"The Road" is the story of a father and son trying to survive after the apocalypse.

Producers turned to Erie for the stark landscape, filming scenes on Presque Isle, and at Conneaut Lake Park.

Viewers coming out of the first local showing Wednesday say they could tell.

"As a kid my sister and I went to Conneaut Lake Park quite a bit every summer," said Andrea Patterson of Pittsburgh. "I definitely recognized some of the areas in the park ... so that was really neat."

"They filmed at a good time of the year where it just was barren and the sun was overcast," said Glenda Patterson of Spartansburg. "It really fit the movie."

For others the movie brings back memories of last april when the cast and crew came to town.

A well disguised Viggo Mortenson took a liking to Bertrand's Bistro downtown

"To be honest with you i really didn't recognize the guy," said owner Bertrand Artigues. "They were happy. They were a fun group."

"The road" is already generating Oscar buzz. But tourism officials hope that will translate to economic buzz for Erie.

"Maybe not right now," said Chris Pennsy of Visit Erie, "but if more movies decide Presque Isle is a great place to shoot, Erie is a great place to film, maybe we can even build in a tour" of the locations.