filming location


I am a big fan of this often overlooked gem from Wes Craven, and was wondering if there is anyone out there that knows the exact location of the farm that was the centerpiece location in the film. I was told by a source that most of the movie was shot in and around Waxahachie, texas, about 30 miles south of Dallas, but haven't been able to contact anyone who knows where the farm was. Can anyone help? Also looking forward to a decent DVD release with extras.

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You are correct, this film was shot entirely in Wax-a-coochie, TX. I know this cuz I was there. It's my 1st & only forey into the major motion picture world...in grand style with Sharon Stone's fist major appearance, nonetheless! Yeah, yeah, my arm is hurting from patting myself on the back...

I'm still waiting for the DVD release as well so I can make them personal gifts to my brother & father who were also in the film (anyone remember the 2 kids fishing off the bridge when Susan Buckner's character was jogging and the irate father grabbed them for jogging along with her??? yup, that was me, my bro, & my dad!) My bro & I also shared major camera time in close-ups during the church scene during Ernest Borgnine's speech..."If thine eye offends thee, pluck it out. If thine own hand offends thee, then in God's name, cut it off!" You know how many times we heard that at 1am in the dead of winter in that cold-ass, non-insulated one room church house??? Good times...

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I think that's really cool that you and your brother and father had roles in the film. I know that the scene where Maren Jensen and Susan Buckner go into town to get gas, and Susan is walking around a farmers market was filmed in Bardwell, and the scene with Susan and Jeff East coming out of a movie theatre in town was shot in nearby Ennis. If you have any information on the farmhouse used in the film, it would be helpful. Also, the location of the one room church.

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I'm not sure where the farmhouse is but I will find out. I'm sure it is in Ellis County.
I was there for the filming of the mustang explosion and some other scenes.
we rented a house on the "ND Ranch" property where this scene was filmed. It is near what is now the defunkt Super Collider Project outside of Waxahachie.
They had several mustangs and they blew it up around 2 in the morning. We provided the crew with water and things for their RV's. It was very exciting to me. I still have a "call Sheet" which lists all the actors and what time they were due on the set, what effects were called for (foggy windows, etc. because they had been making out in the car) and I still have the charred mustang emblem from the car grill I retrieved from the site.

Other scenes such as the snake in the bathtub were filmed in an insulated warehouse on Howard Road on the way to Lake Waxahachie. They used a stripper from Dallas who used an actual snake in her act and was comfortable with it. If you notice in the bathtub scene, the bubbles do not completely cover the actress and you can see her bathing suit. My friend Gayla was involved in this film. Her fathers hands are those hands you see in Sharon Stones dream sequence with the spider and on the video/DVD cover box art. I am wondering if that is you that posted the earlier reply? The film made it's world premier at the Ennis theatre which appears in the film. This was one of the first movies I remeber being filmed in Waxahachie back then. There were several at the time, my favorite being "Places in the Heart" It was very exciting to be a teenager back then and go watch this stuff happening! exciting to me as a kid in Waxahachie anyway.

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Thanks racerx2875 for some interesting facts behind the scenes of the movie. I am determined to find the farmhouse in the film, but as of late I haven't had any useful leads. I contacted the Waxahachie Chamber of Commerce and though they have records that the film was shot there, they have no information on the exact location of the farm. I wonder if there are any local people like yourself who actually worked on the crew that would know anything.

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Give me more details! As this is a favaorite film of mine, I just LOVE to hear about actors, the set people, trivia etc that went on.

This is great fun to read!


Try, Try, Try to understand, I'm a Magic Man!

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Thanks for your reply, I really don't know who to contact about the farm location other than local people who were involved with the production, but I would imagine that would be difficult, so I would be very grateful if you could come up with any useful leads. I'm currently doing a documentary on Director Wes Craven, and am trying to track down all of the filming locations of his films, but DEADLY BLESSING is proving to be one of the toughest to find.

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Deadly Blessing was filmed on a wide variety of Texas locations, in and around Dallas and the town of Waxahachie (hometown of Oscar winner Robert Benton, "Kramer Vs. Kramer" and UA's "Stab"). One of the principal sites was an 80-acre farm on which much of the action takes place. Naturally, the construction crew decided to rebuild and "age" an old barn for greater visual and dramatic effect. As for the farm house, it received a major facelift with the addition of a white picket fence, shutters around the front windows and a new porch area complete with swing. Even the yard was worked over with special landscaping and a vegetable garden.This still does not answer the question,but Im still working on it.

