Louisville is no Hollywood, but we do have a few films to our name. Whether their filmmakers were drawn to the area by Kentuckys tax incentive program, the iconic Churchill Downs or familial ties, were just excited to see our local haunts on the big screen.
Weve got some biggies, like the classic Bond film Goldfinger, several starring well-known actors and indie films by local filmmakers that make us proud.
Now, grab some popcorn and enjoy the list. Some of them might surprise you.
Mom and Dad (2017)
Local filming location: Louisville
Yep, Nicolas Cage shot a film in Louisville. In this horror comedy, the parents (in this case, ol’ Niccy and Selma Blair), are out to murder their own kids — as are all the adults in town. You might recognize St. Xavier High School in the film, as well as DeSales High School.
Photo via Armory FilmsEight Men Out (1988)
Local filming location: Churchill Downs Railroad Station
“Eight Men Out” is a classic sports film about the infamous Black Sox cheating scandal at the 1919 World Series. Scenes at a New York racetrack were actually filmed in Louisville.
Photo via Orion PicturesGoldfinger (1964)
Local filming location: Bowman Field, Fort Knox
The plot of this classic Bond flick centers around a plan to steal from Fort Knox, shots of which, of course, feature frequently in the movie. The Louisville connection is Bowman Field, where the character Pussy Galore’s team of female pilots meets with James Bond.
Photo via Eon ProductionsStripes (1981)
Local filming location: Downtown Louisville, River Road, George Rogers Clark Memorial Bridge
The first few minutes of this Bill Murray war comedy are set in a drive around downtown Louisville. You’ll recognize River Road, the George Rogers Clark Memorial Bridge, and what used to be the Stewart Dry Goods Company Building (501 S. 4th Street, now an Embassy Suites.)
Photo via Columbia PicturesSecretariat (2010)
Local filming location: Churchill Downs, Wagner’s Pharmacy
You can’t get away with filming a movie about a Kentucky Derby award-winning horse and not film at Churchill Downs. “Secretariat” was Disney’s *ahem* not totally accurate biopic about a horse and its owner, and it included lots of filming at the historic race track — and plenty of Louisville extras.
Photo via DisneyDevil’s Revenge (2019)
Local filming location: West Broadway, other Louisville locations
William Shatner stars in this horror film that’s filled with recognizable shots of Louisville, including Jefferson Community and Technical College. Here’s the description: “A down-on-his-luck archaeologist returns from a cave expedition that contains a cursed relic that’s also a portal to Hell. He discovers that the only way to stop the curse on his family is to go back to the cave and destroy the relic.”
Photo via Cleopatra EntertainmentRust Creek (2018)
Local filming location: Louisville
Local filmmaker Stu Pollard is behind this thrilling film about a woman who gets lost in the sticks while on her way to a job interview and is subsequently assaulted by two meth-making creeps. It’s filmed throughout Kentucky and Louisville, including scenes in Fern Creek, St. Matthews, Floyds Fork and Iroquois Park, according to the Courier Journal.
Photo via LunacyThe Art of Self-Defense (2019)
Local filming location: Louisville
”The Art of Self-Defense” is a dark comedy film starring Jesse Eisenberg, who can often be found in Bloomington, Indiana — not far from Louisville — where his wife’s family is from. A review for the film in Cinema St. Louis said that the location crew deserved to be praised for “unearthing such marvelously banal and shopworn spaces.” Ouch. It features familiar parking garages and shotgun homes.
Photo via End CueSimpatico (1999)
Local filming location: Churchill Downs
”Simpatico,” based on the Sam Shepard play of the same name, stars Jeff Bridges and Sharon Stone and takes place partly in Kentucky, revolving around shady characters in the horse racing scene. Churchill Downs is a fixture in the story, and it’s also where the movie actually filmed.
Photo via Emotion PicturesElizabethtown (2005)
Local filming locations: The Brown Hotel, Highland Middle School, Cave Hill Cemetery, Fourth Street Live!, the Cherokee Park tunnel on I-64
A number of big-name stars, including Orlando Bloom and Kirsten Dunst came to Kentucky to film this rom-com. Local filming spots include the Brown Hotel, Highland Middle School and Cave Hill Cemetery. Louisville band My Morning Jacket has a song on the soundtrack, “Where to Begin,” and plays the Lynyrd Skynyrd classic “Free Bird” in the movie as a fictional band called Ruckus.
Photo via Paramount Pictures / Cruise/Wagner Productions / Vinyl FilmsAbby (1974)
Local filming location: Louisville
This movie, which some claim is a rip-off of “The Exorcist,” is a “blaxploitation” horror movie about a woman possessed by an African sex demon. Director William Girdler, who also directed “Sheba, Baby,” was a Louisvillian, so it’s no surprise that the city shows up throughout his movies.
Photo via American International Pictures (AIP) / Mid-America Pictures / Hollywood West EntertainmentAnd Then I Go (2017)
Local filming location: Louisville
This film, which features Justin Long of “Alvin and the Chipmunks” and Melanie Lynskey from “Yellow Jackets,” is based on the novel “Project X” by Jim Shepard. The book is about two outcast students in junior high, one of whom is planning a terrorist attack at the school.
