(GPS: N34° 14.400 W116° 54.830)
Nightmare #3
Here is another one that for years I wanted to do, but never got around to it. Then last year I started to panic a bit on this one when I read in the newspaper that one of the movie's locations may not be around much longer and the public may not have access to it. In other words, it was a case of me getting to Big Bear, CA as soon as possible! My video:
The Big Bear Werewolf (Youtube Version)
The Big Bear Werewolf (Vimeo Version)
This is not the well known 1941 version of The Wolfman. This The Werewolf is a cheaper one done in 1956. As I mentioned in the blog entry at the beginning of the month, sometimes cheaper is for the better when it comes to what I like to show. This can mean that more scenes are done outdoors. In this case, the town of Big Bear is used almost exclusively in the film. I will only be focusing on a few scenes locations for this one.
My first stop was Chad's Place. I was there early in the morning looking across the street taking pictures and video. The funny thing about this is that the people driving by and those around kept looking at me a little more than usual than when I normally do these sorts of things. I purposely avoid getting people in my pictures if I can help it. Sometimes one cannot help it if there is lots of traffic around. I have some fun stories of me trying to wait people out. My favorite is when people are in my picture space, I wait, they leave, and just about the time I will take a picture, someone else shows up without having a clue what I am doing, and the process starts all over.
In the opening scene, the main character (who is our werewolf) walks to Chad's Place.
Chad's Place has been around since around 1915. The name is actually used in the movie. So, this is not rocket science here. It what just a matter of finding Chad's Place and going there. It does not get much easier than this.
A lot has changed around here, but this is definitely the area. You can see the wall foundations that form buildings on the right. Chad's is right next to me, but the real estate place in the movie is now a candy store. You should be able to see the space between Chad's and the candy store is the same, but there is a trash can blocking our view.
Our main character enters.
That is where he entered. Obviously, most of these buildings have been completely remodeled over the years. Now to the other side of the street where I began from.
This is where the first werewolf killing takes place. The main character leaves Chad's, walks aross the street, is a bit confused, and then one of the drunk's from Chad's confronts him about not purchasing a drink for him. They both fight in a small alley, there is a werewolf transformation, and the drunk is killed.
I was doing this off of memory and it is probably the best I could have got anyway. I did not look too hard, but it seemed to me the small alley way they would have fought in has been built over. Again, this whole side has been remodeled in such a way that it is hard to tell very much. One can see the house on the other side of the street is the same one, but notice that the windows are no longer there. I will finish this one up tomorrow. In the meantime, check out the following link:The Chad's Place website
