So many '50s movie monsters are lurking inside this cave.
"The thought of a cardboard villain like you conquering the world — you could barely manage a cave in Bronson Canyon!"
— Dr. Zarkendorf, Plan 7 of 9 from Outer Space
Bronson Canyon and Caves is a section of Los Angeles' Griffith Park. It looks rugged and desolate, but is actually reasonably convenient to get to, which has made it a popular shooting location for movies and television, especially westerns and science-fiction.
This reached the point of cliché some time in the 1950s and '60s, as seemingly every low-budget B-movie would film there, and more recent uses of the location will usually be a form of Homage. The canyon's reputation has also made it a somewhat popular tourist attraction for fans of this kind of movie.
Wikipedia has its own article
on the subject, with some information on its use in movies and television.
A subtrope of Hey, It's That Place! and, often, California Doubling. Also see BBC Quarry and Kirk's Rock. Down L.A. Drain is another frequently-used location in Los Angeles, though usually to very different effect.
Its use as a filming location dates back to the silent era, making it Older Than Television. No relation to Charles Bronson, though there's some speculation that the actor (born Charles Buchinsky) took his screen name from Bronson Avenue, for which the canyon is also named.
Examples
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Films — Live-Action
- In 2006's Abominable, the Bronson Caves are used for the Yeti's lair.
- In the alternate ending to Army of Darkness, Ash goes into a deep hibernation in the cave, hoping to wake up again in his own time. One of the more self-aware uses of this location.
- The Beast of Yucca Flats uses the canyon and caves (which aren't very flat at all) to substitute for the title location. Filming at the actual Yucca Flats, a nuclear test site in Nevada, has historically been a very bad idea.
- In Blood Diner, George attempts to murder someone inside Bronson Cave, but his would-be victim is a skilled martial artist and defends himself. Unfortunately, he's taken out by a falling stalactite.
- The Bride and the Beast uses the cave as a standin for a cave somewhere in the jungles of Darkest Africa, where a troop of killer gorillas make their lair.
- Butt Boy used the Caves as the inside of Chip's rectum.
- In 1957's The Cyclops, the monster's lair is in the Bronson Caves.
- Used for exterior shots in Earth vs. the Spider, although most of the interior cave scenes in that movie were filmed at the much more spectacular Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico.
- The title character in Eegah! lived in Bronson Cave.
- In the Charles Bronson film The Evil That Men Do, Bronson Canyon is used as an Abandoned Mine.
- The 1936 Flash Gordon serial filmed exteriors for the planet Mongo at Bronson Canyon. One of the entrances to the Bronson Caves is even present in the miniature effects models.
- In Hail, Caesar!, the titular Film Within a Film shoots the "Well of Jehoshaphat" sequence at Bronson Canyon. Another self-aware usage of the location.
- In The Human Tornado, while on the run from the Sheriff Bentley's posse, Dolemite drives through the Bronson Caves and sets up an ambush out the other side.
- An early appearance in the 1930s movie I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang, where the canyon is used to represent the desolate hillside where the chain gang do most of their work, breaking up rocks to build a highway.
- The Venusian monster from It Conquered the World doesn't succeed in conquering the world thanks to lack of budget, but It Conquered a Cave in Bronson Canyon wouldn't have been an impressive title.
- The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra, being an Affectionate Parody of '50s sci-fi, is mostly shot here.
- 1955's King Dinosaur was filmed in over seven days at Bronson Canyon, as well as nearby Benedict Canyon.
- In 1959's Missile to the Moon, Bronson Canyon (including the bushes) is used for the surface of Earth's Moon.
Rifftrax: Real nice day on the Moon! Must be a high pressure system.
- In Munchies, Bronson Canyon is used for an archeological dig site in Peru.
- Night of the Blood Beast is mostly shot in the canyon, and the blood beast himself lurks in the cave.
- Parts of Octaman are filmed around Bronson Canyon. During the film's climax, the titular monster hides out in the caves.
- The cave is used for the Eldritch Location in Palm Springs, and is the key to the movie's "Groundhog Day" Loop.
- In the 1962 western Ride the High Country, the sets for the gold mining town of Coarsegold were built at Bronson Canyon.
- Robot Monster was mainly shot here, with the title character making his lair in the caves.
- In The Searchers, the film's climax, between Ethan and Debbie, was filmed at Bronson Canyon.
- In Sleeper, Miles and Luna venture into Bronson Caves and discover a 200-year-old Volkswagon (which still runs) and copy of the New York Times from 1990 with the headline "Pope's Wife Gives Birth to Twins."
- The location was used for the site of the Rura Penthe mines in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.
- Teenage Caveman is mostly shot at the canyon.
- The 2011 movie version of The Whisperer in Darkness shot a few scenes here, making prominent use of the cave. This was another self-aware use of the location, as the movie is made to look like a 1930s sci-fi picture.
Live-Action TV
- The mouth of the cave was used to represent the entrance to the Bat Cave on Batman in one of the canyon's more mainstream appearances.
- In Quark, Bronson Canyon is used for the battle between Quark and his Evil Twin.
- From across the Star Trek franchise:
- In Star Trek: The Original Series episode "Bread and Circuses", Bronson Canyon is the site of where Kirk & Co. encounter the rebel slaves.
- Featured as both a Bajoran settlement and the planet Kesprytt III on Star Trek: The Next Generation.
- Used in the Star Trek: Voyager episode "The 37's" for a planet in the Delta Quadrant where the crew encounter several humans from the 1930's, but Flash Gordon is not one of them.
- Twin Peaks filmed a few scenes here to represent the local Owl Cave, where a very important petroglyph is discovered. The cave mouth is draped in so much foliage that it's kind of hard to recognize, however, since the arid canyon doesn't exactly resemble the Douglas fir forests where the show is set.
Web Videos
- James Rolfe made a comprehensive video about all the films and TV series shot at Bronson Canyon and even recorded parts of his video narration here on location, in addition to collecting a lot of B-Roll for visual reference.
