Posted in: Exclusive, Horror, Interview, Movies | Tagged: Bankhead Productions, Britt Bankhead, Grace Patterson, horror, Insane Like Me?

Insane Like Me? Britt Bankhand & Grace Patterson on Vampires & Horror

Britt Bankhead & Grace Patterson spoke to Bleeding Cool about their supernatural thriller Insane Like Me? influences, horror, and more.

Britt Bankhead and Grace Patterson (Slotherhouse) are passionate about horror and share their love for the genre in their latest film, Insane Like Me, for Bankhead Productions. The supernatural thriller follows a combat veteran (Bankhead) who returns home after a tour of duty overseas. He becomes the lead suspect in his girlfriend's disappearance and is subsequently wrongly convicted and incarcerated. Nine years later he is released from the mental asylum, he returns home to find the truth and settle the score. The two spoke with Bleeding Cool about what inspired the film, Eric Roberts, if Bankhead considered directing, and their next project.

Bankhead and Patterson Break Down 'Insane Like Me?'

Bleeding Cool: What's the inspiration behind 'Insane Like Me?'
Bankhead: I grew up watching a lot of horror movies, I enjoy the action aspect, and the cars, I'm a car junkie. My dad was a mechanic, which was important for me to put into the script. There are quite a few cars there as well.

What were some of the horror films that you grew up watching?
Bankhead: The top two would be 'The Lost Boys' (1987) or 'From Dusk Till Dawn' (1996); the latter was my favorite. I like how there's a bank robbery; these guys are on the run, and then it's vampires out of nowhere.

What went into the casting process, and how did you get Eric Roberts?
Bankhead: [Laughs] Casting was fun. I went through about 1600 submissions and reached out to Eric, who I always wanted to work with, the best of the best. That's what I grew up on.
Patterson: He's so great.
Bankhead: I hadn't seen him in an action movie in a long time and wanted to see that 'Expendables' Eric Roberts.

Since you're writing and starring, did you consider directing it? Or was it something that you always wanted to get Chip [Joslin] to do?
Bankhead: I considered directing at one point. I've done directing in college. I did all these things, but I wanted to focus on acting, producing, and writing aspects.

What was the most difficult scene or sequence you filmed or wrote?
Patterson: Probably the horror stuff, like the fake blood, do you think?
Bankhead: "Scene 33" is what it became on set because I wrote this around a budget, so there are a lot of elements I had to take out, which sucks. When you have a budget and want to add it but don't have time. This one scene was about ten minutes long and was one take. We started at the hotel's third level and worked our way down.
Patterson: It took a couple of hours to get that [laughs].
Bankhead: It was like dancing with the cinematographer.
Patterson: And so many moving…
Bankhead: There's a lot.
Patterson: And going down the stairs, too.
Bankhead: We were hitting their cues and spent all day doing that shot.

How did your previous experiences in horror help with this production?
Patterson: I have done a lot of horror movies, so it was right up my wheelhouse to do this. I'm used to dying [laughs]; I don't even know how many times on camera, probably over 50. Your experience growing up watching those movies helped.
Bankhead: That's the kind of movie I wanted to make so hard to start with.

Is there something else you guys have lined up that you want to do coming up on the docket for projects?
Bankhead: In the fall, we're shooting a military drama based on a true story about my brother, who was killed in Iraq in 2007. It will focus mainly on that day, all the guys, their heroic efforts, and everything. We're excited to shoot that; it will be a big thing.

What elements did you pour into as far as your character, Jake?
Bankhead: I took a lot of real life and wrote around me. I was an infantryman in the Army for seven years. I wrote that part around my character. Losing his girlfriend was mainly how I dealt with my brother and stuff. I took those real elements from my life, and the rest are from movies that inspired me.

Insane Like Me? which also stars Samantha Reddy, Jack Maxwell, Paul Kolker, and Meg Hobgood, is available on demand.

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