M. Night Shyamalan's new psychological thriller, Knock at the Cabin, has hit theaters, and is another twisty, high-concept piece that stars Dave Bautista alongside Jonathan Groff, Ben Aldridge, Rupert Grint, and Kristen Cui. The filmmaker's 25th film follows the story of a small family that are seeking to escape for a weekend vacation at a small, remote cabin when they are confronted by Bautista, who leads an unsavory group of strangers that inform them that they have to make a decision to avoid a disatrous apocalypse. It is the latest project from the curve ball ending, master of twist Shyamalan who is best known for his rich, dark films like The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, Signs, and Split.
We're not here to spoil anything about the movie for you. Instead, we are examining the shoot itself and the location that the director decided upon to frame the almost claustrophobic environs set out in the middle of nowhere. Just about the entire film takes place in the cabin, and we already know that Shyamalan loves to keep his projects close to or squarely in his hometown of Philadelphia. So how close is the cabin to the City of Brotherly Love, exactly?
Not Philadelphia, But Close
So when looking for potential filming locations for the film adaptation of Paul G. Tremblay's horror novel, The Cabin at the End of the World, Shyamalan decided he would venture east of his beloved hometown and set up shop in a couple of New Jersey locations just across the Delaware River. He chose the county of Burlington, which is a suburb of Philadelphia and is situated right on the banks of the Delaware River and northeast of Philadelphia proper. For the more remote shots, he opted for the tiny Tabernacle Township, N.J. It lies due east of Philadelphia and is about an hours drive. It lies on the edge of Wharton State Forest and just south of Medford, N.J. Both locations are close enough to Philadelphia to commute. Shyamalan has filmed in New Jersey before when he shot The Village in Pedricktown back in 2004. The area around the cabin in which horrifying story unfolds supposedly his owned by the father of the town's current mayor, Samuel R. Moore III according to the Pine Barrens Tribune. The tucked-away spot provides the perfect exterior for spooky shots shrouded in a thick fog.
Other Shooting Locations
Paul G. Tremblay, who provided the source material for the film, described visiting the different sets and locations saying in an interview with Inverse that the crew built two cabins. He explained, "For exterior shots, there was a cabin in the woods somewhere just over the Pennsylvania-New Jersey line. And for the interior shots, they built a second cabin inside a warehouse. It was so stunningly beautiful that it hurt my New England heart."
Tremblay, who was thrilled to see his novel adapted by a master like Shyamalan, continued, "It was explained to me that in the warehouse, they can better control the lighting instead of having to wait around for sunset or for dusk. I cannot tell you how realistic it was to be inside the cabin with lighting as if it were late afternoon. It was like my brain was being fooled. It felt like late afternoon but outside the window was just a concrete warehouse."
For the scene in the small bar, the cast and crew descended upon Southhampton Township, at the Evergreen Dairy Bar which is located on Route 70. It was transformed into the Angie's Roadside Bar depicted in the film. It was a big thrill for the locals to come and see the filming process as they reportedly flocked to the sets with their phones in hand, snapping away. Hopefully the movie delivers some thrills and chills for theater audiences.