Key to any scary movie is its locations.
Sometimes it's a creepy old house or an abandoned building. Other times, seemingly innocuous locations can deliver chills in the hands of the right filmmakers.
Safe to say that out of the dozens of horror movies and thrillers made in the Wilmington area over the years, the Port City has supplied plenty of both types.
Let's take a look at 15 of the creepiest Wilmington-area movie locations, from well-known buildings with spooky vibes to bright-and-sunny spots that hosted scenes filled with terror.
Check the link below for Wilmington-shot horror movies to put on your viewing list.
Ideal Cement
If creepy can be cumulative, this closed facility in Castle
Hayne next to the Northeast Cape Fear River might be the creepiest Wilmington-area filming location of them all. From "The Crow" and "Little Monsters" to such TV series as "Revolution" and "Under the Dome," more than a dozen productions have filmed here over the years, often using Ideal Cement's abandoned vibe to their benefit.
'The Conjuring' house
This "haunted" housein Pender County from 2013 fright-fest "The Conjuring" is still a destination for fans. It's at 405 Canetuck Road in Currie.
Carolina Apartments
Film auteur David Lynch saw something foreboding in this looming Wilmington landmark at Fifth and Market streets, casting it as the apartment home of Isabella Rossellini's character Dorothy Vallens in 1986 classic "Blue Velvet." Lynch shot the Carolinas' back stairs to especially nervous-making effect.
Wallace Park
I wouldn't say Wallace Park in Wilmington looks creepy in the daytime, but it sure did in a night scene for "Halloween Kills," when masked killer Michael Myers was hiding under the footbridge over Burnt Mill Creek.
Holy Ghost Deliverance Tabernacle of Prayer
Formerly known as the Love Chapel God in Christ Church, this historic church at Fourth and Church streets in downtown Wilmington had its sanctuary immortalized in a wild scene from 1985 movie "Silver Bullet," in which a pastor has a nightmare that his congregation is turning into werewolves.
Old Wachovia building
It's not there anymore, but this bank building's last act of filmic service — its exterior can be seen in locally shot films "Maximum Overdrive" and "Cat's Eye" — before being torn down in 2008 was to serve as the site of a bloody zombie apocalypse in 2007 film "Dead Heist" starring rapper Big Daddy Kane and directed by Wilmington's own Bo Webb.
Bellevue Cemetery
Wilmington cemeteries aren't often used as filming locations for various, mostly logistical, reasons. But this historic cemetery was used to great effect in TV series "Sleepy Hollow" during scenes where the Headless Horseman makes an appearance.
Xavier's
More skeezy than creepy, this former nightclub at 2505 Carolina Beach Road was used as the strip club Xavier's in the excellent Starz series "Hightown."
1201 Country Club Road
During the day, this house looks quaint and charming, with an impressive live oak tree with sprawling branches out front. But in "Scream," the self-conscious slasher whodunit that shot in Wilmington in the fall of 2020, the house looked super-creepy at night as the site of the film's opening murder committed by masked, robed, knife-wielding killer Ghostface.
Pinecrest
Neighborhood with low-slung cinder block houses near Greenfield Lake is pretty unassuming by day, but 2022 horror thriller "The Black Phone" ruined that by making it the site where serial child-killer The Grabber (Ethan Hawke) snatches a boy played by Mason Thames — in broad daylight, mind you.
Amuzu Theatre
Historic 1918 Southport theater's balcony is the site where Barry, played by Ryan Phillippe, is attacked in 1997 slasher film "I Know What You Did Last Summer."
Clarendon Plantation
2014 horror film "Jessabelle" shot at this former rice plantation on the west bank of the Cape Fear River near Town Creek and just south of Belville.
Orton Plantation
"Firestarter," the 1984 film recognized as sparking Wilmington's film industry, used this historic Brunswick County site as headquarters for secretive, nefarious government organization "The Shop." A replica of Orton was burned down for the film's climax.
Cinespace Studios
Formerly known as Screen Gems/EUE Studios and DEG Studios, the Wilmington studio complex has housed creepy sets for the house in "Scream," the claustrophobic space station in thriller "I.S.S." and dozens of other movies.
Jungle Rapids Family Fun Park
It might not seem creepy when you're there with your kids at the height of summer, but you might think differently after watching the ludicrous, Razzie-nominated 2012 horror thriller "Piranha 3DD," in which water parkgoers are attacked by bloodthirsty fish that don't die in chlorinated water for some reason.
John Staton is the arts and culture reporter at the StarNews. You can reach him at jstaton@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: These Wilmington film locations have creeped out lots of movie-goers
