Insane Like Me? sees Jake Morgan, a combat veteran, returning home after a tour of duty overseas, only to be wrongly convicted of his girlfriend’s disappearance. After his release from a mental asylum, he embarks on a search to uncover the truth and settle the score.
The underlying kicker is that vampires were the abductors, and no one believed Jake. So he’s also out to vindicate that by slaying every vamp in this Texas town.
ComingSoon’s Neil Bolt spoke to Insane Like Me? star and writer Britt Bankhead who plays Jake Morgan. He discusses the true horrors of its setting and working with veteran Eric Roberts.
Neil Bolt: What was the inspiration behind making a vampire revenge movie?
Britt Bankhead: Revenge movies are great! I always loved John Wick or Payback type movies that deal with a broken man with nothing to lose. I also love Horror so mixing the two together was really fun for me.
Creating the title cards on that asylum wall was a neat touch. Do you know how that comes about? What were your feelings on it?
BB: I didn’t play a hand in that, and it was a little too artsy for me. It also kills the opening credit sequence due to the title being that far into the movie. It kind of takes the audience out of the movie to remind them of the credits and that they are in a movie.
A chunk of the movie takes place in a dilapidated hotel that’s central to the story. Where did you film that? Does it have any local history in real life?
BB: We filmed at the Glen Hotel for the hotel parts of the movie. They say that it’s actually haunted, and many guests over the years have had experiences with that. The hotel itself was built in the early 1900s and has been shut down for years. There are holes in the floors in the more dilapidated parts but we tried to stay away from those areas for the most part. You see Jake make a jump running down the hallway at the beginning of the film. That’s me just avoiding a huge hole in the ground though.
The South feels like a strangely natural fit for a vampire story. I think it is because the vast wilds and isolated areas are so close to towns and cities, making it easy for something like that to go under the radar. Do you think your Texas setting was a blessing as a result?
BB: I think the smaller the town, the better. Like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, it’s scary because where can you run to even if you get away? It makes it a lot scarier, in my opinion.
The party scene really puts a stamp on your character’s journey for the rest of the movie. Was it always seen as a key scene in that regard?
BB: That scene was my favorite to shoot! There was so much more that was supposed to be filmed in that scene and the beginning of the movie that was scrapped. I wanted it to be much more violent and gruesome to show his mental state more.
Eric Roberts is an actor for all seasons. He just seems to slot into a project smoothly. How was your experience with him?
BB: I loved working with Eric! I grew up watching his movies and wanted to see him again in an action role. We would also go to the gym in the morning before shooting and grab breakfast afterward, and he is such a down-to-earth guy.
Insane Like Me? is out now on digital platforms.
