“Blood In, Blood Out” Is Still A Cult Classic

Love it or hate it, "Blood In Blood Out" has only grown in popularity and solidified itself as a cult classic.

After 30+ years, it’s still Vatos Locos forever.

Since its wide release in April 1993, the film “Blood In, Blood Out” aka “Bound By Honor” has achieved both cult crime movie status and distinction in the Chicano Cinema canon.

It’s endlessly quotable, eternally cool, and even after repeated viewings, stands as an achievement in the hearts and minds of its audience and creators.

For screenwriter Jimmy Santiago Baca, there’s both simple and complex reasons the film continues to resonate with new generations four decades after its release.

“It’s a Chicano movie,” said Baca, who granted an exclusive interview with Daily Chela prior to the film’s anniversary. “We don’t get that many movies. It was about their lives.”

Baca said he wrote every word of the film, and was happy to share credit with co-screenplay writers Jeremy Lacone and Floyd Mutrux, two veteran Hollywood professionals.

Baca said he gets a lot of questions and requests from fans of the movie, but generally he doesn’t take the time to reflect on his experiences with the film.

It remains one of his best professional experiences.

“I was with some of the best people on earth. That a writer wrote roles for them, not even just Chicanos, but the black brothers and white guys, that a writer would write roles for them that they loved and embraced and made their own, it’s incredible,” he said. “It was like happiness… The roles were the people and the people were the roles.”

That sentiment is shared by his collaborators both behind and in front of the camera.