Not everyone can find it, hidden away and closed off as it is. But no doubt lots of people have seen it -- at least on TV or in the movies.
Serene little Malibou Lake -- yes, it's spelled that way -- is tucked into the Santa Monica Mountains near Agoura Hills. It has more than 100 screen credits as the little-known location for many Hollywood productions, including some of the best-known horror movies.
The scarier part of its movie career began more than three-quarters of a century ago, when a monster played by Boris Karloff drowned a little girl in the 1931 film "Frankenstein."
Scenes from 1958's "I Married a Monster From Outer Space" and the 2002 horror film "The Ring" were shot there. Most moviegoers probably had no idea what spot they were viewing.
"Malibou Lake is one of Hollywood's best-kept secrets," said Harry Medved, coauthor of "Hollywood Escapes," a travel guide to Southern California film locations. "It provides a rustic retreat that is so close to home. The lake has always had this irresistible lure to filmmakers and Hollywood talent who live there and shoot movies there."
But the lake and surrounding properties are private. Trespassers might get banished, just like the evil child played by Patty McCormack in the 1956 Oscar-nominated film "The Bad Seed."
Members of the public, however, will get a firsthand look at the lake Nov. 18, when Medved and history buff and author Brian Rooney will show clips of films shot there. The program will take place at the lakeside Malibou Lake Mountain Club.
The remote but sought-after spot -- half a mile south of Mulholland Highway -- began as a resort and real estate development in 1922. Two wealthy Los Angeles businessmen and noted fishermen, George Wilson and Bertram Lackey, bought 350 acres of land and built a 44-foot-high dam across two converging creeks, the Medea and the Triunfo. Over the next four years, as cabins and a clubhouse went up, 300 club members waited nervously as the site they had intended to be a 65-acre lake remained as dry as a bone.
It wasn't until late spring 1926 that storms poured "20 million gallons" of rainwater into the spot, reported The Times, forming the lake. Club members, investors in the project, celebrated for days.
The developers spelled their lake's name with an "o" to avoid confusion with Malibu Lagoon, said Rooney, who wrote "Three Magical Miles," a book about the region.
