| Address |
| 1115 Oxley St, South Pasadena, CA 91030, USA (South Pasadena, California)
|
| |
| Information |
The Strode House
This house in South Pasadena, California doubled as the home of the main character in the 1978 horror classic, Halloween. During the production, it and several other nearby locations in South Pasadena, as well as few near West Hollywood, were chosen to represent the fictional city of Haddonfield, Illinois in the Midwest.
Halloween (1978)
The classic horror film by director John Carpenter involves the now-infamous character of Michael Myers, who is less a human being and more the pure embodiment of evil. Halloween picks up when Myers breaks out of a mental asylum to return to Haddonfield, where he brutally murdered his older sister 15 years before, to continue his swath of terror. Once in the city, he sets his target on a group of teenagers and begins picking them off one by one.
The house appears early on in the film and doubles as the residence of the main character, Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis). In fact, Carpenter has stated that the first shot they filmed of Halloween involved Laurie walking out of this house and her father (Peter Griffith) reminding her to leave a key off at the old Myers house. It is seen a couple more times in the movie as well; including the scene of Laurie returning home from school and catching a glimpse of Myers in the backyard from her bedroom window. Interestingly enough, the residence actually has two entrances (according to some reports, it is actually a duplex) and both of those entrances are seen in the film.
According to some accounts, the name of Laurie Strode was actually the name of one of Carpenter's ex-girlfriends. Surprisingly, Curtis was not Carpenter's first choice for the role of Laurie Strode, but her performance in Halloween would elevate her to "Scream Queen" status and be the start of a distinguished film career. As it turned out, the casting added some bonus publicity, as Curtis is the daughter of actress Janet Leigh, who had a head-turning role in Alfred Hitchcock's classic, Psycho.
While the exterior of the house appears multiple times in Halloween, it is unclear if any interior scenes shot in the home made it to the final cut. The scene where Laurie sees Myers standing outside her window was reportedly shot in South Pasadena, but the filmmakers had to re-shoot the sequence later because of lighting and pacing issues. It is not known whether the new filming took place inside the house or on a studio set. The house where Laurie goes to baby-sit, and later fights off Myers, was actually shot several miles way near West Hollywood (see Halloween (1978): The Doyle House). Following the release of the original Halloween, the house that doubled as the Myers residence was moved and now rests only a few blocks away from this location (see Halloween (1978): The Myers House).
Halloween (2007)
When Dimension Films decided to remake the classic horror film, writer/director Rob Zombie opted to go with a different residence to dub as the Strode House (see Halloween (2007): The Strode House). However, the original house still does make a small but subtle appearance in the new Halloween.
South Pasadena Public Library, which doubled as the high school in 2007's Halloween, is actually directly across from this house (see South Pasadena Public Library, South Pasadena, CA). Although the exterior sequences were shot on the opposite side of the building than the one facing the Strode residence, there is one point-of-view shot that was pointed its way. The scene was of Laurie Strode (Scout Taylor-Compton) and friends in the "high school's library" when Laurie notices Myers (Tyler Mane) watching them from across the road. Naturally enough, he is standing directly in front of the original Strode House. Ironically, the shot was taken from the building across the street, but the sequences of the girls were shot elsewhere. Even more ironic is the fact that the building used for the elementary school exteriors is directly across the street from the side of the library seen in the film - or one block away from this house.
The House Today
Despite the fact that it has been over 30 years since Halloween was released, the house still looks much the same as it did in the film. It now features a much darker paint job, but little else has changed. However, the house is a private residence and any visitors to the property should respect the owner's right to privacy. The house can be easily viewed from the sidewalk and road or across the street on the public grounds of South Pasadena Public Library. |
| |
| GPS Interface |
Save Waypoint to Garmin Device.
|
|
| |
| User Trips |
| There are no user trips associated with this location. |
| |
| Related Sites |
HalloweenMovies.com
The official Web site of the popular Halloween series, including information on all of the sequels, as well as the recent Rob Zombie remake. |
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. |
Seeing Stars: Halloween Filming Locations
Seeing Stars's page dedicated to locations used in the making of the 1978 horror classic, Halloween. |
The Worldwide Guide to Movie Locations
A thorough guide to movie locations around the world. |
| |
| Similar Destinations |
| Sierra Madre Pioneer Cemetery, Sierra Madre, CA |
| Halloween (1978): Nichol's Hardware Store |
| Halloween (2007): The Wallace House |
| |
| See Also on TheCabinet.com |
| There are no other pages on this site associated with this location. |
| |
| Available from Amazon.com |
Halloween: 30th Anniversary Box Set |
The Worldwide Guide to Movie Locations (NEW updated edition) |
Creepy Crawls: A Horror Fiend's Travel Guide |
Halloween |
Halloween (Divimax 25th Anniversary Edition) |
Halloween [Blu-ray] |
Halloween: 20th Anniversary Edition - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack |
| |
