I am very happy to say I have interviewed Jim Roof, Director, Screen Writor and Actor of 2015 House With 100 Eyes. I would also like to mention that he’s a very nice guy to chat with, very funny and very conversational. Here is our interview below.
Nightmare Asylum: When did the whole process, script writing start for House With 100 Eyes and where did the idea come from?
Jim Roof: I wrote the script for House in 2007. Originally it was going to be the first of a set of three unrelated horror films ScreamHQ - a company I’ve worked with for a long time - was going to produce. Unfortunately plans fell through, and the script sat on the shelf for years. The idea originally came from a desire to do an uncomfortable film - something hard to watch. Something that felt like it was kind of a dirty movie - that kind of feel. At the time that I wrote it, the found-footage boom hadn’t started. I thought it was ripe for a comeback. Turned out I was right, but by the time we produced it, we were in the middle of the glut, not the first liked is hoped we would be.
Nightmare Asylum: So when you had the script down about what you wanted to do, how did you’re wife Shannon come into it? and how did she react about it?
Jim Roof: House was always intended to be a vehicle for my wife Shannon and I. Although I write and direct sometimes, I consider myself an actor first and foremost. Shannon and I have always enjoyed acting together, so she was Sue in my head from the first word. Honestly, she had a hard time with the script at first. She was reading it and got to a certain point - I don’t remember which - and said “I can’t be around you right now,” and left the room.
Nightmare Asylum: Talking about Shannon, she played a very good part, she made me feel like she was on edge with Ed in the movie quite often, and although she was on edge a lot she was very confident as well and you’re acting together was quite comedy like at times. How do you feel Shannon acted on set and how you both acted on set?
Jim Roof: Shannon and I were fortunate that we were very, very familiar with the script by the time we began shooting. Because we live together, we had plenty of time to rehearse, and run lines, and so on. So by the time day one of production began, we’d memorised the script. This let us do quick pickup shots whenever there was a down moment in shooting. We’d pick off smaller scenes that were just between Sue and Ed while bigger scenes were being set up. As for her acting, well, Shannon’s a pro, and gave the kind of performance I knew she’d give: just plain great.
Nightmare Asylum: The one scene which I keep remembering was as I like to call it ‘The Box’ scene where you were telling the audience what you needed to carry out an abduction successfully. Which when you were talking about each object you made it sound so realistic, I actually raised my eyebrows.
Jim Roof: Ha! That’s great. I’d researched real serial killers when writing the script, but the majority of the Murder Kit monologue was just stuff that seemed useful when, well, abducting or killing somebody. I assume that Ed gave the contents of the kit a whole lot of thought, and that he’d refined the kit through trial and error. I tried to make him confident of himself, but a little uncomfortable addressing the camera directly all by himself. My hope was that it would add to the feeling of realism.
Nightmare Asylum: Well take it from a fan of this movie Ed did just that. I loved how real it felt, and the banter between you and you’re wife on set was pretty hilarious, especially at the start when you’re talking about you’s being Snuff Filmmakers and how confident you felt to being the only Snuff Filmmakers who make a difference.
Jim Roof: Thanks! We wanted some of the early, direct to camera stuff to be humorous. To make the characters as likeable as psycho killers can be, at any rate. A lot of the humour that came out in the movie was not intended to be comedy necessarily. I think it was just the result of having characters who spoke very frankly with each other, because they were so familiar with each other as partners in crime and in marriage. It’s shocking to hear Ed’s callousness, and I think that translated to humour more than we intended. Which I’m fine with. Some people have called the movie a dark comedy, and that’s OK with me.
Nightmare Asylum: So moving on to the Actors, how did you choose the actors you did and why did you choose them?
Jim Roof: We put out a casting call for the victims and potential victims, and had a fairly long casting session that lasted two days, if I remember correctly. That’s initial auditions - call backs were later, of course. We chose who we did for a lot of reasons - they had to look and play as young, because Susan and Ed preying on the very innocent was a big part of their creepiness. Jamie had to be attractive, but tough enough to stand up to Ed and Susan in the face of the horrible things she endured. For Crystal, we needed someone who looked and read as very vulnerable and sweet. She doesn’t have the survivor instinct that Jamie has. And for Clutch, we needed a guy who could play a, well, a doofus, but without being annoying. There were a lot of great auditions, and Jay Lee, my co-director, and I had to not only find the best actors for the roles, but make sure they all gelled together as a trio. That’s something a lot of actors forget about the casting process. You can have a great audition, but if your look isn’t right for the role, or you don’t mesh with the other potential cast members, you won’t get cast. As an actor, being on the other side of the audition table is a great experience, that reminds you
that, in the end, getting a role is rarely just about the quality of your performance.
