The term scary movies may be a bit of a stretch. A few of these films aren’t really “scary” but they aren’t exactly warm and fuzzy either. The one thing we know for sure, though, is that they were all shot in the Austin area.
Here are scary movies that were made in Austin!
The Faculty
The Robert Rodriguez-directed thriller about high school students who suspect their teachers are aliens stars Josh Hartnett, Jordana Brewster, and a slew of other actors popular in the ’90s. Two locations were used for the high school in the film Texas School for the Deaf and Lockhart High. See all of the Central Texas filming locations here.
Texas Chainsaw Massacre
They say the original is always the best and that’s seems to be the case with this series. On the red carpet at SXSW 2024, Wilmer Valderrama said that the amount of reincarnations of this series proves the strength of the brand. The original house from the film is no longer located in the Austin area as it was moved to the grounds of The Antlers Hotel in Kingsland, Texas. The Last Chance Gas Station still exists, however. It’s now a joint called We Slaughter Barbecue.
Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation
While we recommend the original, we can’t ignore the 1994 film from the franchise. Mostly, because it stars Texas treasures Renee Zellweger and Matthew McConaughey. Unlike the original, the house from this flick is located on Cameron Road in Pflugerville. Meanwhile, the prom scene was shot at Pflugerville High School.
Death Proof
This Quentin Tarantino exploitation horror film plays homage to slasher and muscle car films of the 1970s. It was released as part of a double feature with Robert Rodriguez’s Planet Terror with the collective title Grindhouse. Set in Austin both on and off screen, you’ll recognize the Texas Chili Parlor in a scene where Tarantino and cast take shots.
Planet Terror
We can’t include Death Proof without listing its counterpart Planet Terror. In the flick, an experimental bio-nerve gas is accidentally released at a remote U.S. military base in Texas, turning those exposed to the gas into flesh-eating, mutating zombies. The Texas Chili Parlor is again featured, as is Guero’s on South Congress.
Machete / Machete Kills
Machete came to be thanks to a fake trailer of the same name featured in the aforementioned Grindhouse promotion. More action than horror, the film and its sequel will fill your blood quotient if the two films listed above just aren’t enough for you. You’ll spot the Texas State Capitol, St. Mary’s Cathedral on 10th Street, and the Frost Tower.
Piranha
1978’s Piranha is a classic example of a low budget B horror film, one of many that were released following the success of Jaws. Much of the film was shot along the rivers of Wimberley, Seguin and San Marcos but there’s a pivotal scene near the end of the movie that was filmed on Lake Austin.
Time Trap
The sci-fi film Time Trap isn’t necessarily scary either, but it’s definitely a thriller. After a professor of archaeology goes missing during an excursion to a cave near Austin, a group of students set out to find him. As they enter the cave, the students realize that they may have found a place that breaks the rules of both space and time. The cave is located in Sonora, Texas, but other nondescript scenes were filmed in Austin.
Featured photo via Credit:cosmin4000 on iStock.
