where young Michael Myers commits his first murder (his sister), Laurie's (Jamie Lee Curtis) own home, and the familiar residential streets where Laurie and her friends walked during the film - you'll even find even that somewhat sinister hedge behind which "The Shape" lurked. The following photographs were shot in 2002 by Director & Filmmaker David Winning

(who is also a big "Halloween" fan)

and are used with his permission. (Thank you, David!) You can find David's own website at http://www.davidwinning.com. The most recognizable site in South Pasadena is the Myers' house . You'll remember it from the opening scene of the movie, where a young Michael Myers murders his sister after she makes love to her boyfriend.



The house was empty & abandoned at the time the producers used it in the film. Since then, it has been moved to the other side of the street, and now serves as a chiropractor's office (the Alegria Chiropractic Center).

'Laurie' and 'Tommy' walking up to the Myers' House,

as seen in the 1978 movie "Halloween." On the west side

of the block, just north of Mission Street in Pasadena.



Originally located at 707 Meredian Avenue , you'll find the house today on the east side of Meredian, just north of Mission Street, at 1000 Mission Street , next to the railroad tracks.

The Myers' house as it looks today (Feb. 2000).

(now the Alegria Chiropractic Center)

The Myers' house today, in its new location. Here is a more distant shot of the same Myers' house in its current location. All of the other homes that originally lined the west side of Meridian were torn down, and only an empty lot remains there today. An interesting coincidence: the other two Halloween homes were shot on Orange Grove Avenue in Hollywood, so it is somewhat ironic that Pasadena's own Orange Grove Avenue (where the annual Rose Parade begins) is located just three streets west of Meridian Ave.





South Pasadena's Meridian Avenue was also the location of other scenes in the movie where Laurie and her friends walk down the street

Tommy leaves and Laurie continues walking south on Meridian

as the Shape steps into frame. She's actually heading right

toward the hardware store and Mission St. Here is that same street today. In this photo, we are looking south down Meridian Avenue , towards Mission Street (and the hardware store that is also seen in the movie.)



That same street - 22 years later.

Only a fenced vacant lot remains where the homes were.

Sidewalk remains about the same. The entire block on the west side of Meridian Avenue has been leveled, and the Myers House was moved across the street. It is now a Chiropractors Office. All that remains of this block is a fenced-in field. The parked car marks front of what was originally the house site. The great old tree is gone too, only two trees to the north and a wooden pole remain. [ Update : the empty field has now been built in with condos. ]

Photo taken from across Meridian Ave.

(just north of Mission Street) looking

west at the area where the Myers' House

used to stand.

From the Halloween opening. Jamie Lee Curtis crosses right-to-left, leaving Magnolia

and moving South down the West side of Meridian towards 707 - the Myers' House.

(The camera is looking North.) The picture above is taken from the same camera angle on February 2000,

(looking north on Meridian, from south of the Magnolia jog,

half a block north of the Hardware Store.)





Jamie Lee Curtis proceeding south on west side of Meridian Ave.,

(about to cross Magnolia again and meet up with Tommy Wallace.)





Same location - February 2000.

637 Meridian Ave, South Pasadena



And for real fans who are real curious, the opening shot of Haddonfield

(with the camera right on the road) was photographed at the intersection

of Montrose Avenue and Oxley Street; looking West down Oxley.

If you continue 13 blocks in the direction we're looking (West),

you'd find... Laurie Strode's (Jamie Lee Curtis) house at Oxley and Fairview.



Later in the movie, the trio of girls pass the house with the red roof

(pictured at the right in the opening shot of Haddonfield) –

just before Laurie and Annie encounter the Shape behind the hedge. This is on Montrose Avenue, North of Oxley St.; this is the street where Annie

and Laurie encounter the shape behind the hedge (a bit trimmed 22 years later).



One of the most eerie moments in the original Halloween occurs on this block.



The girls are walking home from school past this stone fence, and cross the street --

just as Micheal Myers rounds the corner in the stolen station wagon.

Racing up past them he screeches to a halt -- brakelights glowing for a moment

as the girls freeze -- The car then drives off.



The block can be found in Pasadena on Highland Street between

Meridian Avenue and Fairview Avenue (north of the freeway).

some four blocks North of the intersection of Mission and Meridian

(the site of the Myers house). The stone fence pictured is at the

south east corner of this block.



The girls are walking west toward Meridian and cross the street to the

north side of the block as the car passes them; also heading west.

Director David Winning near the stone pillar fence.

The trio of girls pass by here and cross the street in this block --

before the station wagon screeches to a halt in front of them.







OTHER HALLOWEEN LOCATIONS



The GRAVEYARD scenes were filmed at Pioneer Cemetery , located at 553 E. Sierra Madre Blvd , in the small town of Sierra Madre, CA - northeast of Pasadena. (Sierra Madre holds another place in movie history - it was where the original "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" was filmed.) Map







The ELEMENTARY SCHOOL (where Laurie picks up young Tommy after school) was actually Garfield Elementary School, located at 110 W. McLean Street (at 2nd St.), in Alhambra, CA (just south of South Pasadena). The same school was used for the inside of the high school classroom, when Laurie looks out the window and sees "the Shape". Map



The HIGH SCHOOL (which Laurie and her friends attended) was actually South Pasadena High School , at 1401 Fremont Ave ., in South Pasadena, CA . (The school was renovated in the late '90s, so it doesn't look exactly the same.) Map







The HARDWARE STORE (where Michael Meyers got his famous mask - and his knife) was located at 966 Mission Street, in South Pasadena, CA. (As of 2008, the space currently houses now a wine restaurant called "750 ml". ) Map





Movie Locations



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