Westworld: Creators were inspired by horror for James Delos’ last moments

Westworld episode Riddle of the Sphinx was a tell-all episode that revealed that James Delos’ consciousness had been transferred to a host–exposing that the Delos corporation planned on making humans into hosts. The 80-minute episode mostly showed the deterioration of James Delos.

John Grillo, Westworld Director of Photography for the episode, told SYFY WIRE in an interview about all of the creative influences that went into the making of the episode and how he collaborated with showrunner and director, Lisa Joy.

While Grillo admits that understanding the complicated plot of Westworld was a challenge that had him rereading the scripts ten times, he claims that “The Riddle of the Sphinx” was one of the easier episodes of the show.

The development of the episode started with tone meetings discussing how they would go about creating the time jumps. Since Joy is also the showrunner, she brought information to the table that otherwise would not have been available.

The idea was to show the progression of time whenever William met with James Delos, in order to represent that many years were flying by and they were still testing the Delos host for fidelity.

Grillo also says of the other time shifts:

"“So there are a lot of layers in that episode, in terms of that, in terms of time shifting with Jeffrey Wright’s character, Bernard. That was also very subtly done in terms of his look and his appearance, little details in his wardrobe.”"

They also placed a lot of thought into the very room that James Delos the host resided. They needed the room to be circular and white for the theme they were setting up. The all-white room served as a favorable place for filming, but the real challenge was getting the camera around a round room.

"“What I came up with was to put a camera on a short Technocrane arm in the middle of the arm, and basically, with the tremendous work from our dolly grip and our camera operator, we would put the camera in the center of the room. And it was almost like hands of a clock – we would go sweeping around the room.”"

Extensive planning went into giving the room a deep meaning in its look and purpose. The room was made almost like a prison for James Delos–a man that was accustomed to privileges. It’s a subtle reference to the new prison he has created within the robotic body he inhabits.

Grillo describes the room as being like a cage for a rat that can only go in a circle. And the deceit behind James Delos’ new accommodations is that he can’t see out, but the Delos team has him under surveillance and can look in.

When the Delos host destroys the room, Grillo says that he channeled the 70’s horror movies and incorporated red light and flashes of electricity. His motivation came from Italian Director David Argento who is famous for his 70’s horror films that pioneered these horror aesthetics. The 70’s vibes were definitely present as I remember that the red light and James’ host in full psychopathic rage made me think of Stephen King’s Carrie.

Grillo says of his horror inspiration:

"“To me, I was harkening back to those films of the 1970s where they were really bold with color, especially red. There’s an interesting thing that happens with red light on film, which is that it almost looks like it’s not in focus. It’s something to do with the layers in the film grain or something, so it’s got a very soft focus look that reminds of those old horror films.”"

The other inspirations that went into the episode included Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky and Stanley Kubrick. While Grillo praised Tarkovsky’s films Solaris and Stalker, for their influence on the film, it is clear that one of them helped create a theme. Solaris coupled with Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: a Space Odyssey, both incorporate the white illuminated spaceship aesthetic that went into so many space films of that time. So it seems that James Delos’ room may have had some out of this world influences.

"“So I think you can see those in the observation room, in that kind of white space, clean, very graphic, wide-angle lens. And then the degradation of Delos, and all the texture that you find there, all the detritus that’s been left after his robotic breakdown.”"

Watching as James Delos went from an independent mogul to a deteriorating robot was horrifying, to say the least. The concept of being trapped in an inescapable existence destined to repeat the same day over and over was something straight of a horror movie.

And in his final moments, Delos turned into a true horror figure with deep cuts in his face illuminated only by red light. Joy and Grillo did a miraculous job of making the “The Riddle of the Sphinx” into a nightmare.

What are your thoughts on the 70’s horror inspiration for Westworld? Share your comment below!