Typically, in Westerns, people who are in a Western feel like they're in a Western. It's almost like they know they do all these Western things.

The movie [ The Innkeepers] is in no way a comedy, but I would put some of the funny scenes up against some of the funnier comedies this year. I think it's genuinely really funny, but it's out of the gallows.

If people don't like [my film], the ship's sailed. There's nothing I can do about that.

It definitely could have been a horror story [Valley of Violence], oh my God, if the dog was impossible. So could the horses.

It's funny, because I don't think of my films as "slow-burn." I don't even know if I was familiar with the phrase until people started labeling me with it.

I don't think you want to preach to people. I don't think In A Valley Of Violence, and the same with The Sacrament, there's a social commentary and a political element to both the films, but it's not like, "Think this because I think this."

With my horror movies or with this movie [Valley of Violence], same thing. The subtext of this movie is what to take away from it. Plot is never something that's been my driving force as a filmmaker.