Most people know that the very popular movie The Hunger Games (2012) filmed many of its scenes in the mountains near Asheville, North Carolina. Dupont State Forest, in fact, is home to the Hunger Games Unofficial Fan Tours. The list of movies filmed in Central Appalachia, though, shows the versatility and breadth of the region’s charms. Here is an incomplete list of some of the best movies made in the seven-state area and the cities they used as settings:
Georgia
I’d Climb the Highest Mountain (1951): Helen
Deliverance (1972): Tellulah Gorge
Smokey and the Bandit (1977): Redan, Stone Mountain
Little Darlings (1980): Hard Labor Creek State Park, Rutledge
My Cousin Vinny (1992): Alto, Monticello
Remember the Titans (2000): Atlanta, Covington, Marietta, Rome, Sprayberry
Sweet Home Alabama (2002): Fayetteville, Starr’s Mill
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013): Atlanta
Kentucky
The Kentuckian (1955): Corbin, London
The Flim-Flam Man (1967): Irvine
Coal Miner’s Daughter (1980): Jenkins, Van Lear, Whitesburg
Next of Kin (1988): Hazard
Fire Down Below (1997): Hazard
North Carolina
Thunder Road (1958): Asheville
Being There (1979): Asheville (including the Biltmore Estate)
Firestarter (1984): Chimney Rock, Lake Lure
Dirty Dancing (1987): Asheville, Lake Lure
Bull Durham (1988): Asheville
The Hunt for Red October (1990): Lake James
The Last of the Mohicans (1992): Asheville, Blue Ridge Parkway, Chimney Rock Park, Pisgah National Forest, Weaverville
The Fugitive (1993): Blue Ridge Parkway, Bryson City, Dillsboro, Sylva
Nell (1994): Fontana Lake, Franklin, Robbinsville
My Fellow Americans (1996): Asheville (including the Biltmore Estate), Black Mountain, Marshall, Waynesville
Digging to China (1997): Cherokee
The Green Mile (1999): Blowing Rock, Blue Ridge Parkway
28 Days (2000): Asheville, Black Mountain, Wilmington
Hannibal (2001): Asheville (including the Biltmore Estate)
The Hunger Games (2012): Barnardsville, Black Mountain, Cedar Mountain, Dupont State Forest, Pisgah National Forest, Shelby
South Carolina
Deliverance (1972): Chatooga River, Lake Jocassee
The Abyss (1989): Gaffney
Coupe de Ville (1990): Greenville, Spartanburg
Sleeping with the Enemy (1991): Clinton, Spartanburg
Walker Payne (2006): Gaffney
Leatherheads (2008): Boiling Springs, Greenville, Greer, Tigerville, Traveler’s Rest
Tennessee
A Walk in the Spring Rain (1970): Blount and Sevier Counties
The Evil Dead (1979): Morristown, Hamblen County
The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia (1981): Chattanooga
Starman (1984): Chattanooga
Big Business (1987): Campbell County
Delta Force 2 (1989): Carter and Elizabethton Counties
Days of Thunder (1990): Bristol
Love Potion #9 (1990): Chattanooga
Cobb (1994): Chattanooga
The Jungle Book (1994): Fall Creek Falls State Park
The Specialist (1994): Rock Island State Park
Box of Moonlight (1995): Knoxville
The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (1995): Fall Creek Falls State Park
Virginia
Coal Miner’s Daughter (1980): Wise County
The Four Seasons (1981): Charlottesville
Crazy People (1990): Roanoke
True Colors (1991): Charlottesville
What About Bob? (1991): Roanoke, Smith Mountain Lake
Sommersby (1993): Bath and Charlotte Counties, Lexington
Major Payne (1995): Charlottesville
Kingpin (1996): Shenandoah Valley
Hearts in Atlantis (2001): Staunton
War of the Worlds (2005): Rockbridge County
Evan Almighty (2007): Charlottesville, Staunton, Waynesboro
J. Edgar (2011): Warrenton
West Virginia
Fools’ Parade (1971): Moundsville
Sweet Dreams (1985): Martinsburg
Lassie (1994): Hinton, Sandstone Falls
Mothman (2000): Point Pleasant
Gods and Generals (2003): Berkeley Springs, Charles Town, Harper’s Ferry, Martinsburg
Super Size Me (2004): Beckley
Win a Date with Tad Hamilton! (2004): Fayetteville, Grandview, Kanawha County
We Are Marshall (2006): Huntington, Kenova
Unstoppable (2010): Benwood, Follansbee, Wheeling