Dark Destinations - Sierra Madre Pioneer Cemetery, Sierra Madre, CA

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Dark Destinations > Locations - S > Sierra Madre Pioneer Cemetery, Sierra Madre, CA

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Sierra Madre Pioneer Cemetery, Sierra Madre, CA

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Availability:	Open to the Public
Filed Under:	Cemeteries/Graveyards Movie Locations > Family Plot (1976) Movie Locations > The Halloween Series > Halloween (1978)
Added By:	Tom G
Added On:	November 30, 2007 - 04:53 PM UTC
Modifications By:	TheCabinet
Last Modified:	February 04, 2009 - 07:39 PM UTC
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Average Rating:	0 (0 ratings)
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Address
553 E Sierra Madre Blvd, Sierra Madre, CA 91024, USA (Arcadia, California)

Information
Sierra Madre Pioneer Cemetery This historic cemetery in Sierra Madre, California is an important landmark in the early history of the city, but is also well known for its appearance in a couple of classic genre films from the 1970s. The origin of the cemetery can be traced back to 1881 when city-founder and entrepreneur, Nathaniel Coburn Carter, purchased the original 1,103 acres that now make up the city. Of that plot of land, 2.32 acres near Century Avenue (now called Sierra Madre Boulevard) were set-aside for the creation of a cemetery. The first burial took place three years later in September 1884 when Civil War veteran, John Richardson, was laid to rest in the cemetery's grounds. He would also be one of the first war veterans to find their final resting place in Sierra Madre Pioneer Cemetery. Aside from burials that cover both Union and Confederate soldiers from the Civil War, the cemetery also counts veterans from the Spanish-American War, World War I, World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War among its buried. Formal upkeep of the grounds was not established until 1911 when the duties were picked up by the Sierra Madre Cemetery Association - ironically enough, an Arizona-based company. By 1938, the majority of the plots on the grounds had been sold and the Association moved on, leaving the upkeep duties to volunteers from the local community, family members of the deceased, and the city itself. While the citizens did what they could, the grounds were often neglected. In 1961, a new version of the Sierra Madre Cemetery Association was reassembled in order to protect and preserve the historic property. Through their efforts, the grounds were revitalized and various enhancements were made, including opening a portion of the unused grounds for new burials. Their efforts did not go unnoticed. Like many cemeteries in the greater Los Angeles-area, it did not take long for Hollywood to come calling. Within a decade, the cemetery made an appearance in two genre films, including the final film from the Master of Suspense, Alfred Hitchcock. Family Plot (1976) Although Alfred Hitchcock would live for four more years following the release of Family Plot in 1976, it would turn out to be his final completed project. The story involves a fake psychic (Barbara Harris) and her taxi driver boyfriend (Bruce Dern) who are hired by a rich woman (Cathleen Nesbitt) to track down her nephew who had been given up for adoption and whom she now wants to make her sole heir. The only problem is that the nephew (William Devane) and his girlfriend (Karen Black) are actually a duo of serial kidnappers with a history of murder. In the film, Sierra Madre Pioneer Cemetery doubles as Barlow Creek Cemetery. It appears in a sequence where Dern's character pursues a widow at her husband's funeral, hoping that she will lead him to the mysterious nephew. That pursuit comes to a stop at the fake grave of the nephew who faked his death years earlier. Production designer, Henry Bumstead, is often credited with tracking down the cemetery for the production, which took place over two days in 1975. Bumstead has even stated that the production convinced the groundskeepers to let the weeds grow with the promise that the production would return it to its normal state after filming had wrapped. According to production accounts of Family Plot, the sequence was shot without aid of artificial light in a drizzle that aided tremendously in the ambience of the scene. In order to film the sequence, a 30-foot scaffold was erected in the cemetery to provide a vantage point for the overhead shots. While Hitchcock had the reputation of setting most of his thrillers in actual locations, often including famous landmarks as set pieces, Family Plot takes place in an unnamed city. In fact, the film is composed of various locations in both Los Angeles and San Francisco, which has led critics to dubbing the film's city as "Los Angfrancisco" or "SanFrangeles." Although Hitchcock went on to work on a new thriller by the name of The Short Night, the story was never completed and was subsequently shelved by the production studio following Hitchcock's death in 1980. Family Plot was his final film and his work continues to inspire countless directors to this day. One of those admirers was a young director by the name of John Carpenter, who would follow in Hitchcock's footsteps and utilize the scenery of Sierra Madre Pioneer Cemetery as a setting for his 1978 horror film, Halloween. Halloween (1978) Now considered a horror classic and often credited as launching the trend of slasher films for the next couple of decades, Halloween was made for the reported low sum of $320,000. The film follows a group of friends in the fictional city of Haddonfield, Illinois on the night of Halloween as they are hunted and killed by an escaped mental patient by the name of Michael Myers. 15 years before the events depicted in this movie, Myers murdered his older sister, Judith, in a Haddonfield home (see Halloween (1978): The Myers House) and has returned to pick up where he left off. Sierra Madre Pioneer Cemetery appears in a sequence early on in Halloween, where Myers's doctor, Samuel Loomis (Donald Pleasence), comes to the cemetery to seek out Judith's grave. The caretaker (Arthur Malet) leads him to the grave (Row 18, Plot 20) where they discover that the headstone has been stolen. While the caretaker attributes it to a Halloween stunt performed by the local kids, it is a confirmation to Loomis that Myers has returned to Haddonfield - or as he puts it, "He came home." The film was shot during the month of April 1978 and released later that year on October 31. The city of Haddonfield in Halloween is actually comprised of various locations throughout the greater Los Angeles-area, including South Pasadena (see Halloween (1978): The Strode House) and near West Hollywood (see Halloween (1978): The Wallace House). Director John Carpenter has stated multiple times how influential Alfred Hitchcock has been to his films, so it seems somewhat appropriate that their careers (and films) would cross paths in this very cemetery. The Cemetery Today After being reestablished in 1961, the Sierra Madre Cemetery Association continues to oversee the maintenance and upkeep of Sierra Madre Pioneer Cemetery. Aside from expanding the grounds for new burials, the group has also built a new retaining wall and a new building, which houses a memorial and computerized touch-screen directory of the cemetery's plots. While records of those buried on the grounds may still be incomplete, the group is actively researching and recreating the past data. The grounds are open to the general public during the daytime hours.

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Related Sites
Horror's Hallowed Grounds Official Web site for Sean Clark's "Horror's Hallowed Grounds" - A comprehensive collection of actual locations that appeared in various notable horror films.

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See Also on TheCabinet.com
There are no other pages on this site associated with this location.

Available from Amazon.com
Family Plot
The Art of Alfred Hitchcock: Fifty Years of His Motion Pictures
Henry Bumstead and the World of Hollywood Art Direction
Footsteps in the Fog: Alfred Hitchcock's San Francisco
Halloween: 30th Anniversary Box Set
Halloween
Halloween (Divimax 25th Anniversary Edition)
Halloween [Blu-ray]
Halloween: 20th Anniversary Edition - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

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The above content is for informational purposes only. Before making any travel arrangements, it is highly recommended that you contact those in charge of the property to check for updated availability and hours of operation. While we do our best to keep this information updated, we cannot guarantee that it is completely valid and up to date. Any destination marked "Closed to the Public" is marked that for a reason and we discourage any visits or attempts to gain access to that facility. Similarly, take note of any "Travel Advisory" that may be associated with a destination. Finally, treat any location and its local residents with respect. Any vandalism and/or unruly behavior is completely despicable and only ruins the experience for future visitors.

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