Zodiac




Zodiac was released into theaters on March 2nd, 2007. Filming locations include Long Beach, Napa, San Francisco and Santa Clarita, Ca. It was directed by David Fincher. To say Fincher is a talented director would be a bit of an understatement. Aside from Zodiac, he's directed such films as Alien 3, Fight Club, The Game, Gone Girl and Se7en as well as a large number of late 80's/early 90's music videos and my personal favorite Nike commercial (Instant Karma). Zodiac features an impressive cast, some of which include Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, Robert Downey Jr., Brian Cox and Elias Koteas. The film features some good music from the time period when the murders occurred, Hurdy Gurdy Man by Donovan and Baker Street by Gerry Rafferty to name a couple. The films first DVD release was on July 24th, 2007. The first time I watched it I was captivated. It was based on actual case files and I think that's a large part of the films appeal, the fact that it was so true to the real life events of the case. For anyone who'd like to know all the details of the case, I highly recommend Robert Graysmith's book  Zodiac. Graysmith is who Jake Gyllenhaal portrays in the film. During a recent trip to northern California I was able to visit a couple locations from the film, which were also two of the real life murder locations from the Zodiac case.


Mike Mageau's house - 3964 Gundry Ave. Long Beach, Ca. 90807

The 1,404 square foot house was built in 1941.


2022


Mr. Ed's Burgers & Fries - 4390 Atlantic Ave. Long Beach, Ca. 90807
(George's 50's Diner)

The structure has been there since at least the early 1950's. It can also be seen in the movie A Cinderella Story.


2021


Darlene Ferrin & Mike Mageau are attacked - 30570 Bouquet Canyon Rd. Santa Clarita, Ca. 91390

I'd like to thank Film Oblivion for sharing this location.


All "Now" pictures taken in 2023.




Bryan Hartnell and Cecelia Shepard are attacked - Knoxville Rd. Napa, Ca. 94558
(Lake Berryessa, Oak Shores)

The attack occurred on September 27th, 1969. Hartnell survived eight stab wounds to the back but Shepard died as a result of her injuries. The lake is over 20,000 acres when full. It's approximately 15.5 miles long and 3 miles wide. Near the dam on the southeast side of the reservoir is an open bell-mouth spillway. The pipe has a straight drop of two-hundred feet. In 1997, a woman was killed after being sucked into the spillway.


All "Now" pictures taken in 2019.



Paul Stine shot and killed - Cherry St. and Washington St. San Francisco, Ca. 94118

The murder occurred on October 11th, 1969. 


All "Now" pictures taken in 2019.


5 comments:

  1. Fincher helmed another masterpiece.

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  2. The building used as the TV studio is the intro to broadcasting building of Mt. San Antonio Community College and is located at: 1100 N Grand Ave, Walnut, CA 91789.

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  3. The Mr Ed's drive in is not accurate, unless you mean the actual movie one, the one you provided is 8 hours away from the crime scene. So unless they had a specific food taste, it's not the actual address in real life. Sorry if you mean the diner they used for the movie.

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    Replies
    1. Yes these are all locations from the movie, not the actual locations as they pertained to the Zodiac case.

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