Locally Filmed Letdowns

[AndyC]

A post in the thread about killer animal movies made me think of this.

I can recall a few people, at various times, mentioning movies that were filmed near their homes. A movie can generate a lot of excitement in a small community, but sometimes the finished product is kind of a letdown.

Back in the early 90s, Trapped in Paradise was filmed near my home town. A lot of it was done in a town about 20 minutes away, but one of the locations was in a little hamlet just down the road. I remember people going down to try and get close enough to catch a glimpse of Nicholas Cage, Dana Carvey or Jon Lovitz. There were pictures in the paper of crews with chainsaws and cranes removing the ice from a whole section of river, and all kinds of other impressive feats that reminded us of just why it costs millions of dollars to make a movie.

Needless to say, I had to see that movie when it came out, and it turned out to be a thoroughly forgettable comedy, and a huge disappointment. The only enjoyable part was spotting familiar landmarks. I actually thought it was pretty cool a few years back when I photographed a bride and groom in almost the exact spot Cage, Carvey and Lovitz appeared in one scene. They'd never seen the movie, however.

Funny, even today, when giving out-of-town friends and relatives the grand driving tour, I'll take them to the West Montrose covered bridge (a significant local tourist attraction), and mention that it appeared in Trapped in Paradise. The response is invariably a blank look.

Anybody else have a similar experience with a lacklustre film being produced near their home?

[Kirk]

I live in Houston.  Robocop 2 was filmed in Houston.  All I can say is at least it wasn't Robocop 3.

Kirk

[Mr_Vindictive]

The Mutilator

I've mentioned it numerous times on this board, as it is one of my favorite gore flicks of the 80s.  Filmed VERY close to me by a respected member of our community, it is a great little sicko slasher flick.

It's great to think that a man who is now a community leader was once directing a man on how to shove a gaff (LARGE fish hook) into a woman's crotch and make it thrust out of her stomach.

Check out The Mutilator if you've never seen it.


And AndyC, Trapped In Paradise wasn't so bad.  It was a decently fun film the only time that I saw it.  But, as you said fairly forgetable.

[daveblackeye15]

The only movie (that I know of) that was filmed in Eugene Oregon was Animal House. But that was a hit! You should do a topic about "Great Movies filmed in your hometown".

-CRAPTASTIC!!!-

[Mr_Vindictive]

"Bluto: My advice to you is to start drinking heavily.

Otter: Better listen to him, Flounder. He's pre-med."

Great film Dave!

[jmc]

All of the "big" movies in Tulsa, the city where I used to live turned out pretty good....Coppola made all the S.E. Hinton films there...TEX, THE OUTSIDERS, and RUMBLE FISH, though the locally filmed movie that Tulsans still seem to go nuts for is UHF!  There's a site about Tulsa television and film history that has a huge section on the film, where the locations are, and memories from the local people who worked on the film.  One guy took part of the set and put it in his kid's room.  

Probably the worst two were shot-on-video horror films, BLOOD CULT and TERROR AT TENKILLER.  BLOOD CULT does has a place in history because I think it was the first direct-to-video movie.  People made a big deal about it until they actually saw the movie.    

Where I live now, I think the only movie they've filmed was THE PUPPET MASTERS, but it would make sense that any movie filmed here would be a bad movie.

[raj]

When I was living in Portland OR, Madonna was in town filming Body of Evidence.  The whole town was buzzing about Madonna sightings during filming.  But it got real quiet once the movie came out.

[Brian Ringler]

I live in south dakota and about all you hear around here is dances with wolves this and kevin costner that.  Its horribly annoying.  Whenever anyone mentions dances with wolves being filmed in south dakota I always mention that some parts of starship troopers was filmed here as well.  In south dakota the whole state is local even though I do not live in the areas that the filming took place.

[Vermin Boy]

There was a movie called School Ties, starring a pre-stardom Brendan Fraser, Ben Affleck, and Matt Damon, was shot in Gardner, MA, just 5 minutes from my hometown. I've never seen it, but the fact that I've never heard of it outside of Gardner makes me suspicious.

[-=NiGHTS=-]

Alot of both Me, Myself, and Irene and What Lies Beneath were shot in areas near me.

I'm not sure how I feel about that.

[ulthar]

This applies to where I grew up:

 I mentioned Grizzly in the other thread.  Also filmed in the area where I grew up was "Nell."  The bulk of the movie took place (and was filmed) in Robinsville, NC, but one scene (Nell being taken into the hospital screaming) was filmed at Angel Community Hospital in the town where I grew up (Franklin, NC).

This applies to where I lived 1996-2000:

The Patriot was filmed in an area of York Co., SC about 10 miles from where I lived.  The film crew rented a building in town where they built sets and stuff.  They were on-site about a year and half; it was a very big deal in the community, but the 'locals' sure did get aggravating about it.  "Mel ate at Appleby's last night" and other rotgut.

These are not really film letdowns, but they are the only ones I personally know of filmed near where I lived at the time.

[jmc]

I forgot...in the small Texas town where I attended college, they filmed JOHNNY B. GOOD [football comedy with Anthony Michael Hall] the year before I started.  Apparently, they'd filmed other movies there--it was a good place to film movies set in small towns, but I don't know any of the other films they'd shot there.

[odinn7]

From what I was told, there were 2 movies filmed near where I used to live in NJ.
At least the opening scenes in Mothers Day were supposedly filmed in Stillwater, NJ and the country store that they show is the one in Stillwater with a diferent sign on it.
Also, from what I've been told, Friday the 13th (the 1st one) was filmed in Hope, NJ in a closed down camp. I have been there and it does look like that could be the camp but I don't know for sure if this was true or not. At least with Mothers Day I can definately recognize the country store so I am sure of that one.
I love Mothers Day so I was kind of proud of that one being filmed there...

[Lee]

Part of Twister was shot just north of my home town. Many stories around here about the cast and crew. None that involve me since I wasn't living here at the time.

[Mr_Vindictive]

Vermin Boy,

Just wanted to let you know that you should probably go out and rent School Ties.  Pretty damn good film.