These guys probably didn’t know that Sandy (Laura Dern) and Jeffery (Kyle MacLachlan) attended this very same school a few years prior in the movie Blue Velvet. This school has been used multiple times for various productions. In this movie, they didn’t even try to hide the actual school name, New Hanover High School, as seen just above Maureen’s (Ria Pavia) funky sailor cap.

There were also shots taken from the rear of the school, along Princess Street, which is where they entered after crossing through Coleman’s yard. Coleman’s house is directly across the street from the school.

And for Lainie and Joel’s make out spot, it’s once again at the school, which fits the story, as Joel just waited for Lainie’s dance class to end before getting her alone and her rushing off on her bike from the school. This area is now a set of what I assume are air conditioning units, so the small park is now gone.

I’m assuming that all interior scenes involving the school are from this same location. For the Valentine Dance, the fast exit by Bobby and Lainie spurs Joel to give chase, but Dumas (Matt Adler) sends Joel airborne instead. This fuels the raging fire within the troubled and troublesome Joel to get even.

This montage was one of many in this movie. It made me wonder if any literary works contain montages.
Coleman and Gena ride on a carriage. They playfully drink wine illegally in public. They walk arm in arm just a few feet away and get blinded by the sun.

I guess that could work.

Mind you, the balcony that they eat at in the beginning is literally just at the corner, half a block away. They sure maximized their locations on this production. This area is along the Wilmington Downtown Riverwalk, which extends down to the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge.

The other shots are visible in the same map, just spin to the left and you’ll see Battleship North Carolina, and the building they are riding past is the Alton Lennon Federal Building, which is used in many other productions. I remember watching Shirley MacLaine directing the movie Bruno (2000), and there was a guy in a suit as background walking from his start over and over again with each take. I hadn’t experience being an extra yet, but was mesmerized with how it all worked, and thought that guy was funny for walking back and forth forever. I’d learn eventually the mastery of the cross, being sent on a path by an assistant director to add movement in the background.

Later in the movie, Coleman/Bobby (Corey Feldman) and his stolen date Lainie (Meredith Salenger) recreate these same moments.

Lastly, this is also the same exact location of the morning Tai Chi, with the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge in the background.

Located on Princess Street, just a few doors down from the Wilmington National Cemetery. That green leafy madness on the fringe of the lawn is still there after all these years, but many of the trees have since been taken down. Bobby Keller (Corey Feldman) calls this home, along with his crotchety father Gus (Alex Rocco) and goofy mother Kit (Victoria Jackson).

Interestingly, when Ike (Harry Dean Stanton) walks Bobby/Coleman to Bobby’s house, they walk on the opposite side of the street, and away from his house. This is that movie magic that allows a location to be flexible if shot creatively.