"END OF DAYS" stars Arnold Schwarzenegger as a former New York City cop out to stop the Devil from bringing about the end of the world.

As such, the movie was made to appear as if it were shot in New York. But although an occasional New York exterior scene was dropped in for realism, most of the movie was actually shot in L.A., in a variety of locations...

• The most memorable scene in the supernatural thriller, the final confrontation between good & evil, is set in a cathedral with a beautiful golden altar adorned with colorful statues. It is here, in the climatic scene, where Satan rises up out of the floor as an enormous bat-like beast. These scenes were actually shot in St. Vincent de Paul church, just a few blocks north north of the USC campus, southwest of downtown L.A. The address is 621 W. Adams Blvd., at the NW corner of Adams & Figueora. Built by Edward Doheny, St. Vincent's is a spectacular Catholic church done in a Spanish baroque style. The building was designated an historic cultural monument in 1971. But it is still an active parish and is open to the public. Feel free to visit.


Because the church is virtually torn to pieces in the movie's finale, a large scale miniature of St. Vincent's interior was built, measuring 43 feet long, 16 feet wide and 25 feet high. They used the miniature for shots of destruction (such as the rows of pews being ripped up, or the dome of the church shattering) but they shot the non-destructive scenes in the actual St. Vincent's, intercutting between the two until it's almost impossible to tell the difference.

St. Vincent's has been used in a number of other productions, including the movies "Bedazzled" (starring Brendan Fraser & Elizabeth Hurley) and "Salton Sea" (with Val Kilmer), as well as the Turner TV movie "James Dean," the 1999 miniseries "Tom Clancy's NetForce," and the TV series "Charmed" and "The Profiler."  *







In the same "END OF DAYS", we see several scenes set inside the Vatican, where the Pope and his advisors discuss what to do about the coming of the Antichrist. These scenes were actually shot inside the ornate lobby of the Los Angeles Theatre (at 615 S. Broadway), one of the most striking of the many movie palaces on the historic Broadway theatre district of downtown Los Angeles. Built in the French baroque style of Louis XIV, the theatre is a tribute to the glorious excesses of the early 1930's, witnessed by the fact that a mere movie theatre can successfully pass for the splendor of the Vatican. The Los Angeles Theatre is closed, but you can go inside once a year during the annual "Last Remaining Seats" film program.

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Another former theatre in the Broadway theatre district was also used in the movie - but for a much shabbier effect. The long-closed Tower Theatre (at 802 S. Broadway) serves as the entrance through which people pass on their way into the Devil's special underground temple. Arnold finds a door inside the theatre, marked with a red Satanic insignia, which leads to the chamber. 









But it wasn't the Lucifer's main temple in the movie. That giant, underground chamber, filled with thousands of burning candles, where the Devil (played by Gabriel Byrne) tries to rape his chosen bride (Robin Tunney) during a Satanic ceremony, was actually the former press room at the old Herald-Examiner newspaper building, located at 1111 S. Broadway in downtown Los Angeles. With it's industrial look, the press room was easily converted into the kind of sinister coven that the director was looking for. 

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The former Herald-Examiner building has been used in many film productions, in part because its many rooms offer a variety of environments. The same building was used for a second time in "END OF DAYS," this time as the Striker security company's command center (you'll recognize it by the computerized maps on the walls), where Arnold arms himself with assorted ammo before the final confrontation.









There is a key scene where the Devil (Gabriel Byrne) visits Arnold in his apartment and tries to convince him to join the dark side. When he refuses, Byrne throws Arnold through the window. Arnold clings to the broken glass window frame and eventually manages to throw Byrne out the window instead. Byrne plunges to the ground below and lands on top of a parked car. That apartment building isn't in New York, it's the Million Dollar Building located at Broadway & Third Street in downtown L.A. 









Another successful attempt to pass off downtown L.A. as New York is seen early on in "END OF DAYS", in the scene where the crazed priest 'Thomas Aquinas' (Derrick O'Connor) tries to assassinate Byrne, firing a rifle (from the top of the hotel) as Byrne exits a limo. Byrne's bodyguard, Arnold, gets shot pushing Byrne out of the way, but is saved by a bullet-proof vest. Arnold then chases 'Aquinas' over the rooftops (with the aid of a helicopter), and corners him in the subway. Despite the computer-aided insertion of a few New York Buildings in the background, that lengthy chase scene was filmed in downtown L.A., on and around 4th Street. The main building in these shots is the old Barclay Hotel, which is located at 103 W. 4th Street.  *









The "New York" subway for the film was built to order down by the docks at the L.A. Harbor, inside the giant Municipal Warehouse No. 1, at 2500 Signal Street in San Pedro, just south of Ports O'Call village. This full-scale set was then matched with a miniature subway built by the special effects guys, and the scenes were intercut. If you see Arnold or Robin walking around the subway train's interior, that's San Pedro. If you see the subway train moving (as viewed from the outside), that's the miniature. 









There are several scenes in "END OF DAYS" which take place in a hospital, including the birth of a baby (who grows up to be Robin Tunny's character), and the torture/death of 'Thomas Aquinas' by Byrne (including the scene where he found is nailed to the ceiling of the hospital room). Those hospital scenes were shot at Linda Vista Community Hospital, located at 610 S. St. Louis Street in East L.A. The now-empty hospital has been seen in many films, including the recent "Pearl Harbor" and "The Cell."









Other filming locations for "END OF DAYS" listed on the shoot sheets include Mountain View Cemetery (located at 2400 N. Fair Oaks Ave., in Altadena), used in a short scene where the Robin Tunny brings flowers to the grave of her mother. [Map It]

and the Los Angeles County Arboretum (at 301 N. Baldwin Ave. in Arcadia), which was probably used in the "Central Park" at night scene where Arnold & Robin discuss her sexual nightmares, after escaping from her evil stepmother. [Map It]









And of course, since this is Hollywood, a few of the scenes were done on the back lot of a studio, rather than on location. But not many.

When you see those typical New York stoop steps, that's a New York street set on the back lot of Universal Studios Hollywood.

And remember a key scene early on when the Devil possesses the body of Gabriel Byrne at a restaurant? The one where he comes out of the rest room, kisses a woman passionately, then leaves, only to have the entire restaurant explode into a ball of flame behind him? Well, they obviously didn't want to blow up a real restaurant, so that restaurant was built (and blown up) on the Universal backlot. You can take a tram tour of that backlot when you visit Hollywood.