Long Beach is well known as a Hollywood filming location, so it should come as no surprise to learn that its streets, homes and landmarks have played a role in some notably strange and spooky films.
From cult classics to complete flops, the city’s unique backdrops have helped set the scene for both iconic and obscure horror and thriller flicks. The films included on this list offer a glimpse into Long Beach’s cinematic history.
The Cyclone Racer roller coaster, as seen in this historic photograph, was an iconic landmark in Long Beach from 1930 to 1968.
“The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies” (1963) – Look, this is a bad movie, I know it, you know it, critics at the time knew it. But it has a certain historical value, as many scenes were shot at the former amusement park located at the Pike.
I’d heard stories of the old roller coaster at the Pike, but had never seen it in action until the opening scene of this film. There’s even one scene where the cameraman is riding in one of the roller coaster carts, and the audience gets a glimpse at what it was like aboard the long defunct Cyclone Racer. It was also the first film to ever be considered a “monster-musical.”
The film centers on a seaside carnival, shot at the Pike, where an evil fortune-teller is disfiguring and hypnotizing patrons in order to turn them into so-called “zombies.”
Warnings: Death, sex work, anti-Romani racism
Not Rated (movies began being rated in 1968, five years after this film was released)
Where to stream: Free on Youtube
“Child’s Play 2” (1990) – We barely see any Long Beach in this film, but for a few short seconds we get a shot of the exterior of a Long Beach factory at 118 Pier S Ave., which serves as the Play Pals Toy Factory. This movie centers around the return of the infamous doll Chucky, as he attempts to possess the body of a young foster child. This film has the most graphic kills of any included on this list.
Warning: Death, violence, gore
Rated R
Where to stream: Available on Netflix until Oct. 31. Can be rented for $3.59 on Google Play.
“Blood Ties” (1991) – I feel this is the most Long Beach movie on this list. Unlike other films included here, where Long Beach stood in for various other areas of the country, the setting of this film is Long Beach itself. The B-roll during the opening and end credits of the film are sweeping shots of the Port of Long Beach, the Spruce Goose Dome, the Queen Mary and downtown.
This movie reimagines old vampire tropes. In Blood Ties, “vampire” is a slur for a group of people called Carpathians, from a fictional Eastern European country neighboring Transylvania. A large population of them have settled i
n Long Beach, and although their ancestors drank blood several generations ago, modern Carpathians have assimilated and are basically indistinguishable from everyone else. However, they still face discrimination because of their ancestry, and a hate group is going around the country murdering them.
The film follows two main Carpathian characters: a teen boy from Texas who comes to Long Beach to meet the rest of his family after his parents are murdered, and a middle-aged man from Long Beach who works as a local reporter for the Long Beach Post-Gazette.
When I first realized the main character was an ethnic minority from Long Beach who worked as a local reporter, for a brief and naive moment I thought, “Oh, maybe he’ll be a relatable character.” And then in the first few scenes the audience learns that for some inexplicable reason he’s covering a court case in which one of his relatives is the defendant, and he’s also sleeping with the assistant district attorney trying to convict said relative. I hope this goes without saying, but that is not remotely what our jobs are like, and in real life we are neither related to or sleeping with anyone we write about.
Warning: Death, violence, sexual content, implied incest
Rated R
Where to stream: Free on Youtube and Tubi
“The Craft” (1996) – This film centers on four teenage witches as they vye for power. After using her powers to move up in the world, one of the main characters moves into a new apartment at Harbor Place Tower, located in Long Beach at 542 E Seaside Way.
Warnings: Death, sexual violence, anti-Black racism, bullying
Rated R
Where to stream: MGM+. Can be rented for $4.49 through Amazon Prime or $3.99 through Google Play.
“Donnie Darko” (2001) – This cult classic film uses the Los Cerritos and Virginia Country Club neighborhoods as the suburban backdrop for Middlesex, Virginia, where the film is set. A little over three minutes into the film, we see the titular character Donnie Darko bike past Los Cerritos Park and several houses along Country Club Drive. Two houses in the Virginia Country Club neighborhood are central to the plot, 4225 Country Club Drive, the abode of the Darko family, and 4252 Country Club Drive, the home of a smarmy self-help author hiding a dark secret.
The idea of time is central to the film, and it grapples with ideas of alternate timelines, time travel and time paradoxes.
Warnings: Death, violence, plane and car accidents, profanity, mentions of child sexual abuse, anti-Asian racism
Rated R
Where to stream: Free on Youtube and Tubi (Both the theatrical version and the director’s cut)
“Zodiac” (2007) – Bixby Knolls serves as a Vallejo, California suburb in 1969 at the start of this movie. One of the victim’s homes in the film is located at 3964 Gundry Ave., and the nearby George’s 50s Diner serves as the set for Mr. Ed’s Diner, where the unfortunate teenage couple have a last meal before their untimely demise.
Now normally, I wouldn’t spoil the movie by mentioning who is and isn’t a victim. But in the first two minutes of the film you see a teenage couple hanging out alone together in a car, and in a film called “Zodiac” set in 1969, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out what happens to them, and the various other unfortunate teenage sweethearts that appear throughout the film.
Warnings: Death, violence, profanity, sexual images, substance use
Rated R
Where to stream: MGM+. Can be rented through Amazon Prime, Apple TV and Google Play Movies for $3.99.
“The Haunting of Whaley House” (2012) – This is the most recent horror movie I could find that was shot in Long Beach. The historic Bembridge House, located at 953 N Pk Cir, stands in for the infamous Whaley House in San Diego, which has long been rumored to be haunted. Due to the jump scares and gore, this is probably the scariest movie on this list — definitely not the best, just the scariest. That’s also probably because the dated special effects in the older movies make any scares seem a bit quaint and unconvincing.
In this film a tour guide for the Whaley House breaks in with friends afterhours, to disastrous and paranormal consequences.
Warning: Death, gore, profanity
Rated R
Where to stream: Free on Youtube
The Haunting of the Queen Mary 2023