But it had nothing to do with the water company's controversial proposed logging plan; they were there to film a horror film, The Tripper .

The plot, though, follows a logging theme. In the movie, a conservative logger goes on a murderous rampage, and the murder scene is filmed at the tunnel at Wright's Station.

The movie is directed by David Arquette for Coquette Productions, the company he runs with his movie star wife, Courteney Cox.

But Paul Newfield, assistant location manager and Santa Cruz native, said that the logging controversy was why the location was chosen.

"They wanted something sort of spooky, which the old tunnel entrance provided, and they wanted waterfalls, and there are two little waterfalls," Newfield said.

Before finding that location, which was recommended by an employee at Holy City Art Glass, Newfield said that he offered the film crew the waterfall at the top of Empire Grade, on Lockheed Martin's site.

The crew opted for Wright's Station.

In fact, the original location was in Humboldt rather than Santa Cruz.

"They got chased out by the rain," Newfield said.

During the 20-day shoot, this was the only scene filmed in Los Gatos. The other scenes were filmed in Santa Cruz County, starting at Big Basin Park and ending in Boulder Creek.

An assistant engineer for the water company, John Tang, said the company got a call from the film commission the week of Feb. 6 for permission to shoot on its property.

Tang said he then notified mountain resident Cassie Maas, whose property was closest to the film location at Wright's Station, and he asked that she pass the message on to other neighbors.

"We wanted to make them aware of the filming, and to assure them that they would still have access to their homes," Tang said. "We have not received any complaints."

If anything, the filming brought a little excitement to the area.

"My mail box is right where they filmed the scene," Maas said. "My mailbox may even be in the film."

Maas, who squeezed in a picture with Arquette, hung around to watch some of the filming of the murder scene at the tunnel. Maas said the Church of Latter-day Saints building on Summit Road was used as a staging point.

"There was a lot of standing around, but they filmed from morning to night," she said.

The film crew set up the area on Feb. 10 and 11, had a one-day shoot on Feb. 12 and then cleaned up the following day.

"The thing that surprised me the most was the plot--it is just somewhat ironic," she said.

Although Newfield said that the Santa Cruz Mountains have not been the location for many movies since Out on a Limb and The Lost Boys, Los Gatos was the location last summer for the movie, Car Babes, and Saratoga's Hakone Gardens appeared in Memoirs of a Geisha.

Appearing in The Tripper, which Arquette wrote with Joe Harris, will be lesser-known stars such as Jamie King of Sin City, Jason Mewes, who appeared in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, Paul Reubens, who portrayed Pee Wee Herman, and Balthazar Getty of Alias. Of course, the movie will also see cameo appearances from both Arquette and Cox.

The film, which wrapped up in Boulder Creek on Sunday, revolves around a group of friends who take off to a modern-day Woodstock concert for a weekend of partying, only to be stalked by a fanatical killer determined to finish what he started years earlier.