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Different locations in East L.A., with a flower border

A guide to iconic filming locations in ‘Blood In Blood Out’

April 23, 2023 5 AM PT

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“So what’s the difference between East L.A. and L.A.?” asks a cab driver in the opening scene of Taylor Hackford’s “Blood In Blood Out,” to which the main character, Miklo, responds, “It’s a whole different country.”

There are plenty of films about Los Angeles, but few of them have fixed their gaze on the less-glamorized East Los Angeles as tightly as Hackford’s 1993 film. In the 30 years since its release, the three-plus-hour crime epic has become a cult classic and a hallmark film for Latino narratives in Hollywood.

The movie follows the lives of Mexican American relatives — Miklo, Paco and Cruzito — as they navigate life in East L.A. as members of the street gang Vatos Locos. Their lives ultimately head in very different directions, but their stories and fates stay forever intertwined.

Part of what has drawn so many people to the film is its authenticity in narrative and setting. Jimmy Santiago Baca, one of the screenwriters, based the script on his own life experiences of incarceration and rehabilitation. But what really sets the movie apart is its undeniable sense of place. It wasn’t shot in some backlot; it lives and breathes its East Los setting. The community’s vibrancy, seediness and geographical diversity pop out throughout, helping ground the story in reality.

So real are the places in the film that fans can actually go visit many of the shooting locations across Boyle Heights and East L.A.

Wander the same streets that Miklo so loved and fought for, or take in the same view of downtown that Tres Puntos leader Spider (RIP) can’t help but be impressed by. Just don’t expect to see Cruzito’s mural from the end scene; that painting is actually located in San Antonio, Texas (congrats, Shea Serrano).

Here’s a guide to some of the most iconic filming locations for “Blood In Blood Out.”

Showing Places

Los Cinco Puntos

Boyle Heights Food & Beverage

This taquería/carnicería lies at the crossroads of East Los Angeles and Boyle Heights and is the first taste of home that Miklo seeks out after he leaves his father’s side in Las Vegas in the movie’s opening sequence.

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Yash La Casa Market mural "Virgin's Seed" by Paul Botello, a location for the film "Blood In Blood Out"

'Virgin's Seed' Mural

East Los Angeles Other

The mural is first seen as the movie’s title appears onscreen during the opening sequence. The painting, done by Paul Botello in 1991, sits on the Hazard-facing wall of the Yash La Casa Market and depicts the Virgen de Guadalupe in its center surrounded by a cornucopia of elaborate drawings ranging from people to trees to skeletons.

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Two people sit on a bench looking at a mural on the side of a pharmacy.

'The Greatest Love' Mural

Boyle Heights Pharmacy

The movie’s opening sequence takes viewers on a quick tour of Boyle Heights and East Los, highlighting the lively and colorful environment that Miklo proudly calls home. Prominently featured in that montage are the many murals of this region, including Paul Botello’s 1992 painting “The Greatest Love,” which was sketched onto the side of Farmacia Ramirez.

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Graffiti over a mural on Chula's Fruit Coffee

'Resurrection of the Green Planet' Mural

Boyle Heights Store

Also included in the opening sequence’s mural crawl is Ernesto de la Loza’s “Resurrection of the Green Planet,” which was painted on the side of the now-closed Chulas Fruit Coffee on Cesar E. Chavez Avenue. The illustration, completed in 1991, depicts a curandera at work and contains themes of conservation and community.

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Jesse's Barber Shop

Boyle Heights Barber

As Miklo walks the streets of East L.A. during the opening credits sequence, he comes across Jesse talking outside his shop and tells him, “I’m gonna need a trim, homes.” Thirty years later, the facade of the business remains mostly unchanged.

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El Pino

Boyle Heights Attraction

“That tree is East Los to me,” Miklo says of El Pino, the giant bunya pine that looms over East L.A. and Boyle Heights. In the film, the technically-not-a-pine tree is a symbol for the security and community the movie’s main characters feel in East L.A. In the years since the movie’s release, the conifer became the breakout star of the film, attracting a legion of admirers across the globe — easily overshadowing the fame of the actors in the movie — and becoming an unofficial ambassador of East Los.

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Two people stand at a fence, looking out at a view of Los Angeles.

Point Grand View

Elysian Park Park

This park, which aptly provides spectacular vistas of Los Angeles, is the location of the scene that sets in motion the main plot points of the movie. After winning an art contest, Cruzito and his girlfriend drive up to this outlook to take in the sight and have sex, but are interrupted by members of the Tres Puntos gang who go on to permanently damage Cruzito’s back, which leads to his heroin addiction and fatal retaliation from the Vatos Locos.

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The view of Los Angeles from the top of Thomas Street

Lincoln Heights Hill Top View

Montecito Heights Attraction

“Check out the new view, homies,” Tres Puntos leader Spider tells his gang as he takes in the impressive panoramic view of L.A. on this hill. “I’m gonna build myself a righteous pad here. Swimming pool, white picket fence and s—.” Unfortunately for Spider, he never lives to see that day and meets his untimely death when the Vatos Locos sneak attack him and his crew moments later in retaliation for Cruzito’s assault. This epic fight scene proves crucial in sending Miklo and Paco down separate life paths.

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LAC + USC Medical Center

Boyle Heights Hospital

Following his assault by the Tres Puntos crew, Cruzito, now wheelchair-bound, emerges alongside his family from the Art Deco extravagance of the hospital’s doorway. The scene also provides a pivotal moment where viewers find out that Paco has left gang life and entered the Marine Corps. The building was designed by the Allied Architects Association of Los Angeles and was constructed between 1927 and 1933.

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Theory Melrose (site of Cruz's art gallery) in the film "Blood In Blood Out"

Cruzito's Art Gallery

West Hollywood Store

After being released from the hospital, Cruzito sees his career as an artist flourish to the point that he is able to put on an art show in West Hollywood. The location’s plain white walls and audience paired with “high-end” sensibilities provide a deep contrast to Cruzito’s pieces that highlight life in East Los. Unable to be surrounded by the snobbish environment of the gallery, Cruzito and his friends get high and crash the scene.

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Evergreen Cemetery

Boyle Heights Cemetery

This Boyle Heights graveyard, which has been around since 1877, acts as the final resting place for Juanito after his accidental heroin overdose. The cemetery also serves as the site of forgiveness and reconciliation between Cruzito, his family and Paco.

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Miklo's Heist Scene

Panorama City Store

After serving nine years in San Quentin for killing Spider, Miklo is granted parole and returns to East Los, but he soon finds that nothing is the same as it once was. When attempting an honest living, he finds himself at a dead end and involves himself in an attempted robbery at a Zodys store (now a 99 Cents Only store) to get right economically. The heist is thwarted in the Zodys parking lot by Paco, now an LAPD officer, who encounters Miklo and shoots him in the leg after he fails to comply.

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Saint Mary's Catholic Church, a location for the film "Blood In Blood Out"

St. Mary's Catholic Church

Boyle Heights Church

The North Italian-Byzantine-style Catholic church, designed by architect Thomas Franklin Power, has existed in its current form since 1925. In the film, Smokey, who had just coordinated the bombing of Cheap Times, is found dead sitting in one of the pews by Paco. It is also here where Paco convinces detectives from San Quentin to allow him to help in the investigation of Smokey’s death.

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