Scary movies filmed in Ventura County to watch this Halloween

With Halloween just a jump-scare away, you may be on the hunt for spooky movies to watch at home.

Many include scenes filmed in Ventura County, lending an extra-eerie vibe to local haunts. Some locations have since been demolished or have otherwise disappeared, making for ghostly cameos in the landscape.

From horror and slasher classics to sci-fi and kooky fare, here are 10 suggestions with familiar scenery in the mix.

'Poltergeist'

The 1982 classic includes a Simi Valley house that served as the Freeling family's abode. In the movie, a group of ghosts, led by a demon called the Beast, is attracted to the youngest daughter and stalks the family. The Tudor-like, two-story home, which was fully visible in the film but today stands behind tall trees, was used for exterior shots. The neighborhood around the family's house was filmed outside the county in Agoura Hills. Both locations reflected producer Steven Spielberg's desire to film the horror movie in normal residential areas.

'Big Bad Wolf'

Another Simi Valley location, Big Sky Ranch, remains famous as the 1970s filming site for NBC's "Little House on the Prairie," but a more sinister tale was shot there for this 2006 story about a teenager who's attacked by a werewolf. The teen discovers the wild beast might actually be his stepfather.

'The Lawnmower Man'

The futuristic, circular House of the Book building at the Brandeis-Bardin Campus of American Jewish University in Simi Valley served as a filming site for the 1992 movie. A scientist played by Pierce Brosnan, who later took a turn as James Bond, performs intelligence-enhancing experiments on a gardener. Once the gardener becomes smart, he realizes people have always taken advantage of him. Now he's out for bloody revenge.

'Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday'

Several locations around Thousand Oaks make the cut for the ninth installment of the "Friday the 13th" franchise in 1993, in which the titular Jasoon Voorhees character is resurrected and stalks a woman at Camp Crystal Lake. Conejo Valley sites include a cabin at the Canyon Ranch film location on East Carlisle Road. Joey B’s Diner, which appeared to be destroyed in the movie, was actually an abandoned car dealership on Thousand Oaks Boulevard. In recent years, it was torn down for real and replaced by Santal Thousand Oaks Apartments.

'Gates of Darkness'

The lake house in this 2019 movie about a haunted teenager experiencing a terrifying exorcism stood at Ventura Farms on West Potrero Road outside Thousand Oaks. Frequent horror star Adrienne Barbeau, known for “Hellblazers” and “The Fog," among others, plays the teen's grandmother.

'Motel Hell'

Moorpark helps set the stage for this 1980 horror comedy about a seemingly friendly farmer and his sister who kidnap travelers, bury them alive and use them to create their famous "special meat." The movie had one day of exterior filming in Moorpark, where backgrounds included the historic train depot on High Street. The station was recently demolished, but another filming site remains: the turn-of-the-century Moorpark First Baptist Church on Walnut Street. The church was called Grainville Eurekaistic Church in the movie. Motel Hello — the neon sign said "Motel Hell" because a light was burned out — was a safe distance away at Sable Ranch in Santa Clarita.

'Carrie'

Santa Paula — no stranger to the big screen, having appeared in more than 100 movies — plays a part in the 1976 classic based on Stephen King's book of the same name. Exterior shots of a since-demolished house in the 100 block of North Seventh Street were used for Carrie White’s home. Carrie, a telekinetic 16-year-old played by Sissy Spacek, suffers under her domineering mom and uses her powers to wreak havoc after being humiliated at the high school prom. Carrie and other characters in the movie can also be seen walking along Santa Paula and Main streets.

'The Addams Family'

The 1991 adaptation shows the kooky family, driven by their faithful butler Lurch, in a Packard ― which resembles a hearse — seen cruising along Santa Paula's Main Street. The family known for its macabre antics started out as a series of comics in the 1930s before Gomez, Morticia, Uncle Fester and the rest achieved wider fame through the 1960s television show and spawned multiple movies, series and other fare. The 1991 film was the first of four full-length outings so far.

'Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones'

The fifth installment of the franchise, from 2014, is set in Oxnard. Some shots were grabbed in Oxnard neighborhoods, although most of the filming was actually done in Los Angeles. The found-footage horror story follows an 18-year-old and his friends as they wrestle with black magic amid everyday tasks in a seemingly benign apartment building.

'War of the Worlds'

Tom Cruise in Piru? The 2005 movie, directed by Steven Spielberg and based on H.G. Wells' science fiction novel of the late 1890s about a Martian invasion — which fueled the Orson Welles radio drama that spread panic in 1938 — was updated with Cruise playing a longshoreman trying to save his family when extraterrestrials invade. At one point the fleeing family approaches a New York ferry, but their car is hijacked by a mob. The scene was actually shot along Piru's Main Street. A Piru bridge also appears in the scene.

Want to chime in? Many more horror-themed movies have been filmed in Ventura County, and we've been making a list for future installments. If you have a favorite, you can share it with Dave Mason at dave.mason@vstar.com.

Dave Mason covers East County for the Ventura County Star. He can be reached at dave.mason@vcstar.com or 805-437-0232.

Brian J. Varela covers Oxnard, Port Hueneme and Camarillo. He can be reached at brian.varela@vcstar.com or 805-477-8014. You can also find him on Twitter @BrianVarela805.

This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Horror movies to watch this Halloween filmed in Ventura County