Nightmare Asylum: Well you chosen very well, those 3 actors played a great part. When they were on set was it as smoothly done as it looked and felt or was there a few bumps along the way?
Jim Roof: There were surprisingly few hiccups on set. Despite the tone of the movie, the set itself was very light-hearted. The cast bonded quickly, and there was a whole lot of laughter. Honestly, I expected there to be a lot more rough patches than there were. But there were no ego conflicts or anything like that. It makes for a dull story, but I’m sure glad it went as smoothly as it did!
Nightmare Asylum: There was a huge twist half way through the movie, Susan finds out her husband Ed had been sleeping around. Is that the reason she did what she did to Ed at the end?
Jim Roof: Yes, that’s the reason she paralyzed him. If Ed had lived, I’m really not sure what she would have done with him. Could Ed have talked his way out of it? I’m not sure! My gut feeling is that, in the end, Susan would probably have let Ed live, because in her twisted way she really did love him - if you can call that love. Now if Ed would have ended up killing Susan if she spared him - that’s an interesting question, I think. And it’s one I really don’t have an answer for.
Nightmare Asylum: My interpretation for that was after she found out about Ed she paralysed him for that reason, as payback. I honestly believe if she hadn’t of done that he could have talked her around. Susan give me the feeling she was very confident in what she was going to do but when the time came she kind of backed out. But her murderous side came out gradually thoughout the movie until the end it was a climax for her. She felt like a soft tough but then fooled us all. That’s how I saw her character would you agree?
Jim Roof: I think you have a very valid take - one supported by the events of the film. Her uncontrollable desire to kill was definitely overpowering for her, and I think it was her fatal flaw. And killing was very orgasmic for her, you’re right. I imagined that Ed and Susan’s sex life was pretty dull. Susan’s sexual expression came out through poisoning, while Ed’s came out of filming the abuse of women. That’s my take, at least.
Nightmare Asylum: When I watch any kind of movie I read between the lines. So talking of killing, what serial killers have you researched and which one do you find to be more fascinating?
Jim Roof: I researched a lot of them. Gacy, Ted Bundy, Dahmer. Some lesser known ones, and any couple I could find. I noticed a lot of women tended towards poison as their murder method, which was the main factor behind Susan’s M.O. I also had read “The Devil in the White City” and was fascinated with H.H. Holmes’ obsession with watching people die. Looking
back, he more than anyone influenced Ed’s character, and the whole movie, really. Holmes built a hotel designed to trap and murder his victims, complete with peep holes so he could watch them die. I found that ghoulishly fascinating. But the serial killer I find most interesting has to be Jack the Ripper. There’s so much myth and mystery surrounding him, it’s hard not to find his reign of terror compelling.
Nightmare Asylum: I can see where you’re coming from, so I totally agree with you, So on a whole are you happy with how it turned out?
Jim Roof: I really am. I feel like we accomplished what we set out to do, which was to make a movie that felt cheap and exploitative, and was uncomfortable to watch, but interesting at the same time. I knew going in that our audience would be very limited - it’s not a movie for every one, not even every horror fan. I do wish we’d struck earlier in the found-footage glut. But,
that’s life and movie making for you.
Nightmare Asylum: I will admit, the killings at the end did let me down just a bit but i’m sure with everything that is going on in the movie can make up for that i’m sure.
Jim Roof: We tried to walk a fine line between showing too much and becoming just a torture porn film and showing too little and cheating the gore fans out of what they wanted. It’s a tough balance, especially since the conceit of the movie was that a documentary filmmaker was editing this footage together. We felt that too much of the torture particularly was something that our fictional director wouldn’t show. So I can understand what you’re saying, certainly. On the other hand, we’ve had some people who were thoroughly repulsed by the amount we showed and couldn’t take it. So I feel OK about the level and explicitness of the violence in the movie.
Nightmare Asylum: Is there anything else you would like to add to the Q&A?
Jim Roof: Only that I really appreciate the interest in our little movie! It’s great to be able to talk about the process and what goes on in our heads with someone. Thank you!
There we have it, in black and white about House With 100 Eyes. I hope I asked the right questions? please let me know in the comments section.
