The SFFILM festival is rolling into the Presidio Friday night with a free screening of John Carpenter’s classic 80s horror film The Fog, which was filmed in Marin County. The show is free, but you do have to RSVP in advance.
San Franciscans love our tradition of free outdoor movies in the parks, which generally run all summer long. These are presented by the SF Parks Alliance, who have not yet announced their Summer 2025 schedule of movie screenings. They usually announce these at some point in April, but they haven’t yet, so we’re still in the dark about that.
But being in the dark will be a hell of a lot of fun on Friday night, when the SFFILM festival hosts a free outdoor screening of John Carpenter’s The Fog. Showtime is 8 pm in the Presidio’s Civil War Parade Ground, which is accessible by the 43-Masonic Muni line.
The show is free, but an RSVP is required to attend this screening. Just click on the RSVP link on the movie’s SFFILM description page.
The film was largely shot in Marin County’s Point Reyes and Bodega Bay (though the movie claims to be set in the fictional “Antonio Bay”), and there are plenty of recognizable Marin County landmarks. Though as with most Hollywood movies, the interior scenes were shot in an LA movie studio.
John Carpenter's The Fog also has the distinction of being the first movie wherein Jamie Lee Curtis appears with her mother, Janet Leigh, who is best known for the shower scene in Hitchcock’s Psycho. (The two would also appear together in 1998’s Halloween H20: 20 Years Later.) It’s also the first feature film for 80s bombshell star Adrienne Barbeau, who happened to be director John Carpenter's wife at the time.
Okay, fair warning: there’s a chance of rain Friday night. Right now there’s a 10% chance of rain up until 9 pm, and a 20% chance of rain after 9 pm. The screening is expected to last until 9:30 or 9:45. Those chance-of-precipitation percentages have been changing all week, so it’s probably best to be prepared for some sprinkles.
This is the final weekend of the 2025 SFFILM festival, with highlights including Sunday’s Closing Night screening of the SF-set Outerlands (6 pm, Marina Theatre).
Related: SFFILM Festival Film Relives When ‘Drag Queen Story Hour’ Got Invaded by the Proud Boys [SFist]
Image: AVCO Embassy Pictures
