From the Appalachian mountain range to the historic coast, North Carolina has served as a backdrop to a broad range of movie filming locations over the years - every Halloween, a handful of horror titles are at the front of every Tar Heel film buff's mind.
Some movies filmed in North Carolina are particularly well known.
"Dirty Dancing," filmed largely in Lake Lure, and "The Last of the Mohicans," which features action-heavy shots from on and around Chimney Rock, are a few Western N.C. favorites. Wilmington and nearby coastal towns, including Southport, are also known for ties to the film industry, with famous titles including "Blue Velvet" featuring popular areas in the state.
The Tar Heel State is also no stranger to horror and thriller titles
perfect for spooky season, with popular films in the genre shot in N.C. as recently as the past five years. With Halloween arriving soon, here are some of our favorite movies and TV shows guaranteed to creep you out.
Best scary movies filmed in North Carolina
First, some of our favorite horror and thriller films featuring N.C. locations.
The Black Phone (2022)
Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer 81% with 271 critic reviews, Popcornmeter 88% with 5,000+ viewer ratings.
A 13-year-old boy is kidnapped by a sadistic killer. Trapped in his abductor's soundproof basement, the boy discovers he can hear the voices of the killer's previous victims who want to help him avoid meeting the same fate via a disconnected phone on the wall.
Though "The Black Phone" is set in Colorado, the entirety of the film was shot in Wilmington, with featured locations including Cape Fear Optimist Club Fields, Sam Food Mart convenience store, Acme-Delco Middle School and several residential properties.
Scream (2022)
Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer 76% with 299 critic reviews, Popcornmeter 82% with 2,500+ viewer ratings.
The fifth film in the "Scream" franchise, "Scream" (2022), is set 25 years after the original streak of murders featured in the 1996 original with the same title. In the 2022 film, a new Ghostface-masked killer is targeting teenagers, resurrecting secrets from the town's bloody past.
Visit North Carolina notes filming locations in Wilmington, including the Wilmington Riverwalk, spotted in the trailer where one character answers a frightening phone call, and Reggie's 42nd Street Tavern. The film's iMDB page also notes Williston Middle School and several residential properties used during the shoot.
Cabin Fever (2003)
Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer 62% with 140 critic reviews, Popcornmeter 44% with 250,000+ viewer ratings.
A group of college students vacationing in the mountains struggles to stop a contagion, a flesh-eating disease they inadvertently spread after a member of the group accidentally shot a local man with a skin infection who stumbled into the local reservoir.
"Cabin Fever" and its sequel, "Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever," featured locations throughout N.C., according to Visit North Carolina, including a cabin located at Camp Raven Knob near Mount Airy, Priddy's General Store in Danbury and Williston Middle School.
Hannibal (2001)
Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer 39% with 176 critic reviews Popcornmeter 62% with 250,000+ viewer ratings.
In "Hannibal," which is a sequel to the 1991 horror film "The Silence of the Lambs," seven years have passed since the villainous Dr. Hannibal Lecter escaped from custody. With Dr. Lecter at large in Europe, one of his surviving victims seeks revenge, planning to use an old connection, Clarice Starling, as bait.
While much of this film was shot in Virginia, it does feature one favorite Western N.C. location: the Biltmore House on Asheville's Biltmore Estate, which was pictured as the estate belonging to Mason Verger, Dr. Lecter's victim who seeks revenge against him.
I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997)
Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer 46% with 117 critic reviews, Popcornmeter 41% with 250,000+ viewer ratings.
Four friends reunite to pursue a man they believe is responsible for sending one of them a menacing anonymous letter indicating someone knows about the crime they committed together the previous summer: running over a fisherman and disposing of his body to avoid punishment.
Movie-locations.com notes that the film uses mostly real locations, including the fishing village of Southport, NC, where the film's "Fourth of July Croaker Festival" is set. Also featured were Southport’s Amuzu Theater, the Old American Fish Company, Duke University in Durham and several residential properties listed on the film's iMDB page.
Evil Dead II (1987)
Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer 89% with 87 critic reviews, Popcornmeter 89% with 100,000+ viewer ratings.
"Evil Dead II" is, as the title suggests, the second of three core "Evil Dead" films; however, it is widely agreed that the films can be watched and enjoyed out of order. In the second installment of the series, which blends horror and absurd comedy, protagonist Ash Williams once again battles strange and terrifying demons at a secluded cabin in the woods after his girlfriend discovers an audio recording of voices reading from the "Book of the Dead" that causes her to become possessed.
BookoftheDead.ws, a fan website devoted to the film series, explains that much of "Evil Dead II" was shot in and around the town of Wadesboro, including exterior shots of the cabin prominently featured in the film, which was located near the town, J.R. Faison Junior High School and Anson County Airport.
The area in and around the Bonsal Ballast Pits in Lilesville served as the location for the medieval section of the movie, featuring a full-size facade made from plywood mounted on power poles on a hill overlooking the area.
Additionally, the Blue Ridge Parkway's "Frying Pan" tunnel, a 582-foot tunnel located at mile marker 410.1, is featured in a shot just after the film's main title.
Best scary TV shows filmed in North Carolina
And to wrap up, three spooky TV options with N.C. ties.
Sleepy Hollow (2013-2017)
Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer 74%, Popcornmeter 74%.
When Ichabod Crane wakes up in Sleepy Hollow 250 years in the future, he must solve a mystery involving the Headless Horseman that dates back to the Founding Fathers.
Much of "Sleepy Hollow" was filmed in North Carolina. The Wilmington Star-News, which is part of the USA TODAY Network, reports some of the N.C. locations used in the series, including Cape Fear Club, Cape Fear Hotel Apartments, New Hanover County Courthouse, Historic Front Street, Brooklyn Arts Center, Bellvue Cemetery and a number of street locations throughout the city.
Under the Dome (2013-2015)
Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer 67%, Popcornmeter 44%.
Based on a Stephen King novel of the same name, this series follows the residents of a small town in Maine that find themselves cut off from the rest of the world by a transparent dome that suddenly descends upon them.
Despite being set in Maine, much of "Under the Dome" was filmed in and around Burgaw, including at a coffee house on Courthouse Avenue used as the show's diner, the town's courthouse, which was featured as a police station and town hall and Dee's Drugstore, which served as the show's small-town pharmacy.
American Gothic (1995-1996)
Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer 70% with 10 critic reviews.
A small South Carolina town is ruled over by a sinister sheriff who uses his demonic powers to control the area's residents.
Though short-lived, American Gothic is considered something of a cult classic by many. According to a report from Wilmington Star-News, location work for the show featured Wilmington spots including Murchison House, the J.W. Brooks building, the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge, the Southport waterfront and Franklin Square Gallery, as well as a number of residential properties. The show's title sequence also includes multiple shots of downtown Wilmington.
Iris Seaton is the trending news reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach her at iseaton@citizentimes.com.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Check out our favorite horror films, shows filmed in North Carolina
