Ti West landed the Psycho House for MaXXXine thanks to Alfred Hitchcock's family.

One of the biggest set pieces in Ti West's MaXXXine is the Psycho House. Luckily, it was not hard to secure the location from the iconic Alfred Hitchcock movie.

In an interview with Discussing Film, West revealed he wrote the Psycho House into the MaXXXine script before getting approval. The Hitchcock family swiftly permitted him to use the location, putting any fears to bed. This was especially crucial as West did not have a backup plan.

“I had this moment in X where they talk about Psycho and I had these things in X that were referencing it — because it was a slasher movie and it's one of the great slasher movies of all time — and they were discussing that within the context of the movie,” West said.

That moment created an epiphany for West. Once he realized his third movie in the X trilogy would take place in Los Angeles, he had the perfect idea.

“Suddenly, I'm writing three movies, and when I'm writing the third one that takes place in Los Angeles and Maxine has made it to Hollywood and she's on a movie backlot, I thought, What if we just went to the Psycho House?” West recalled. “And then I thought, I'll just write that into the movie not thinking we would have to get permission for it, which seems stupid. But when you're writing, you're just so desperate to figure the movie out.

“That was the first call to even know if we could do it. If they had said no, I had no backup plan, so thankfully the Hitchcock family said, ‘Yeah, sure, no problem,'” he continued.

It was similar to Stevie Nicks giving the green light to use her iconic song “Landslide” in X. West must have good luck.

Why the experience was so “cool”

Using the Psycho House meant a lot to West, not just as a director but also as a cinephile.

“To actually be here and do it was so surreal,” West reflected. “To frame it up but not be making Psycho, there's no reason to ever do that other than this movie.

“It was just very cool as a fan of movies and a fan of that movie. Or as trying to interject cinema as the connective tissue of the three movies, it felt very cool to get the opportunity to do it,” West added.

What is MaXXXine about?

MaXXXine is the final entry in Ti West's X trilogy and picks up after the first movie. Maxine Minx (Mia Goth) is now in Los Angeles pursuing her dreams of becoming an actress. After surviving the events of the first movie, she has to avoid the Night Stalker whose presence is overshadowing Los Angeles.

Aside from Goth, who has become a star thanks to the trilogy, Elizabeth Debicki, Michelle Monaghan, Halsey, Bobby Cannavale, Giancarlo Esposito, Kevin Bacon, and Lily Collins also star in the movie.

The trilogy began with X in 2022. The movie was a surprise hit for A24 after making $15 million at the box office. A surprise prequel, Pearl, was already shot and edited and was released later that year with Goth returning.

MaXXXine will be released on July 5.