Location Horror Movies (good, bad, and ugly)

[clockworkcanary]

Lately, I've been enjoying horror movies based on location (where the location is like a major character), typically the haunted house variety.

Of course, there's the well known classics:
The Haunting
The Shining
Amityville
Legend of Hell House
and tons more.

Two recent viewings of lesser known ones that I caught this week:

Burnt Offerings (1976): pre-dates Amityville. Without spoiling: a city couple, the aunt, and the 12 year old son rent an isolated mansion from the strange siblings, Burgess Meredith and Eileen Heckart. After time, the place has quite the impact on the family and undergoes some changes itself. It's definitely a 70s flick, but I did love the grainy/foggy shots ...and the chauffeur scenes! Also, the pool scene is rather disturbing.

Session 9 (2001): an asbestos removal crew work a job at an abandoned mental institution on a very tight deadline. They discover tape recordings of a previous patient. Strange things start to occur to each of them.

I won't say these are classics by any means, but both had interesting elements (and again, the location makes the difference).

What are some other great "location" movies that you like (bad or good)?

[Alex]

I'd have to go with Event Horizon as my favourite.

[kakihara]

The Keep

[indianasmith]

GRAVE ENCOUNTERS
MIRRORS

[Anarckitty]

Siege movies come to mind when I think of location horror movies.

Some of my faves:  Demon Knight, Night of the Living Dead (1990), and Assault on Precinct 13.

[Pacman000]

1408 frightened me. I'm easily scared by haunted house stories.

[indianasmith]

I just watched one called GHOSTS OF DARKNESS that was set in a gorgeously creepy country manor.

[Trevor]

Percival Rubens' The Demon: filmed in Johannesburg which is apparently very close to the sea 

[Newt]

In the Mouth of Madness (1994).  The Cathedral of the Transfiguration, Markham, Ontario, Canada played a large part. 

[Trevor]

In the Mouth of Madness (1994).  The Cathedral of the Transfiguration, Markham, Ontario, Canada played a large part. 

That building always creeped me out in that film and I always thought it was a visual effect.

[clockworkcanary]

Great suggestions.

One I forgot to mention, one that I would recommend to anyone who loves terrible movies: Demon Wind.

[LilCerberus]

I think THE LEGEND OF BOGGY CREEK relied pretty heavily on locale.

[claws]

The Return of the Living Dead (1985) - atmospheric urban location setting. The graveyard, the morgue, the medical supply warehouse. All within reach.

The Sender (1982) - one of my favorite "modern" for its time psychiatric ward/hospital settings in a movie. Bonus: the creepy old wooden house by the lake.

Prophecy (1979) - as far as outdoors movies go, this is one of my favorites. Filmed in Canada apparently.

Humanoids from the Deep (1980) - the majority of the film was shot in Fort Bragg, California. Nice small coastal town setting. It looks constantly rainy and damp which adds to the atmosphere.

[Newt]

In the Mouth of Madness (1994).  The Cathedral of the Transfiguration, Markham, Ontario, Canada played a large part. 

That building always creeped me out in that film and I always thought it was a visual effect.

You could not tell how enormous the cathedral was until you got up close.  It sat out in a large area of wide open fields.  I passed it daily on my way to go ride my horses and watched it being built.

[Paquita]

All the Subspecies movies were filmed in Romania using actual ruins and castles in the area.  It's kind of a dumb, soap opera-like series, but I really like it and I think the location helps.

I think the Blind Dead movies are also filmed in really cool Spanish castle-y places...  that's all I remember about them anyway.

Speaking of haunted house movies, I LOVE them, and maybe it's just me, but I think it's surprisingly hard to find really good ones that effectively showcase the building they are being filmed in.  The ones you mentioned are really the only ones that come to mind for me, but I would expect there to be a bunch of knock-offs that would be fun to watch.