Mysterious Skin (2004)

Has it nearly been ten years since this movie came out?   Where does the time go?   Many years ago, I happened to grab a copy of the novel,  Mysterious Skin, after being intrigued by those fruit loops on the front and the stunning author pic on the back.   It quickly became one of my all-time favorite books, and Scott Heim became one of my all-time favorite authors, especially after reading his follow up book, In Awe.   Maybe it was because we're both from the midwest, or the love of horror movies, or both, but I always have a real connection to his work.     When I heard they were making a movie, I was aghast as I really felt it was unfilmable.   But with Gregg Araki in the director chair and Scott writing the script, I had hope.  I was pleasantly surprised by the result and commend them on retaining the soul and flavor of the novel.   Plus they had Joseph Gordon Levitt, how could they go wrong?

Anyways, the movie mostly takes place in Kansas and unsurprisingly was mostly shot in LA.   I decided to hunt down a couple key locations.   First up, let's get the Halloween house out of the way.   The house makes a brief appearance in the movie, but is better know as Vivica Fox's house in Kill Bill...

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 Next up is the baseball field....

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This field is part of the same park.   The playground has been updated and changed quite a bit in the past decade, however the V-shaped covering is still there in the background....

Being very nitpicky, but this is the actual picnic table seen in the movie, which is now in a different part of the park....

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Back to the baseball field, the announcer's booth and small building still looks pretty much the same....

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I "think" the parking lot next to it is where the bus stop was supposed to be, but not 100% sure...

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Here is coach's house as it looks today....

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And finally Neil's house....

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My brush with adorable JGL....

Michelle Trachtenberg...

Bill Sage...

Director Gregg Araki....

And dreamy Scott Heim...