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I am onto to some of the locations including the farmhouse....hopefully I will have some pictures to post in the future........so stay tuned and check back.
Coming soon in 2011 a video of the locations used in Deadly Blessing.

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Update Feb 2010. The farm house used in the film is alive and well and I am expected to make a visit there very soon. I drove around rural Waxahachie looking for it today and with some of the clues given to me. The area that I thought it was in was actually where it was. I could see it from a distance but was not sure that it was the place until I made contact with a reliable source. It was reported in a deleted email that I posted that it was gone but after not giving up and making that one last call it has now been confirmed to be still in existence.

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It is great to know that the farmhouse still exists! Many filming locations these days are being destroyed for the sake of big housing developments and shopping centers, but it's good to know that the area where the house is has not been overdeveloped. How did you find it? I am a bit knowlegable of the Waxahachie area. What road is it located on?

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I didnt want to give too much away but I did take a visit to the house and its not doing to well. Im surprised its not gone but I am doing a mini documentary on some of the locations and hope to have it completed in 2011.

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I think that's great you're doing a documentary on the filming locations on this often overlooked film. I was in the dallas area 2 years ago and decided to make a trek down to waxahachie to try and find the house, but that was like trying to find a needle in a haystack as the saying goes. The only lead to go on was that the name of the property was called the Pigg farm, and I knew that there was a Pigg Road in the area but I still couldn't find it. I thought maybe the house was renovated beyond recognition or was torn down. It's great to know that you have taken an interest in making a documentary and I look forward to seeing it.

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I was able to locate some of the people associated with the film and they also appear in the mini location short film and talk about there experiences. Some great stories and unexpected memorabilia.Should have this wrapped up sometime this year 2011. I can be reached at [email protected]

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First look at the house and barn used in the movie "Deadly Blessing." It has fallen on hard times and looks like a spooky house. It looked beautiful in the movie. Waxahachie,Texas

Copy and paste the link below.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/28714328@N05/6477057801/in/photostream

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Wow! Great pictures!! Thanks! This is such an underrated movie.

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Did a quick skim on Google maps and couldn't find it. Supposedly it's about 5 miles south of Waxahachie. Pigg Road is also about 5 miles south of Waxahachie...

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I was going over the message board recently and noticed your post. I am a big fan of the film, DEADLY BLESSING and just recently ordered the newly released DVD over the internet from a company in Cleveland, Ohio that specializes in hard to get DVDs. The only drawback is that the film is in the Region 2 format, so unless you have a region 2 or region free player it won't play the disc. I bought a region free player a couple years back, and the film looks great, compared to the old VHS tapes that went out of print years ago. There's even an audio commentary by Director Wes Craven on the audio track. You said that you and your brother and father were actually in a couple of scenes in the film. I was wondering where those scenes were actully shot in Waxahachie. I am looking for the bridge and the one room church. Any information that you could provide would be helpful, as I am going to be in the Dallas area soon, and would like to visit the locations.

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Sweet! Can you post a link where you bought it? I've got several copies on VHS but would love to get actual DVD's that aren't ripped with poor artwork.

Yes, pretty much all of it was filmed in Waxahachie...even the exploding Mustang (what a waste!). I honestly can't tell you where the bridge is, on some back dirt road, more than likely on private land. The houses that were in the film were actually pre-existing and I have no idea if they are still around but the church was built specifically for the shot. It was actually up on blocks and not much to the exterior. I'm not kidding when I say it was small either, not more than about 20' x 30'.

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Which region 2 disc has the commentary? The UK and German editions don't.

You can rest your mind at last, you've resolved the horrors past...

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this is a little off topic but i go to UNC-Greensboro where the writer of the screenplay Matthew Barr teaches, just thought it was cool.

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I read somewhere that part of this film was also shot around Lockhart, texas, between san Antonio and Austin, maybe the farm was located down there.

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I just found out that the name of the movie theatre that Susan Buckner comes out of and meets Jeff East was the Tara theatre in Ennis, TX. The theatre was badly damaged in a storm back in the early 90s and had to be leveled. There's a park at the site now. Also, although I can't confirm this, but I think the scenes in the one room church, where Ernest Borgnine is talking to the congregation and chastising two boys was filmed in the Francesca Chapel in downtown Waxahachie. Still trying to located the farmhouse and barn used in the movie, anyone have any clues?

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