One of my favorite films in the series is the underrated sixth entry, Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers. This one captured the tone of the original and was released just before the new self-aware horror films took off after Scream. Shot mostly in Salt Lake City with some reshoots in LA, I visited a few of the Utah locations in 2008 while I was in the area for the Sundance Film Festival but went back in July 2017, so you will see a mix of winter and summer pictures in some comparisons.
We will be starting on a non-screen-matching location for the exterior of Smith''s Grove. Well, let's say ONE of the exteriors. When Jamie escapes, she pops up in the rail-yards in Salt Lake City. Other locations that I did not visit but were used for interiors include a water treatment facility (800 Central Valley Road), the Cottonwood Paper Mill (6908 Big Cottonwood Canyon Road), and a hospital (500 Foothill Drive.)
After stealing a truck, Jamie speeds off into the rain. I'm not 100% sure on this location, but as this stretch of road was used in the previous Halloween sequels, it's likely they used it here as well, located at the top loop of Bonneville Boulevard in Salt Lake City.
Next we see the latest incarnation of the Myers house. While certainly not a match for the original house, it is far better than what they used in Halloween 5. The house is located at 1926 Lincoln Street E in Salt Lake City.
Right across the street is Mrs. Blankenship's house where Tommy Doyle, now played by Paul Rudd, lives in the upstairs bedroom. It is located at 956 Ramona Avenue in Salt Lake City.
Here is Tommy's POV of Kara Strode's bedroom, although interiors were shot at a different location.
The entrance to Dr. Loomis' home is actually at the Cottonwood Paper Mill, one of the locations used for Smith's Grove. Special thanks to Paul at Then & Now Movie Locations for providing this location photo.
Thanks to a fellow Halloween set-jetter, the "bus depot" has been found at Ogden-Hinckley Airport located at 3909 Airport Road in Ogden, Utah. My visit to this location was sadly the day after a horrible plane crash less than a mile from the airport. The exterior of the building is the same except for the new drive-thru awning.
The interior has been updated over the years, but still has the same structure. The phone booths were likely brought in as a prop or have since been removed.
Jamie takes her baby down to the women's restroom. Yes, I asked for permission first! There are no longer sinks on the right side of the bathroom, but the structure has remained the same.
Although all the mirrors have been replaced with rectangle ones, there was still one round mirror in a different part of the restroom.
Michael descends the stairs. I did my best to replicate this scene and of course, put myself in the picture.
The toilet stalls are not in the same place as they appear in the movie. In reality, they are off to the right as you descend the stairs in a separate area, but in the film they appear at the bottom of the stairs across from the sinks. I'm not sure if they were originally there during shooting or if they were constructed for the movie, regardless there is no window to make an escape! I've included some pictures of the actual stalls for reference.
After escaping Michael at the bus depot, he is hot on her tail and she crashes the truck into this farm at 891 Weaver Lane in Layton, Utah.
One of the shots I was looking forward to taking is this angle of Jamie entering the barn...
In the theatrical cut, Jamie is killed on a piece of farm machinery equipment. I had trouble matching any particular areas of the barn with that scene, possibly because her death was added later. But I did notice a hanging bucket in a later scene that could be in the same spot, as seen in the first picture. There was also a ladder outside the barn that could possibly match on seen inside the barn in the scene.
The scene plays out much differently in the Producers Cut of the film. Here, Jamie walks in the barn, sits down and is stabbed by Michael. Unlike the theatrical cut, she does not die but survives in a coma for the majority of the film before she is taken out by the man in black.
In the Producer's Cut, one of the exteriors for Smith's Grove is a former hospital now condos, located at 400 Capitol Park Avenue in Salt Lake City. This same building was Ridgemont Sanitarium in Halloween 4.
A new morning and we are back at the Myers house, now occupied by the Strodes.
John Strode cuts down the Michael Myers sign any fan would love to have....
After another breakfast of Father Knows Best, Kara joins Beth and Tim to drive to school.
One of the best character intros is Paul Rudd as Tommy Doyle in the upstairs bedroom...
A few of the houses on Lincoln Street can be seen in the background as they drive by.
Another shot of Mrs. Blankenship's house as she rakes leaves. My eyes lit up when I heard her name when I saw this on opening night. I knew a Halloween lover wrote the script based on these little name drops are sprinkled throughout. (Minnie Blankenship was mentioned in Halloween III, but she never called, she never showed....)
We are back at the "bus depot" where Tommy Doyle has concluded Jamie made her desperate call from the night before.
"Did a bus come in from Pontiac last night?" Astute viewers will recognize the character behind the desk shows up at the end in the Smiths Grove thorn cult, as do many characters seen throughout the film.
Tommy looks around for clues and eventually finds a blood trail from the phone booth to the bathroom. What kind of poor custodians do they have in Haddonfield?
Back down to the women's bathroom (he didn't get permission!), where he finds a bloody sink. It is Haddonfield, so they are probably used to this kind of thing. And yes, that's me in the mirror reflection....
Here you get a better perspective of where the toilet stalls were located in the film as well as the "window".
We are back at the barn where a large thorn symbol has been burnt into the the haystacks.
