Movies Set or Filmed in Arkansas

Arkansas is known for many things like hiking, fishing and camping but what most people don’t know is that there have been quite a few movies set or filmed in Arkansas as well!

7 Movies Set or Filmed in Arkansas

1. Elizabethtown

Elizabethtown is a 2005 romantic tragicomedy.

The movie is actually about Elizabethtown, Kentucky but the “Little Golden Gate Bridge” in Beaver, Arkansas was used in the movie.

Read more about this historic bridge here: The Little Golden Gate Bridge in Arkansas is Hollywood Worthy

Orlando Bloom, Kirsten Dunst, Alec Baldwin and Susan Sarandon star in this movie.

2. Sling Blade

Sling Blade is a 1996 drama film written and directed by Billy Bob Thornton (an Arkansas native).

This movie was filmed in Benton, Arkansas and actually features Garry’s Sling Blade Drive-In.

Garry’s is still open and you can go enjoy a juicy burger there!

3. Mud

Mud is a 2012 film starring Matthew McConaughey, Sam Sheard and Reese Witherspoon.

This film was shot in Southeast Arkansas in areas including: Dumas, De Witt, Lake Village, Crocketts Bluff and Stuttgart.

They even used some local people in the film!

For the local boys of a small Delta town, Nichols cast boys who could already pilot boats and ride dirt bikes, instead of ones who would have to be taught on set. –source

4. The Town That Dreaded Sundown

To me, this one is terrifying because it’s based on a true, horrific story.

The story of a hooded, berserk killer who terrorized the border town of Texarkana, Arkansas in 1946–leaving no fewer than five murder victims in his wake. –source

The worst part of all is that the real-life killer was never caught.

I can’t imagine the terror in Texarkana back in 1946. People were afraid to go outside after dark and they never knew where the killer would strike next.

5. Smokey and The Bandit

Smokey and the Bandit is a 1977 American action comedy film starring Burt Reynolds, Sally Field, Jackie Gleason, Jerry Reed, Pat McCormick, Paul Williams and Mike Henry.

Although the majority of this movie was filmed in Georgia, part of the movie is set in Texarkana, Arkansas.

In the movie, Bandit and Cledus are two truck-driving southerners who accept a dare from big-shots Big and Little Enos to pick up a truckload of beer from Texas and return it to them (source) in 28 hours.

The entire trip turns into mayhem and stunts.

6. The Legend of Boggy Creek

The “Fouke Monster” – or “Boggy Creek Monster” as he is sometimes referred to – is a Sasquatch-like creature said to haunt the network of creeks extending from the Sulphur River Bottoms in southern Arkansas to the town of Fouke. –source

This is a 1972 film about a mysterious monster around Fouke, Arkansas called the Boggy Creek Monster.

This is a documentary-style horror/drama and it was the first of it’s kind. It was written and directed by Arkansas native, Charles B. Pierce.

When the movie was released, it sold out in theaters throughout Arkansas and Louisiana. After that, it was shown across the country.

Amazingly, The Legend of Boggy Creek made an estimated $25 million dollars during it’s time.

Believe it or not, the Boggy Creek Monster isn’t the only Sasquatch-like monster in Arkansas.

Don’t miss this: The Legend of Whitey – The White River Monster

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