Sunday, August 24, 2014

Friday the 13th: Part IV Filming Location - Zaca Lake

https://www.flickr.com/photos/qrux
I haven't been able to make it to Zaca Lake – the shooting location for some of the lake scenes in Friday the 13th: Part IV – since it's quite far away in Santa Barbara County, so here are some shots of the probable shooting areas of the film.

It's nearly impossible to match areas up with the film, and the areas have changed a lot in 30 years. So I am attempting to use other people's photos on their Flickr account (credit URLs will be under the photos) to showcase the area. Perhaps in the near future I will be up there and be able to really investigate and get more accurate areas.

Tina and Terry head to the lake.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/qrux/
I am assuming the scene where Tina and Terry meet up with the teens was shot on Zaca Lake since the area also looks similar. However, the scene could have also been shot in Topanga as well as the Franklin Reservoir area.  I included these photos of a near-by trail on the Zaca Lake. You decide.

The rope swing as it appears in the film.


https://www.flickr.com/photos/qrux/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/100443648@N05/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/qrux/
Here's the infamous rope swing on the lake shore. It's unlikely that the rope is the same rope, and the rope may not even be on the same tree anymore. Thirty years can really change the shape of a tree, or it could have even died. But it's still here for anyone who wants to do some skinny dipping with ole' Teddy Bear and Jimbo.

In the distance of the movie stills and the "now" photos, you can see a white floating dock in the distance. This leads me to believe that the rope swing is still in the general area.

Tommy and Trish arrive at the lake in the film.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/29253520@N03/
Above is the area where Trish and Tommy parked in the film. It was hard to find this place because any forest would look similar. Here is a rather artistic shot from what appears to be in the same general area, through the window of a vehicle. 

Trish and Tommy break down in the film.
http://beccaclicks.com/
This actual road wraps around the entire lake, so the actual shooting area could be anywhere. I have been told that the scene above was actually shot around the Franklin Canyon Reservoir area, and I disagree despite the scenes in the teens' car being shot there.

This area where they meet Rob looks an awful lot like the Zaca Lakes road. I was told that the production team shot two weeks at the lake, so I am assuming they got most of the woods scenes there and a lot more than just the lake. 

Sara gets spooked by Samantha in the film.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/seannarae/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/qrux/
The docks were the hardest thing to match up because it looks like all of the docks at Zaca Lake are relatively new and probably under 10 years old.  However, I at least matched up the areas from the scene where Samantha scares Sara. In the film you can see a building on the far side of the lake. In these photos you can see a dock, and that same building off in the distance.

UPDATE:
Check out the scene from the lake where the raft kills took place here.http://scabbyhorror.blogspot.com/2014/10/more-friday-13th-part-iv-filming.html


16 comments:

  1. Hey man good post but I thought this movie was shot in Topanga Canyon I thought I saw Rob Dier and Joe Zito there in the Deluxe Edition? Looks like the place but are u sure this is the place?

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    1. Topanga has no real lake, so the cabin scenes were shot there and the rest shot elsewhere - roads and raft kills in Franklin Canyon Reservoir in Beverly Hills, the lake scenes at Zaca Lake.

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    2. Great shots of the locations! I'll never forget the night I was on the set with my dad, Ted White. He loved to creep people out on the set by keeping to himself and keeping the mask on. I got to me Tom Sevini and Joe Zito that night and watch a kill scene in action. The guy in the shower scene. Whatta blood bath! (I mean shower) So cool ...

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  2. JasonHarrisonNicholsAugust 25, 2014 at 11:27 PM

    It's really exciting to finally see the location of the lake. Kudos on finding this spot.

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    1. Thank a movie location blog! I didn't find it, they did!

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  3. Very cool. If I ever come back to L.A. the huge retro horror genre fanatic & collector that I am I'm certainly scouting some filming locations. ;-)

    Another excellent find, as per always.

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    1. This one took forever. I was searching LA, and found out it was in Santa Barbara. Where they did the rft kills and the road where the teen car was driving and saw the hitchhiker and Mrs. V's grave is at Franklin Canyon Reservoir, which is where I volunteer at TreePeople. Never knew that!

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    2. Whoa seems like you're around a lot of super cool old school Paramount-era shooting locations my good man. I'm insanely jealous as I truly love these movies as you do ;-)

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    3. I think the Paramount Ranch (which is close to the cafe/store used in A New Beginning) is now open to visitors. It's a movie ranch like Veluzat. Not far from there was the Century Ranch (20th Century Fox) but it burned down. The outside sets to M*A*S*H was there. There's still old burned Jeeps there. I ran a marathon through the Universal Backlot and it was really cool to see houses used in movies that I never knew were sets. Most of The Monster Squad was filmed there. The house use din Growing Pains/Gremlins, the church used in MS, Lost Boys, etc is there as well as the bay used in Jaws, Psycho house, etc. Very well guarded area.

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  4. Whoa too cool!! So are most there in L.A. overly kind or fake or just hit 'n miss? Also yeah I knew about Jason Goes to Shit as I call Hell and The Wonder Years shooting there plus all of the other big attractions there.

    I have the first three Psychos on blu ray but II & III are my proverbial favorites, mini flaws & all. Looks like you see a lot of interesting backlot/L.A. shooting locales when jogging of all things. Do you meet many other joggers or are you more of a natural Loner?

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    1. I run both alone and in groups. I generally marathon train with large groups and meet a lot of people.

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    2. Ah too cool bro. I am fairly sociable for a guy with Asperger's so if I ever move out to L.A. I might join one of those groups, sounds cool :)

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  5. Oh and the other night I watched Cobra on blu ray. Very good mid '80s Stallone flick. Good, goofy dumb-fun for what it is. The café/diner that Sly's character and his then brief-wife Brigitte Nielsen stopped at is the same locale used in Part V.

    Reportedly according to the main Friday franchise site I used to visit more often years ago, I there used to be a lot of infamous car owners, just as Jay Leno there as well to there for events but I never heard of any real confirmation. Plus I prefer Letterman so I never researched or looked into it much to be honest aside from that one post I read... (*shrugs*)

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    1. That cafe was used and is used a lot. I think in the OC is was recently use. Also used in the Wonder Years in the episodes The Lake. Used in many commercials, too

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    2. Yeah I also recognize it from car shows I have Yahoo! images pictures of & used Google Images as well, too. Plus yeah, television too. The Wonder Years I am a fan of as well too, by the way is finally coming out n blu ray & DVD I believe according to blu ray.com. It was some of the few television I generally watched & also watched in syndication growing up. Nice eyes there, I also saw it :)

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  6. Thanks again for all of this information!

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