Top 10 Horror Movies Made In Oregon To Haunt You On Halloween

If you’re looking to add a little extra spice to the pumpkin season or add a few ghoulish groans to the gruesomeness of Halloween, movies can help set the mood and provide inspiration to make Halloween 2024 next-level scary.

Keep it local with movies filmed in Oregon where the magnificent landscape, grey skies, and rainy days have been inspiring directors to film horror movies at several locations across the state for decades.

If you hate being scared out of your mind but can’t not look, here are the best Oregon-filmed horror movies to keep you riveted to your sofa:

10The Haunting of Sarah Hardy (1989)

Somewhat contrived- that reflects in lower ratings on review sites, this made-for-TV mystery & thriller was shot in and around the Pittock Mansion in Portland, the same eerie place the controversial slasher Unhinged was filmed 7 years prior.

An heiress (Sela Ward) is haunted by thoughts of her mother who committed suicide, thoughts encouraged by her husband (Michael Woods) and actress friend (Morgan Fairchild) who try to drive her crazy.

There’s lots of skulking around corners in silk lingerie and masses of fog to support the stiff performances that at times feel a bit like a soap opera.

9The Final Terror (1983)

More Friday the 13^th than a slasher, four couples and a goofy guide go camping around the redwoods of Southern Oregon and Northern California.

Darryl Hannah stars in the production that features a homicidal woman with a neck fetish and a madman who looks like he stepped out of Deliverance. Andrew Davis- who went on to make The Fugitive and Holes, directs this movie that ends on a weird note.

8Cabin Fever (2016)

It’s debatable whether Eli Roth’s 2002 horror comedy was worth remaking but the make-up department in the 2016 version does manage to create a grizzly impression of rotting skin on the group of college friends who fall prey to a flesh-eating virus while on a camping vacation.

Filmed in Portland and Molalla with actors Gage Golightly and Matthey Daddario, the remake has been favorably compared with Portlander Gus Van Sant’s 1999 Psycho remake as an academic exercise.

7The Rental (2020)

An indie slasher that blends drama and horror as relationships disintegrate, director Dave Franco co-wrote this thriller featuring Jeremy Allen White from “The Bear” and Alison Brie from “Mad Men.”

Set in a rental home at the SeaWinds Estate in Bandon, the movie’s storyline centers around two vacationing couples who realize their host is watching them. Part of the tension is the realness of the people portrayed by the actors who face some sinister stuff.

6Untraceable (2008)

Since the movie was shot in 2008, the internet has got far darker and cybercrimes are now more prevalent.

But in this crime thriller- with several scenes shot across the Portland area, an FBI agent, Special Agent Jennifer Marsh played by Diane Lane tries to track down a serial killer who shares videos of his victims online.

Portland’s Broadway Bridge, Burnside Skatepark, and City Hall are just a few familiar landmarks featured in the movie. Less gory than Saw, but with some thrilling twists.

5Spiral (2007)

Critics panned it, audiences loved it. The most Portland-centered movie on the list, Portland native Joel David Moore co-wrote, directed, and headlines this psychological thriller about a disturbed telemarketer by day, and painter by night.

The gloominess of the rainy Oregon winters echoes the murky shadows of the protagonist’s mind.

More psychological thriller than horror, with a little female nudity, profanity, and violence, Amber Tamblyn and The Number 23 both feature in the plot twists that saw this movie win a Gold Vision Award at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival.

4The Mortuary Collection (2019)

If morticians could talk they may well sound like the eccentric one who recounts some weird and macabre encounters.

A “Help Wanted” sign brings a woman into the picture and the mortician, played by Clancy Brown, tells her the tales of his experiences. The mortuary in the movie is in Astoria and can still be found there.

Winner of a 2020 Chainsaw award and several others, the movie’s gory special effects spice things up and lead to a twist in the end.

3Behind The Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon (2006)

Freddy Krueger fans may recognize actor Rober Englund who stars in this mini-cult classic, shot in Banks.

This witty mockumentary sees a documentary crew shoot the plans of the next great psychopathic killer to fulfill his dream of a reign of terror in a quiet town.

With a tiny budget of less than $70k, the wannabe killer lays out his mentors and murderous ambitions. The movie hints at Scream vibes, but it’s an original take on a slasher movie.

2Green Room (2015)

The nail-bitingly tense atmosphere lurks throughout and pervades every second until the end. After witnessing a murder at a coastal neo-Nazi skinhead bar, a punk rock band fights for survival.

This grungy Portland-filmed slasher features a sinister makeup-department-enhanced Patrick Stewart with people on both sides being picked off in increasingly gruesome ways. The epitome of horror, the movie throws some anxiety-laced adrenaline-fueled curve balls.

1The Ring (2002)

A definitive horror with a rare interesting plot line, a journalist investigates a mysterious videotape that seems to cause the death of anyone one week to the day after viewing.

The main character is a Seattle-based journalist who travels to sites across Washington, and one in Newport, Oregon.

Partially filmed in Astoria, the Pacific Northwest serves as a backdrop for the disappointing sequel that never came close to the ground-breaking original that features the Yaquina Bay lighthouse in Newport.

Star Naomi Watts also voices Lilo in Lilo & Stitch, but this is a very different role with an eerie atmosphere that still makes fans jump after multiple viewings. The Ring was the winner of 3 2003 Saturn awards including best horror film for good reason.

No, we didn’t forget The Shining or the dark fantasy-horror, Coraline. These two horror movies are featured in our 10 Greatest Movies Filmed in Oregon even though The Shining features little more than a few shots of the Timberline Lodge parading as the creepy Overlook Hotel and Coraline is an animated movie, filmed in a Hillsboro warehouse.

Halloween may be a good time to lock up your black cat and any other roaming ghosts while you watch these horror movies on the edge of your seat.

Happy Halloween!