Scott plays Ohm Bauman, an author who heads to a secluded inn in Ireland to scatter his parents' ashes, only to discover the place is hiding something deeply unsettling.
Known for thriving in ensemble casts, Scott found himself carrying much of this story solo.
"A couple weeks into the shoot, Damian just walked up to me with the schedule and was like 'OK we've got like 3 weeks of just you in a room.' And, ah, so it was a little daunting," he told On The Red Carpet.
Director Damian McCarthy, the Irish filmmaker behind eerie standouts like "Caveat" and "Oddity," built the film to keep audiences guessing.
"They've seen so many horror movies so, 'I bet it's going to happen now' and then my job, I feel, is to go 'No. Good guess, but it's actually going to be now' and then you catch them out," he said.
When it comes to real-life paranormal encounters, each recalls only a partial experience, but nothing truly definitive.
"You know I've got a bad vibe in some places, but yeah, nothing out and out that would be super spooky," McCarthy said.
"There's only one experience that I had where I walked into a house, I was supposed to be renting... but to... There was something there that, whether it was completely in my imagination or a vibe, whatever, I had to get out of there and not come back, so I promptly went and found a hotel room," Scott added.
"Hokum" is in theaters now.