Dr. Wynn and Dr. Loomis arrive. Behind them you can see the house on the farm.
For this scene, I used screenshots from the Producers Cut in which Jamie is still alive and transported to the hospital.
Next we go to Haddonfield Junior College, lcoated at 1950 Monroe Boulevard in Ogden, Utah. I didn't have a camera crane, but here is the parking lot where Kara, Beth, and Tim drive up.
Right in front of the parking lot is the area where they are setting up the Halloween fair.
As they walk over the hill, Kara dramatically drops all of stuff out of her bag and finds one of Danny's disturbing drawings.
Next we switch to the Producers Cut which includes an extended scene of Kara walking to class while looking at the drawing. (Of course I took the opportunity to replicate this scene with me as Kara.)
In a nod to Laurie Strode, Kara sees a couple making out on a picnic table.
Kara continues to walk around the building....
And like Laurie, she has someone following her....
Her point-of-view shot is near the same spot of "it's raining red" scene.
And in true Halloween form, Michael steps into frame. I'm not sure why this sequence was cut as it works pretty well.
Well maybe this is why the previous scene was cut as Michael has magically transported back to his house as he spies on Debra Strode. (Or maybe it's not Michael but one of the thorn cult members!)
I tried to get the porch shot the best I could, but I was trying to be quick and not bother the residents too much while I was on their property. (Although there was one older gentleman trying to use stare-down-intimidation, didn't work!)
Danny comes home from school, walking north on Lincoln Street to the Myers house. The trees that were on the boulevard are no longer there.
Here is the reverse shot as Danny watches Barry Simm's van drive by....
Danny sees the man in black standing on the corner of Ramona and Lincoln.
In another homage to the original film, Danny drops his pumpkin when he bumps into Tommy Doyle. For those of you that know me, I recreated this scene for the 2003 contest prior to the H25 convention, you can check it out here.
Kara comes home from school, walking south on Lincoln Street to the house. I used the Producers Cut for this scene as it is extended beyond the theatrical version.
Kara arrives back at the house...
But she finds the door locked and jammed...
Kira walks around the side of the house...
The backyard has changed the most and the back steps have been replaced with a big porch.
It's Halloween night and Danny sees glimpses of Michael Myers across the street...
As Mrs. Blankenship talks about Halloween, Tommy walks across the campus of Haddonfield Junior College while the Halloween Fair is in full swing...
Is it the man in black? No, it's worse. It's Barry Simms.
John Strode gleefully swings into the driveway....
If you haven't already, check out Sean Clark's Horrors Hallowed Grounds episode on the latest bluray box set. He goes down into the basement where John Strode is killed. For the exteriors, I thought this was a well-executed scene of flashing lights plus is a small homage to the original film.
Back at the college, Barry Simms convinces Beth and Tim to broadcast from the Myers house...
Barry comes over the hill the opposite way the group did earlier in the day. The fair is all dark behind him now however...
Barry crosses the parking lot looking for the van...
In the Producers Cut, Barry's death is scene through the windshield and the camera pans over to the radio van.
It looks like Tommy was visiting Haddonfield Junior College that day and has gotten an upgrade on his jeep....
I am not 100% sure on this one as the actual scene doesn't give too many clues, but I'm thinking this area in front of the fair is where Tommy is standing when he hears a girl talking about it raining red...
Same area. Same tree? Not likely, but I included it anyway....
I didn't track this down in time for my visit, but I think the area with the girl is actually around the corner from the fair, closer to where Kara is walking earlier in the film.
By far my favorite scene in the film (and definitely a top ten in the series) is when Kara sees Beth getting killed across the street, then sees her son entering that same house. Only a couple shots for actual locations in the scene...
Kara bolts out the side door of the Blankenship house...
...to her house to save her son.
Meanwhile Dr. Loomis and Tommy return to the Blankenship house.
In another well crafted and orchestrated scene, Kara and Danny race back to the other house with Michael not far behind...
They reach the door but it is locked!
The Producers Cut seems to have a slightly longer chase scene with shots of Michael approaching from behind.
Kara's stunt double leaps from Tommy's bedroom window...
In the Producers Cut, the old hospital is used as an establishing shot for Smith's Grove.
In the theatrical cut, this exterior is used for Smiths Grove. As part of the reshoots for interiors and exteriors, this is located in Los Angeles at 2301 Bellevue Avenue.
The Cottonwood Paper Mill is used for the door to Smiths Grove. The mill was also used for many of the ritual scenes in the movie.
The Producers Cut has an extended farewell scene in front of the same door.
Tommy, Kara, and Danny drive out of the L.A. Smiths Grove location and all future sequels...
We return to the Myers house one last time...
And a final shot of the jack-o-lantern, one of the best designs in the series.
Thank you to fellow set-jetter, Ryan Redden for grabbing a pic of underground layer of Smiths Grove where they performed the rituals.
Fellow set-jetter, Ryan, on location!
Throughout my travels, I have gone to some horror movie conventions and specifically the Halloween ones. Below are some of the cast I have met over the years.
For fans wanting to make the trek to locations, I keep a map updated with all known Halloween locations, click the pic below!
