The Fog on Bowen Island

[drscott]

I spent a few years doing a small subdivision on Bowen Island, an island in Howe Sound, the fjord on the way from Vancouver to Whistler, British Columbia. The island is about 5x7 miles, has three peaks and a central valley, and has about 3000 residents. Vancouver is a 15-minute ferry ride plus a 20-minute drive away.



Because of Vancouver's film industry, the island is often used as a setting for TV and movie productions. Locations are often uncredited, but X-Files did some shots there, and I spot likely Bowen settings in recent Battlestar Galactica scenes (the fantasy house on the water, for example.) The Trap, a movie with a young and bearish Oliver Reed as rude voyageur, was entirely filmed on-island. The sinking ferry scene with Ashley Judd and Tommy Lee Jones in Double Jeopardy is set on the Bowen ferry, which I rode hundreds of times. The fabulous secret meeting house in Russia House is on the north shore, while the house in Another Stakeout (with a very unfunny Rosie O'Donnell) is on the south shore. The wedding in the 1989 Cousins was filmed down the street from my place.

The Fog, which appears to be a fairly routine supernatural thriller, is opening soon. The trailer makes the island look eerie.



A nice frame from The Trap:



IMDB shows:

1. "Mary Bryant" (2005) (mini) TV Series


2. American Gothic (1988) 4.5/10 (466 votes)
   ...aka Hide and Shriek (1988)
   


3. Double Jeopardy (1999) 6.0/10 (14471 votes)
   ...aka Doppelmord (2000) (Germany)
   
   ...aka Double condamnation (1999) (Canada: French title)
   
   


4. Fog, The (2005)


5. Food of the Gods, The (1976) 3.5/10 (388 votes)
   ...aka H.G. Wells' Food of the Gods (1976)
   


6. Paper Moon Affair (2005)


7. Rugged Rich and the Ona Ona (2004)


8. Russia House, The (1990) 6.0/10 (2758 votes)



9. Trap, The (1966) 7.6/10 (190 votes)
   ...aka Aventure sauvage, L' (1966) (Canada: French title)
   
   ...aka Mad Trapper, The (1966)
   

Comments

[billeyler.livejournal.com]

Pondered a bit what "doing a small subdivision in Bowen Island" might mean, not knowing what your past life was like, and finally decided that the handsome gentlemen was NOT the small subdivision you referred to.

Is that "The Fog" trailer a new one? It must be, but it's a surprise that the same director is redoing a movie that he did 25 years ago! I saw "The Fog" a few months ago on late night cable browsing...Jamie Lee Curtis was the lead skeert woman in the lighthouse.

That's one of my regrets in my travels is that I've been to Vancouver several times, and haven't made the time to do any real touring of any of the area (like Bowen Island) other than a drive through Stanley Park...the ship docks at Vancouver Island for FOUR hours on the 9th, but that ain't going to do it for my sightseeing craving!

[dr-scott.livejournal.com]

Yes, it's a remake. Guess a cheap retread with pretty unknown "talent" stands a good chance of making money...

4 hours in port? You can walk east to Gastown, which is touristy brick streets with galleries and the like, which is good if you want some native art; or walk up the hill on Howe Street until you hit Robson and the art gallery, courthouse complex, etc.; west on Robson for the (rather boring) shopping. Not too much you can do on a tether like that but poke around the West End.

[bluedevilsf.livejournal.com]

The original version of The Fog happened to be filmed at Point Reyes.