The term scary movies may be a bit far-fetched. While some of these films aren’t exactly “scary,” they aren’t exactly warm and fuzzy either. What we do know for sure is that they were all shot in the Austin area.
Here are scary movies filmed in Austin!
The Faculty
The Robert Rodriguez-directed thriller about high school students who suspect their teachers are aliens stars Josh Hartnett, Jordana Brewster and a host of other actors popular in the ’90s. In the film Texas School for the Deaf and Lockhart High, two locations were used for the high school. See all Central Texas filming locations here.
Chainsaw massacre in Texas
They say the original is always the best, and that seems to be the case with this series. On the red carpet at SXSW 2024, Wilmer Valderrama said that the number of reincarnations of this series proves the strength of the brand. The original house featured in the film is no longer in the Austin area, having been moved to the site of the Antlers Hotel in Kingsland, Texas. However, the Last Chance gas station still exists. It’s now called a joint We butcher barbecue.
Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation
Although we recommend the original, we can’t ignore the film from the 1994 franchise. Especially because it stars Texas sweethearts Renee Zellweger and Matthew McConaughey. In contrast to the original, the house is located in this strip Cameron Road in Pflugerville. Meanwhile, the prom scene was filmed at Pflugerville High School.
Friday the 13th (2009)
Did you already know the year 2009? Friday the 13thwhich served as a reboot and the twelfth part of the series overall, was filmed in Central Texas? Austin’s own film can even be seen in it Jared Padalecki. Key locations in the film include the now-defunct Bubba’s Country Store (11606 Fm 1826) and various locations in Round Rock, Wimberley, Bastrop and surrounding areas.
Proof of death
This Quentin Tarantino exploitation horror film pays homage to the slasher and muscle car films of the 1970s. It was released as part of a double feature with Robert Rodriguez Planet Terror with the collective title Grindhouse. The Texas Chili Parlor is set in Austin both on-screen and off-screen, in a scene where Tarantino and his cast are shooting.
Planet Terror
We can’t include Proof of death without listing its counterpart Planet Terror. In the film, an experimental bio-nerve gas is accidentally released at a remote US military base in Texas, transforming those exposed to the gas into flesh-eating, mutating zombies. The Texas Chili Parlor is back in its current form Gueros in the Southern Congress.
Machete/Machete killings
machete came about thanks to a fake trailer of the same name mentioned above Grindhouse Financial support. More action than horror, the film and its sequel will fill your heartstring quotient if the two films listed above just aren’t enough for you. You’ll see the Texas State Capitol, St. Mary’s Cathedral on 10th Street, and the Frost Tower.
Piranhas
1978s Piranhas is a classic example of a low-budget B-horror film, one of many released after the success of Jaw. Much of the film was shot on the Wimberley, Seguin and San Marcos rivers, but there is a crucial scene near the end of the film that was filmed on Lake Austin.
Time trap
The science fiction film Time trap It’s not necessarily scary, but it’s definitely a thriller. After an archeology professor goes missing during a trip to a cave near Austin, a group of students sets out to search for him. As they enter the cave, the students realize that they may have found a place that breaks the rules of space and time. The cave is located in Sonora, TexasBut other inconspicuous scenes were also filmed in Austin.
Featured photo via Photo credit: cosmin4000 on iStock.
