For quite some time, I’ve believed that everything around is an answer, we just haven’t asked the question yet. On February 9, 2007 I was at a photoshoot at Francis George’s studio. Between shots, I was looking through some of his props on a shelf and came across a huge horse syringe. Francis said I should write a script that we could use the syringe on the poster.

I had already been toying with ideas that might work as a low-budget thriller. But the syringe added an element I hadn’t yet thought of. That night, as sleep invaded, an idea was formulating. I was mixing the syringe with the “cabin in the middle of the woods” idea that worked well for Evil Dead. And so I started asking questions:

• Why is there a syringe? Because of drugs.
• Who is doing drugs? I don’t know.
• Is doing drugs interesting? Not as much as withdrawing.
• Aha! So who is withdrawing? A loved one.
• Why are the at the cabin? For privacy.
• Why do they need privacy? Doing something illegal.
• So, what are they doing that’s illegal and withdrawal-related?

That’s when this little nugget pops up – A guy is detoxing his girlfriend from heroin.

From there, it’s just adding spice. What if it’s his ex-girlfriend? And he’s doing it by force. And he’s got someone helping him. And that helper is actually acting against him.

Well, you get the point. It took some time to noodle the major points, but it all came down to finding that syringe on a shelf when I should’ve been paying attention to a photoshoot.

And yes, that actual syringe is the one in the teaser poster.