Wilmington, NCMovie & Television
Filming Locations

Matt Adler

The Gang’s High School

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© Vestron Pictures, Inc.Dinger (Corey Haim) stands out while Bobby hides under his hair (Corey Feldman)

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.

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© Vestron Pictures, Inc.Shelley (left, Lala Sloatman) and Lainie (right, Meredith Salenger) abstain from eating as fashionista Maureen pigs out


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© Vestron Pictures, Inc.

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.

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© Vestron Pictures, Inc.This sloped passageway from the gymnasium is used several times by Joel (William MacNamara) and Lainie


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© Vestron Pictures, Inc.

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.

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© Vestron Pictures, Inc.This is the same location as the gang hangout, the same parking lot.

Football Field

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© Vestron Pictures, Inc.“You hit me again, I’ll just have to declare we are actually friends.”

On the field, Bobby (Corey Feldman) faces off with Dumas (Matt Adler), while the sidelined Dinger (Corey Haim) does his best disco moves.

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© Vestron Pictures, Inc.

This was a puzzler for me as New Hanover High School doesn’t have any fields around it, as it is in an urban setting surrounded by houses and buildings. But then I saw the *barbed wire* fence surrounding the field, not something a school would have, so it must have been a private field. Then I saw it, the odd but distinctive tall brick structure which I’ve long believed is used for fire training, and I knew exactly the location, it had to be Legion Stadium. Mystery solved!

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© Vestron Pictures, Inc.If it weren’t for Dinger getting his ass kicked, this location might have been much harder to find

Bridge Bar Alley

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© Vestron Pictures, Inc.The smoke hides the fact there isn’t anything there but the back of a building for Joel (William McNamara) to enjoy

This is Quince Alley, which sits between South Water and South Front streets. The building on the right has been several different restaurants. This was shot from near Water Street and looking down the alley toward Front Street. The building in the background is still there with the same structure, which is what is shown on the map below:

This location serves as a conflict zone in which the boys all get serious with each other. Dinger (Corey Haim) and Derek (John Ward) show up to find Joel trying to exact lethal revenge on Dumas (Matt Adler) and his gang.

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© Vestron Pictures, Inc.Really cool looking shot with bully Dumas and his 3 cohorts, Low Life #1, #2, and #3
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