There are a few. Psycho, Rosemary’s Baby, and The Shining. There are more but those are the tops.

2- What inspired you to write the twisted tale that is "Frailty"?

My partial southern Baptist upbringing as well as the novels of Stephen King and Peter Straub, the film Night of The Hunter, and the films of Hitchcock, Shadow of a Doubt in particular.

3- Do you have a specific ritual when you write? 

Not really. I simply close my office door and write. Sometimes I listen to music that’s relevant to whatever I’m working on to get me in the mood. I also try, every single time, to become so engrossed and obsessed with the story and the characters that I actually dream about them when I go to sleep. Frailty caused more than a few horrific nightmares for me, some of which ended up in the script.

4- What kind of musical ambiance did you set while writing Frailty, if any? 

I listened to Leonard Cohen’s The Story of Isaac again and again to get into the mood.

5- How did the script eventually wind up in Mr. Paxton’s hands?

The producers, David Kirschner and Corey Sienega, sent him the script for him to consider playing Dad. 

6- Were you involved during the entire production or were you sidelined once shooting began? 

I can proudly say that I was involved in nearly every aspect of pre-pro, production, and post. Unlike most directors and producers, Paxton and Kirschner kept me completely in the loop, and gave me an invaluable education in film. 

7- Were there a lot of re-writes as the shoot went forward? If so, did anything considerable change?

I did a few cuts here and there with Paxton, and added and dropped some lines with the actors in pre-pro, but nothing huge. Mostly it was fitting lines to the actors’ mouths and getting rid of the ones that they could get across with a simple look or action. The most considerable change was the demon imagery. I rewrote those images again and again up until the day we shot them.

8- The ending of the film has often become a subject of conversation for me and my friends. Is the one in the movie your originally planned ending or did it change through the drafts?

There were really only two drafts of Frailty. The ending was pretty much the same in the first draft, only not as clear. Plus in the first, it was revealed that Doyle had killed his own daughter, not his mother.

8- Do you feel that Frailty, the movie, lives up to Frailty, your script?

Yes, I do. There are differences, but the heart of the script was captured perfectly.

9- The DVD is coming out soon and you have a writer’s commentary on it. Was it rewarding for you to go through the film and give your points on it? Was it frustrating at times?

It was absolutely rewarding and not in the least bit frustrating. I love to talk and there is nothing like a captive audience.

10- Your next script “Holes” will be directed by Andrew Davis ("The Fugitive"). What can we expect from that one?

“Holes” is based on Louis Sachar’s novel of the same name. It will be released sometime this December. Expect a magical kid’s story for all ages, unlike Frailty in every way.