Evergreen Cemetery Virtual Guide

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Evergreen in Film
After being established in 1877, Evergreen Cemetery houses some of Los Angeles’ most influential people; entrepreneurs, pioneers, surgeons, lawyers and city founders have all been buried here. Movie stars have also been laid to rest at Evergreen, including one of the original ‘Little Rascals.’ Another star housed at Evergreen is the cemetery itself. Evergreen is recognized for being featured in productions ranging from big screen hits to small screen wonders.

The Crimson Kimono (1959):
The Crimson Kimono, written and directed by Samuel Fuller, takes place in Los Angeles and is about two homicide detectives, Charlie Bancroft (Glenn Corbett) and Joe Kojaku (James Shigeta), who are sent to investigate a stripper’s (Gloria Pall) murder in Little Tokyo. Bancroft and Kojaku are best friends who served in the Korean War together. During the course of the investigation, Bancroft falls for the beautiful witness Christine Downs (Vanessa Shaw) but things become complicated when Downs and Kojaku realize that they are in love. Bancroft is upset that his buddy steals his girl, but Kojaku believes that his best friend is a racist at heart who cannot deal with an attractive woman preferring a Japanese man. James Shigeta, the first Asian-American leading man since silent-era star Sessue Hayakawa, makes his debut in The Crimson Kimono. Shigeta and Australian actress Vanessa Shaw have an undeniable onscreen chemistry, but the studio plays the race card and exploits the first ever onscreen kiss between an American (white) woman and an Asian man. The poster features taglines such as "Yes, this is a beautiful American girl in the arms of a Japanese boy" and asks "What was his strange appeal for American girls?"

One significant feature in the film is the prominent display of the then relatively new 442nd Nisei Memorial at Evergreen. The cemetery serves as a place of mystery, since a meeting takes place late at night during the investigation of the murder. In reality, not many would set foot in a cemetery at night, unless, of course, they have business that cannot be witnessed. In any case, it is the perfect place to deal in shady business if need be.

Mausoleum (1983):
With a classic and macabre feel Mausoleum follows the traditional horror film formula of supernatural haunting with gruesome death scenes. Filmed in 1981 and released in 1983, Mausoleum is written by Robert Barich and Robert Madero from an original story/screenplay by Katherine Rosenwink and directed by Michael Dugan. The producers enlist the special effects work of John Carl Buechler who has worked on films such as Dolls and Hatchet. This film features a slew of seasoned pros in front and behind the scenes. Miss La Wanda Page of Sanford & Son plays Elsie, the house servant. The art director is Robert Burns, who also worked on Tobe Hooper’s The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Joe Dante’s The Howling. Bill Vail, an Emmy nominated production designer who plays the suited-up demon, also plays Kirk in 1973’s The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Bobbie Bresee, a Playboy Playmate before snagging the lead, takes some extramural training in vocal performance from Mercedes McCambridge who performs on William Friedkin’s The Exorcist as the voice of the demon within the possessed child. The film is considered an exploitation horror film because it follows a woman from tragedy to demonic possession and murder. With a short run at the Cannes Film Festival, this film has been a lost gem until recently.

The life of Susan (Bobbie Bresee) takes a turn for the worst when she is possessed by a curse that has been brought upon her family. The death of her mother triggers the inheritance of this curse that fully manifests itself during her adulthood. Within this time a ghastly murder spree ensues as Susan indulges her new appetite for blood. Shot within the Los Angeles area, this film uses completely distant locations. A local Ventura club serves as the Nightclub where Susan uses telekinesis to kill an assailant. A beautiful Northridge home is the setting for Susan and her husband Oliver’s (Marjoe Gortner) home. On a side note, the man who lends his home to the production also owns the electric car used by Oliver. Finally, the entire opening of the film takes place in the cemetery where the committal of Susan’s mother takes place as well as her possession while still a teen (played by Julie Christy Murray, daughter of the co-writer/director of photography for the film, Robert Barich). The cemetery used is none other than Evergreen itself.

Most of the cemetery scenes are shot on cranes and steadicam, which creates a smooth track of photography without the tedious set-up of dolly tracks. This also gives the illusion that the audience is following on foot the action onscreen. Some recognizable monuments featured in the film are the Lankershim-Van Nuys family and the most outstandingly displayed Ivy Chapel.

Evergreen’s role in this film is crucial to establish the fact that this place where Susan’s mother is interred was the seed that spreads this curse. Evil lives in this place, and as fate has it determined it is where Susan is to inherit the curse like the rest of her family. The story leads the victim of the curse right back to the place where it all began to show that fate is immovable; we are all destined to our own fate and it never changes. Evergreen becomes the place where the curse begins and where it is defeated, thus making the cemetery an accomplice and savior.

A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984):
Evergreen Cemetery is used as the site of the burial of one of the teens murdered by Freddy Krueger. The Ivy Chapel is also shot head-on as Nancy alerts her parents, played by John Saxon and Ronee Blakely that “the killer’s still loose, you know.” New Line Cinema releases this film for writer/director Wes Craven and as of that fateful day in November of 1984 becomes known as “The House That Freddy Built.” Subsequently, two of the sequels return to Evergreen Cemetery for the burial of more teens killed by the relentless thirst for murder and revenge of the man who Nancy describes as, “He wears a dirty brown hat. He’s horribly burned. He has razors on his right hand. Freddy Krueger. He was a child murderer before he died. After he died, he became…something worse.”

A Nightmare On Elm Street: “…On a stark afternoon, on a hill of sere grass overlooking the valley the casket of ROD LANE is lowered into its grave. A small group of FAMILY and FRIENDS soberly watch as the MINISTER raises his hand in benediction.”

A Nightmare On Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors: “[We see] a Midwestern cemetery on a rolling hillside. A gentle drizzle falls on a crowd of mourners clustered at twin gravesites. A PRIEST intones the eulogy. Among the mourners are Dr. Simms, Max, Nancy... but Neil is missing. Neil [is] standing on a rise overlooking the funeral. He's under the shelter of a large oak tree, but is still soaked by the drizzle. He stares down, grief-stricken, his tears masked by the rain.”

A Nightmare On Elm Street 4: The Dream Master:
“Dan is walking by a series of graves. They bear the names of NANCY THOMPSON, DONALD THOMPSON, ROLAND KINCAID, JOSEPH PETERSON and, KRISTEN PARKER. Dan stands before the graves of Freddy's victims. A wind RUSTLES the leaves in the trees above his head. Yet another funeral is taking place in Springwood.”

On A Nightmare On Elm Street 4, Evergreen is a place for strength. Having lost her brother Rick, Alice cannot count on her father. He is an inconsolable wreck who decides to hit the bottle harder than usual. Alice draws her strength from the funeral, the cemetery, and her last daydream. Rick appears from the casket unharmed to let her know, “…it was just a trick to fool Freddy,” and it is at this point that she decides, “No more daydreams.” If she is to face Freddy and stop him, she realizes she must get real and face the facts in real life. As she draws more strength from the children of Elm Street there in the cemetery she declares, “This is it, guys. Mind over matter.”

This site was created to provide information on Evergreen Cemetery in East Los Angeles in order to memorialize and acknowledge the histories inside and surrounding this sacred site.