Photo via Two Flints / LunacySaratoga (1937)
Local filming location: Churchill Downs
A number of famous names from Hollywood’s Golden Era, including Clark Gable, Jean Harlow and Lionel Barrymore appear in this rom-com about a horseman’s daughter (Harlow) falling in love with a bookie (Gable.) Louisville makes an appearance via Churchill Downs.
Photo via Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)Tammy (2014)
Local filming location: Louisville skyline, Gene Snyder Freeway
This Melissa McCarthy movie, which also features Kathy Bates, Susan Sarandon, and Allison Janney, is about McCarthy’s titular character taking a road trip with her grandmother after she gets fired and learns her husband is unfaithful. (Spoiler: she decides to relocate to Louisville in the end.) There are quick shots of the Louisville skyline and the Gene Snyder Freeway. You’ll also see a restaurant and a bar that were both set in the Louisville area but filmed elsewhere.
Photo via RatPac-Dune Entertainment / Gary Sanchez Productions / New Line CinemaThe Insider (1999)
Local filming locations: duPont Manual High School, The Seelbach, Hurstbourne, Seneca Park
After Jeffrey Wigand, an industry insider who exposed Big Tobacco to the public, was fired from his job at tobacco corporation Brown & Williamson, he worked for a few years at duPont Manual High School, where many scenes in this movie were filmed. You’ll also see the Seelbach Hotel, plus shots in Wigand’s own former neighborhoods of Seneca Park and Hurstbourne.
Photo via Touchstone Pictures / Forward Pass / Blue Lion EntertainmentSheba, Baby (1975)
Local filming location: The Kentucky State Fair, the Belvedere (Riverfront Plaza,) Main Street, the Louisville Water Tower, the Louisville International Airport, 4975 Shelbyville Road
Pam Grier and Louisville are the co-stars in this famous Blaxploitation film. There are plenty of local locations you’ll recognize, including the Kentucky State Fair, the Belvedere (Riverfront Plaza,) Main Street downtown, the Louisville Water Tower and what is now the Louisville International Airport. A Burger Chef, which has since been replaced by an Arby’s, also makes an appearance.
Photo via American International Pictures (AIP) / Mid-America Pictures / Hollywood West EntertainmentRiver Runs Red (2018)
Local filming location: Louisville
Back in 2018, you might have remembered when George Lopez and Taye Diggs were in town filming a movie. “River Runs Red” was the result, about a Black judge who seeks justice through vengeance when his son is murdered during a traffic stop. The movie filmed throughout the city, including at Copper & Kings and UofL’s Brandeis School of Law.
Photo via CinedigmThe Clovehitch Killer (2018)
Local filming location: First Baptist Church Middletown
”The Clovehitch Killer,” starring Dylan McDermott, is a serial killer flick based on the real-life BTK murderer. It’s set in a small Kentucky town, but some of it was actually filmed in Louisville.
Photo via End CueMasquerade (2021)
Local filming location: Louisville
Filmmaker Shane Taylor, whose family started Peerless Distilling Co., directed this thriller starring “Shake It Up” star Bella Thorne. He filmed the movie — about a girl whose home is invaded by art thieves — throughout Louisville, including at Peerless.
Photo via Racer EntertainmentI Am Ali (2014)
Local filming location: Louisville
“I Am Ali” is a special Muhammad Ali documentary in that it uses personal audio journals that Ali recorded himself. It also features interviews with those closest to him to paint a more intimate portrait of the boxer.
Photo via Dutch National ArchivesDeath Tunnel (2005)
Local filming location: Waverly Hills Sanatorium
Set in a Kentucky tuberculosis hospital, “Death Tunnel” is actually filmed in a Kentucky tuberculosis hospital: Waverly Hills, of course. In the horror film (because, obviously), five college women are locked in the hospital as part of an initiation stunt. The film is named after Waverly Hill’s body chute.
Photo via Dax Productions/Twintalk Entertainment/Plus Entertainment50 to 1 (2014)
Local filming location: Churchill Downs
This movie, which tells the story of Mine That Bird overcoming very long odds to win the 2009 Kentucky Derby, was filmed in part at Churchill Downs (because obviously.)
Photo via Ten FurlongsDon’t Tell a Soul (2020)
Local filming location: South End, Prospect
Many shots for this movie, in which Rainn Wilson’s character is stuck down a well, were actually filmed on a specially-designed platform, but the whole of it was filmed in the Louisville area, especially in Prospect and the South End. Many of the film crew and the extras were Louisville locals, as are the producers.
Photo via Unbridled Films / Mangano Movies & MediaKeep Your Distance (2005)
Local filming location: Louisville, 840 WHAS
Before local filmmaker Stu Pollard made “Rust Creek,” he filmed “Keep Your Distance” a thriller about a radio host from — you guessed it — Louisville, whose marriage seems perfect but which is actually crumbling, as he sets his eyes on a “curious stranger” named Melody Carpenter. IMDB says this movie was filmed at more than 100 locations around Louisville (including Churchill Downs). Gil Bellows, the main character, works at a radio station that is actually 840 WHAS in Louisville, but which is not-so-sneakily-named 84 WHAS in the film.
Photo via Blue & Grey Film Ventures
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