Maps of Movies
Zodiac (2007)
Where Zodiac says it takes place, and where it was really shot.
Most of the San Francisco manhunt was filmed in Los Angeles
View on the map
Scenes and places
The lovers' lane attack, 1969
A gunman ambushes two young people parked at a lovers' lane. Only Mike survives, and the case begins with a killer nobody can name.
Set in Lovers' lane, Vallejo, California — A man attacks Darlene Ferrin and Mike Mageau with a handgun at a lovers' lane in Vallejo on July 4, 1969.
Vallejo is the Bay Area city where the first attacks in the film take place.
Filmed at Bouquet Canyon Road, Santa Clarita — Stand-in for the Vallejo lovers' lane; the crew added set pieces (single blog). Google Maps · Apple Maps
How to get there:
The Chronicle newsroom gets the letters
The newsroom opens a letter from a man who calls himself Zodiac and threatens a dozen deaths unless his code is printed. Cartoonist Robert Graysmith, ignored by the crime desk, quietly guesses his name is not in the code.
Set in San Francisco Chronicle building, San Francisco — One month later the San Francisco Chronicle receives encrypted letters from a killer calling himself Zodiac.
The Chronicle was the paper that printed the Zodiac's letters.
Lake Berryessa, September 27
A hooded figure approaches two picnickers by the lake. Cecelia dies two days later, and the Zodiac now has a second county.
Set in Lake Berryessa, Napa County — On September 27 the killer stabs law student Bryan Hartnell and Cecelia Shepard at Lake Berryessa. Google Maps · Apple Maps
A large reservoir in Napa County, north of San Francisco Bay.
Filmed at Knoxville Road, Napa — Lakeside stand-in (single blog GPS). Google Maps · Apple Maps
How to get there:
The taxi on Washington and Cherry
A cab driver is shot in a quiet residential block. The Zodiac mails a piece of his bloody shirt to the Chronicle.
Set in Presidio Heights, San Francisco — On October 11, San Francisco taxicab driver Paul Stine is shot and killed in Presidio Heights.
A residential San Francisco neighborhood west of Pacific Heights.
The police take the case
Toschi and Armstrong are handed the case and start working with Vallejo and Napa detectives.
Set in San Francisco Police headquarters — Inspectors Dave Toschi and Bill Armstrong are assigned to the case by Captain Marty Lee.
Seat of the San Francisco police homicide detail in the film.
The Zodiac phones Melvin Belli
A live TV call turns into a public manhunt. A caller says he is Zodiac and Belli tries to coax him into getting help.
Set in Belli's meeting spot (secondhand shop) / KGO-TV talk show — Someone claiming to be Zodiac speaks on the phone with lawyer Melvin Belli on the KGO-TV morning talk show hosted by Jim Dunbar.
Belli was the flamboyant San Francisco lawyer the killer asked for by name.
The Riverside tip
Avery passes a theory about an older case to Riverside police. It angers the San Francisco detectives who wanted it kept quiet.
Set in Riverside Police Department, California — Avery shares information with the Riverside Police Department that the killer might have been active before the initial killings, angering Toschi and Armstrong.
A Southern California city where the film places an earlier case.
Toschi leaves Dirty Harry
Toschi walks out of a screening of Dirty Harry, a film modeled on the very case he can't solve.
Set in North Point Theatre, San Francisco — The case's notoriety weighs on Toschi, who cannot sit through the Hollywood film Dirty Harry, loosely based on the Zodiac case.
A San Francisco movie theatre used for the Dirty Harry scene.
Avery's houseboat
Threatened by the Zodiac, the crime reporter grows paranoid and starts to drink and use drugs.
Set in Paul Avery's houseboat, Sausalito — Avery receives a letter threatening his life and, becoming paranoid, turns to drugs and alcohol.
A harbor town across the Golden Gate known for its houseboats.
Filmed at 62 Varda Landing Rd, Sausalito — Houseboat home (single blog GPS). Google Maps · Apple Maps
How to get there:
The Ace Hardware stare-down, 1983
Graysmith finds the suspect behind a store counter. They look at each other in silence and he walks out.
Set in Ace Hardware store, Vallejo (city center point used) — On December 20, 1983, Graysmith tracks Allen to a Vallejo Ace Hardware store, where he is employed as a sales clerk; they stare at each other before Graysmith leaves. Google Maps · Apple Maps
Vallejo is a Bay Area city north of San Francisco.
Characters
- Robert Graysmith — Chronicle political cartoonist who becomes obsessed with the Zodiac case.
- Paul Avery — Chronicle crime reporter on the Zodiac story.
- Dave Toschi — San Francisco police inspector assigned to the case.