Hi, I was just wondering if anyone could name a film or two set in New Orleans, it has a great atmosphere which translates beautifully on screen. I'm looking for Horror/Voodoo/Romance/Thriller,... anything you can think of!
Anything will be much appreciated;...
Thanks
Hi Desert-Djinn ~
You might try Interview with the Vampire and The Skeleton Key. The Skeleton Key is making the rounds on HBO right now, in fact. I just saw it the other day and plan to see it again soon with a New Orleans native! It's a good one.
Film Is Sport(tm)
A few movies set in New Orleans:
"The Big Easy" (Romance/Crime Drama)
"The Cincinnati Kid" (Classic Steve McQueen Drama)
"Obsession" (Thriller) ....A personal favorite
"Tightrope" (Thriller)
"Angel Heart" (Voodoo/Crime Drama ....But shoo the kiddies out of the room. Quite explicit.)
"King Creole" (Early Elvis)
"Panic in the Streets" (1950 Thriller)
Here's a few more
"No Mercy" (Crime drama with Richard Gere and Kim Basinger)
"Heaven's Prisoners" (Alec Baldwin and Teri Hatcher, also a crime drama)
"A love song for Bobby Long" (Travolta and Johansen, sort of slow, but a near perfect look at pre-Katrina New Orleans)
Pretty Baby, 1978, known for child-prostitution elements, but also such New Orleans atmosphere as jazz/ragtime, folk superstition (bird in the house means death) and a little voodoo (Black voodoo priestess painting Violet's legs for some kind of divination..)
shareSome more of my Nawlins faves (grab a shrimp poboy!):
Manhattan
Nashville
Chicago
Kansas City
Buffalo Girls
My Own Private Idaho
SLC Punk
Born in East LA
On Golden Pond
Flight Plan
Mission to Mars
Have you seen Eve's Bayou? I'm not sure if it takes place in New Orleans, but it's set in Louisiana. Plus, there's voodoo...
You might also want to check out No Mercy with Kim Basinger and Richard Gere.
Fulci's classic "The Beyond" was filmed primarily in New Orleans.
shareStoryville--James Spader Drama Suspense
Zandalee--Nicholas Cage Drama Romance
runaway jury
and there was a black exploitation film shot in the 60"s i think it ws called Willie Dynamite
'Requiem' for New Orleans
Mandingo
Easy Rider [second mention]
a bunch of titles here:
http://tinyurl.com/2qyazy
I'm surprised no one mentioned "A Streetcar Named Desire" :)
Angel Heart...the best New Orleans themed movie ever!
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One of the Roger Moore Bond movies "Live and Let Die" (1973) filmed in N.O and nearby locales.
shareThe 1st Roger Moore Bond..
"The Cheque's in the mail"
I agree that "Angel Heart" is the best film I've seen that is set in New Orleans, especially for the horror genre.
Another movie that I saw recently is "Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh",
although it's not a great film (not as bad as it sounds though), it is set in New Orleans during Mardi Gras, the DJ "Kingfisher" who you hear throughout the movie talks about the rain (it's raining), and questions whether
the levee's will hold out through the storm, implying this was a concern every time it stormed. He also makes reference to the police clearing the blacks out of the french quarter after midnight. I saw this after Katrina and showed that the levee's were of great concern years before Katrina, a fact that I'm now aware of. Also the reference to the segregation, and the negative treatment of the poor in New Orleans also rang true to what I heard after Katrina. It's not a great movie, but may be worth the watch for the New Orleans location, and Veronica Cartwright is always good in scary movies!
Another film not mentioned, though not of the horror genre is "Easy Rider"
which has some great scenes in New Orleans; Peter Fonda & Dennis Hopper go to a brothel ("House of Blue Lights"), and pick up two prostitutes played by
Karen Black & Toni Basil and take them out on the streets to see the Mardi Gras festivities. There are real scenes of the parade with shots of the legendary "Mardi Gras Indians" in their elaborate costumes. Later the four of them take Acid and end up in a cemetary; all the graves are above ground because of the sea level (water not far underground), this makes for a wild acid trip scene with some great camera work and editing. One of my all time favorite films! I never made it to New Orleans but always planned to, the city is unlike any other as far as different cultures, the birthplace of blues and jazz! Now I'm afraid it will never be the same. Sorry for the long reply, I tend to go into detail even when I try to make it short, lol!
I realize this is a little late in response but left out from some of the previous replies are: JFK, The Pelican Brief, Johnny Handsome, The Big Easy, if I think of any others I'll add them to the list. N.O. is THE most sensual and atmospheric location to film in-period.
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