Stuti Gokhale
Directed by John Lee Hancock, Netflix’s ‘Mr. Harrigan’s Phone’ is a horror movie based on Stephen King‘s eponymous novella from his collection ‘If It Bleeds.’ It follows Craig, a teenager who struggles to fit into the crowd at his school but is constantly bullied by his classmates. Thus, the lonely boy befriends Mr. Harrigan, an elderly billionaire whom he does odd jobs for, and gives him an iPhone. When the latter suddenly dies, Craig is devastated to lose his only friend and slips the phone into his casket at his burial. Unable to deal with his bullies one day, he calls the deceased billionaire’s phone, desperate to hear his voice again.
To Craig’s utter shock, he gets a response from Mr. Harrigan, who starts communicating with him regularly via the phone. However, things go awry when the teenager’s aggressors start dying off one by one, and he fears that his late friend may be responsible for the same. While the thrilling narrative spooks the viewers and keeps them hooked, the visual backdrop of an eerie small town adds to the movie’s scary aspect. Naturally, many wonder where ‘Mr. Harrigan’s Phone’ was lensed, and if you are one of them, we come bearing answers!
Mr. Harrigan’s Phone Filming Locations
‘Mr. Harrigan’s Phone’ was entirely filmed in Connecticut, specifically in the Fairfield, Middlesex, and Litchfield counties. Principal photography for the Jaeden Martell-career commenced in October 2021 and wrapped up around two months later in December of the same year. Although the story takes place in a fictional town in Maine, the Constitution State stands in perfectly for the latter. Now, let’s take a walk through all the chilling locations that appear in the Netflix movie, shall we?
Fairfield County, Connecticut
‘Mr. Harrigan’s Phone’ was primarily taped in Fairfield County in the southwestern corner of Connecticut. The cast and crew mainly set up camp in Norwalk, a city in the county’s southern part. The Lockwood-Matthews Mansion Museum in Matthews Park at 295 West Avenue stands in for Mr. Harrigan’s mysterious mansion. The Second Empire-style country house was built for railroad tycoon LeGrand Lockwood between 1864-1868. The property was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1978. It features a beautiful conservatory and vast library with book-lined walls that appear in numerous scenes.
Patsy Brescia, LMMM Board of Trustees Chair at the time, shared that the filming unit was quite considerate with taking care of the property throughout the process. She said, “… any of the things that are being moved or touched, have to be done with our people, and they are paying for that, so our architects and everybody that we have worked with to restore the building over the last many years will be working with them to protect the building while they’re in the set shooting.” The rotunda area, the balcony above the rotunda, as well as the exteriors of the mansion, served as major shooting sites.
Furthermore, the scene where Craig buys the iPhone was recorded on Washington Street in South Norwalk, where the production team converted an empty storefront into a 2010 mobile phone store. Later, they moved the production to the beach town of Fairfield, which lies on the shore of the Long Island Sound. Pivotal sequences were shot at the Old Academy Building on the Town Hall Campus, First Church Congregational at 148 Beach Road, and the South Benson Marina at 471 Turney Road in Fairfield.
The filming unit then traveled to Wilton, where they reportedly lensed some scenes in the former Wilton Baptist Church at 254 Danbury Road. Besides, the Ridgefield Playhouse concert hall at 80 East Ridge Road in the colonial town of Ridgefield stands in for the fictional Gates Fall High School in ‘Mr. Harrigan’s Phone.’ Additional portions of the horror movie were recorded in the Sherwood Island State Park in the Green Farms section of the town of Westport and Greenwich, a town in southwestern Fairfield County.
Middlesex County, Connecticut
During the shooting schedule of the Donald Sutherland-starrer, the production unit also stopped in Portland, a town in Middlesex County that lies across the Connecticut River from Middletown. Several establishing shots were taped in and around the Quarry View Historic Park and Campground at 311 Brownstone Avenue.
Litchfield County, Connecticut
Some parts of ‘Mr. Harrigan’s Phone’ were shot in Barkhamsted, a town in Litchfield County. The cast and crew were mainly spotted filming numerous scenes on West River Road. Barkhamsted is named after the eponymous English town and comprises seven villages — West Hill, Mallory, Barkhamsted Center, Center Hill, Washington Hill, Pleasant Valley, and Riverton.
Read More: Stephen King Movies/Shows on Netflix
