When it comes to horror movies, the setting can be as important to delivering the terror as anything else. From haunted houses to the darkness of space, there are some horror movie locations that immediately fill audiences with dread. But there are also some horror movies that provide scares in a seemingly pleasant place.
These horror movie locations took locations that would usually fill people with happiness and fun and then twisted them in some terrifying ways. The juxtaposition of the setting and the horror works quite well and reminds audiences that terror can be lurking anywhere.
Club Dread (2004)
While there are a lot of laughs to be found in the horror-comedy Club Dread, the movie is also filled with scares and thrills. It finds the staff at a beautiful island resort dealing with a serial killer interrupting all of the fun in the sun.
The movie has a lot of fun spattering buckets of blood in the warm and sunny location. It is also very funny to have the type of laidback and fun-loving characters of such a resort thrust into a life-or-death situation like this.
Jaws (1975)
When the summer months hit, everyone is looking for the closest beach to soak up the sun and play around in the water. However, Jaws played a big role in adding a little hesitation to any beach fun as there might be some monster lurking under the water and waiting to strike.
Steven Spielberg's horror masterpiece is set on a seemingly idyllic island community that really comes alive with tourists and fun in the summer months. But a giant and hungry shark begins terrorizing the population of beach-goers and begins turning the inviting water red with blood.
Frozen (2010)
While the summer months might be for the beach, the snowy season sees a lot of people hitting the slopes on a ski adventure. For these types of people, there are few things quite as enjoyable as strapping on a pair of skis and heading down a mountain. But Frozen shows how such a winter getaway can go bad.
Not to be confused with the Disney animated musical, Frozen is a much less kid-friendly story of a trio of friends who venture up a chair lift at night only to get stuck high above the ground as the temperature drops. They then face the dilemma of freezing to death in the air or risking the drop to the waiting wolves below.
The Banana Splits Movie (2019)
The Banana Splits Movie is one of the most inventive and unexpected adaptations of the television series ever made. The show was a children's variety program from the 1960s featuring ittedly creepy costumed critters as a rock band.
The movie decides to turn the program into a horror story as it follows a family visiting a taping of the delightful program. But when the animatronic beings learn about their impending cancellation, they go haywire and terrorize the studio.
Midsommar (2019)
Sometimes a peaceful getaway is just what someone needs to take their mind off of their troubles. In the case of Dani (Florence Pugh) in Midsommar, it just invites a whole new list of things to be worried about.
Following a tragedy, she s her distant boyfriend and his buddies on a trip to a Swedish midsummer festival. But despite the gorgeous and serene surroundings, it becomes clear the festival has darker meanings. The image of Dani shrouded in a throne of colorful flowers is a perfect example of Midsommar's combination of horror and beauty.
Dawn Of The Dead (1978)
Shopping malls may have been more popular in the days before online shopping, but there are still plenty of people who love the brightness and variety of a huge shopping mall. However, even those who could spend a whole day exploring a mall might not choose it as the place to ride out the zombie apocalypse.
Dawn of the Dead finds a group of survivors coming together in a local shopping mall when flesh-eating zombies begin taking over. It provides an interesting new type of setting for a horror story while George A. Romero uses it to comment on society's consumer-driven existence.
Carrie (1976)
Brian De Palma's Carrie is a slow-burn horror movie that doesn't really get into the big scares and huge body count until the epic climax. The setting for that iconic scene turned the joy and magic of prom night into a true nightmare.
Sissy Spacek stars as the titular character, an outcast high school student whose abuse from her peers and her overbearing mother leads to her discovering terrifying psychic abilities. Watching her finally lose control after being humiliated at prom is one of the most famous moments in horror movie history.
Funny Games (2007)
Some of the most disturbing horror movies don't need big monsters or supernatural elements, but rather inspire terror by being so realistic. In the case of Funny Games, the twisted tale takes a safe and familiar situation and then shatters that safety.
The movie follows a family visiting their beautiful vacation home only to be interrupted by some seemingly friendly strangers who gradually turn into sadistic villains. The white and clean look of the setting really adds an extra eeriness to the horror that unfolds.
The Wicker Man (1973)
Not to be confused with the infamously bad remake with Nicolas Cage, The Wicker Man is a terrifically creepy horror movie from the 1970s. It follows a police investigator who is summoned to a remote island community to locate a missing child.
Like Midsommar, the movie presents a beautiful and quiet community away from the bustle of the city. However, the setting is also very effective because the people are also quite happy and pleasant even as the sinister nature of the community comes to light.
Friday The 13th (1980)
By now, summer camps seem to be a staple of the horror genre with countless movies set in such a location. But a big part of the reason for its iconic horror status is thanks to the Friday the 13th franchise that made terrific use of it.
The first movie in the long-running series found a group of young and excitable camp counselors enjoying their summer at Camp Crystal Lake. But soon they start getting picked off by an unseen killer. Even before Jason Vorhees became a horror movie icon, this first movie inspired many camp horror movies to follow.
