CREDITS DONNIE DARKO, 2001 dir: Richard Kelly Jake Gyllenhaal Maggie Gyllenhaal Drew Barrymore Noah Wyle James Duval Patrick Swayze Katharine Ross

“28 days, six hours, 42 minutes, 12 seconds...” and the world will end, according to Frank the giant rabbit (James Duval), a disturbing cousin of James Stewart’s cuddly Harvey. Richard Kelly’s debut feature is the stuff of cults. Bigtime.

And like a David Lynch film, to which it’s often compared, it needs to be seen over and over, though there’s a touch more logic than in Lynch's nightmare universe. The film is set in 1988 in ‘Middlesex, Virginia’, but was filmed entirely around LA.

‘Middlesex High School’, the school attended by Donnie Darko (Jake Gyllenhaal) is Loyola High School, Venice Boulevard just east of Normandie Avenue, midtown.

Itís at the Aero Theater, 1328 Montana at 14th Street, Santa Monica, that Frank the Rabbit appears during a screening of The Evil Dead, to instruct Darko to burn down the mansion of oleaginous sleazebag Jim Cunningham (Patrick Swayze).

Donnie Darko location: Frank the Rabbit at the cinema: Aero Theater, Santa Monica

The art deco cinema, opened in 1939, was where the young Robert Redford watched movies and was almost taken over by his Sundance organisation. Itís being restored by the American Cinematheque. It's seen also in Barry Sonnenfeld's Get Shorty.

Donnie Darko location: the mansion of sleazy Jim Cunningham: Country Club Drive, Long Beach, Los Angeles

Cunninghamís mock-Tudor mansion is 4252 Country Club Drive down in Long Beach, south LA. You might recognise the grand house as the home of ‘popular jock’ Jake Wyler (Chris Evans) in Not Another Teen Movie.

Donnie Darko location: Donnie Darko's house: 4225 Country Club Drive, Long Beach

Donnie Darko’s house itself, where a jet engine mysteriously crashes into his life, is nearby at 4225 Country Club Drive.