Simon's torture chamber was shot entirely in Tom Vollmann's basement in Chicago Illinois.
Vollmann's 14 birthday present was a Kodak Super 8mm camera. Vollmann made many short, horror/science fiction silent films. He edited these films with a cutting board, a razor blade, a flashlight and a magnifying glass.
Vollmann's live of horror movies began with his mom LaVerne who would take young Tom and his sister Jo to weekend matinées that included many Hammer films, which starred Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee.
One of Tom's favorite movies was Horror of Dracula (1958).