Motel Films -- Sympathy in Reviews for 1408, Bug, Vacancy

Thanks for noticing us! We have been getting cross-referenced in a lot of these reviews for the other 'motel films' that have come out recently. It's a nice thing that despite not being a major theatrical wide-release (yet!) Sympathy is still in the mix of these films and legitimized as being one of the pack (despite its incredibly independent nature). The truth is Sympathy is very different than these films in almost every capacity. While it does use a motel as its primary location, it is secluded to that motel for the Entire duration of the film, unlike the others which follow a more formulaic approach to the location (set up the story first, get there, then move in and out of the room throughout the film). The biggest difference to note is in the budget (and production). Sympathy costs about 1\10,000th what '1408' did. I'd venture to say the entire budget for Sympathy was about what a PA made on the Vacancy shoot. We're a purely independent film. No "based off a Stephen King novel" no "from the director of the Exorcist" no "from the people that brought you Anacondas." It's not to say we're better or worse, just different. Meanwhile, if someone were to compare all four of these films I wouldn't want that to matter -- judge us simply on our merits of storytelling, which again is why I'm glad we're in the mix.
As far as your question about being pissed all these motel films are coming out at the same time... I find it more ironic than anything. We started production on Sympathy almost three years ago (based off a stage play that had come out a few years prior to that). It took this damn long to finish because of that whole budget thing I mentioned, but when we were rolling there wasn't another film like it in site, hadn't been in a long time. Suddenly we finally finish and out comes motel row. I'm not sure if the other Hollywood productions were aware of each others' existence, but they certainly didn't see us coming, and in several reviews we've emerged as the most successful in terms of a filmic experience. As one review put it, "After watching this film, I guarantee you won’t have as much sympathy for all of those big budget studio flops."