San Francisco has long been used as the ideal scenic backdrop for many iconic film and television productions for our striking architecture, eye-catching hills, and stunning seaside views. A popular genre our storied city lends itself to is horror, and there have been several legendary spooky productions made and set here that could not have been done anywhere else.
See our list for the best scary and suspenseful movies based in our Victorian-chic city, so that you can feel a sense of San Francisco pride along with some eerie thrills.
See also: San Francisco Locations Seen In Film And Television
The Birds is a quintessential Bay Area classic from our own masterful Alfred Hitchcock, who truly had a special adoration with our city. This iconic movie is set in Bodega Bay just north of the city and follows Melanie Daniels, played the legend Tippi Hedren, as she tries to understand why this seaside town is being plagued by vicious attacking birds.
While the premise and effects may be hard to suspend your disbelief, it still makes for one of the best early scary must-sees to appreciate both the ingenuity of cinema and the coastal views of our Bay.
Using the real Zodiac Killer's Bay Area murders between 1968 and 1983, David Fincher creates an absolutely captivating film that keeps you on the edge of your seat. You will get hooked by the intense performances by Jake Gyllenhaal and Robert Downey Jr. as they attempt to uncover who the enigmatic perpetrator is, also educating you with a perplexing and dark period in our local history.
Another Hitchcock classic, Vertigo remains as one of the best films of all time, and it has contribution of the setting of San Francisco to thank for such status. Catch views of the Golden Gate Bridge, Mission San Francisco de Asis, Fort Point, the Legion of Honor, and more as you follow a private investigator around the city to study a suspicious woman, all with some groundbreaking camera work.
Of course there has to be a film done about our own eerily looming Karl the Fog! By John Carpenter and starring horror mother-daughter scream queen duo Jamie Lee Curtis and Janet Leigh, the pair navigate around the Point Reyes Lighthouse, Bodega Bay, and more to escape a killer fog invoked by a haunted ship.
For those who enjoy convoluted plots that continue to build with plenty of twists and turns, The Game is a classic for you. Here, a wealthy San Francisco banker participates in a deadly immersive challenge that begins to blur his sense of reality and trust.
This is a suspenseful film starring Michael Douglas and Sean Penn that will have you just as confused as the main character until the end, but at least you have some of our local landmarks in the background to recognize.
Little do people know that the famous genre-defining 90s slasher was actually filmed around the North Bay in Santa Rosa and Napa! The fictional town of Woodsboro uses real locations, such as Santa Rosa High School as the characters' school, establishing the seemingly quaint and scenic town that lends perfectly for a relentlessly disruptive Ghostface.
Down in South Bay is perhaps one of the most globally well-known haunted houses- the Winchester Mystery House. This popular tourist destination received its silver screen moment in a 2018 film that elucidates why the baffling heiress Sarah Winchester (played by Helen Mirren) chose to create such a confusing and hazardous property layout. Filmed on-site, this movie will inspire you to take a day trip down south to view the estate in person (with the possibility of running into some ghostly tenants).
Whether it's for Halloween or just want a genuine fright, these movies will inspire you to sightsee and learn more about our dazzling cinematic and mystifyingly macabre histories!
See also: The Most Essential San Francisco Bay Area Podcasts To Listen To
Photography by: Sarah Chambers/Unsplash
