Shutter Island came out in 2010 and was immediately a big hit. Starring Leonardo DiCaprio as U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels, the film is set in 1956 and follows the story of a mental hospital on a remote island. While most movies are staged in Hollywood with lots of props, Shutter Island is a rare occasion where you can see the locations where the movie was filmed, as most of the shooting happened in the Boston area.
The rocky coastline at the beginning of the film, which is the setting of the fictional Shutter Island, is actually Peddocks Island in Boston Harbor. It is just south of the city and one of the largest islands in the harbor. The landing pier is the northeast coast where the remains of Fort Andrews can be seen.
The main building and complex of the “Ashecliffe Hospital for the Criminally Insane” in the movie is actually a real abandoned mental hospital right outside Boston. Located in Medfield, 20 miles southwest of Boston, this mental hospital was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1994 and was fully functioning until 2003.
For those who like eerie places, you can visit every day from 6 am to 6 pm. While it is much scarier to visit at night, be careful not to trespass after dark- they are very strict about this rule! While there were a couple of props added for the filming, the complex looks exactly like it does in the movie.
Wilson Mountain Reservation, a 213-acre reservation between Medfield and Boston, is the sight of another famous section of the movie. These are the woods where Teddy and Chuck are caught in the storm as the hurricane hit the island.
