SITGES, Spain — Ever the portrait of the gleefully rogue B-movie auteur, Stuart Gordon was the insider among the outsiders when his latest film, “Stuck,” made its European premiere last fall at the Festival de Cine de Sitges, the annual marathon of so-called “fantastic cinema,” held in the Catalonian resort town.

The round-bellied Chicagoan was in the beachy spirit of things, wearing an eye-popping Hawaiian shirt as he greeted reporters in a hotel bar. Outside, star Mena Suvari modeled for photographers by a glimmering pool. It was quite a different pose from the one the young actress strikes in the movie.

“It’s one of those things, if you made it up no one would believe it,” Mr. Gordon said in an interview. Screenwriter John Strysik based the story on a 2001 incident in Fort Worth, Texas, in which a hit-and-run driver was sentenced to 50 years in prison after a homeless man died in her garage while trapped in her car’s windshield. The film takes considerable liberties with what happens after the accident, but the basic premise, and its moral underpinnings, remain.

“This guy was dying in her garage,” Mr, Strysik said. “She would go out and apologize to him, then go back in her house and cry about it.”

Mr. Gordon added, “In real life, the guy had been homeless for more than a year, but we changed that because we wanted to give the audience a sense that this could be happening to them.”

At least, someone joked, he has a roof over his head.

“He has two roofs over his head,” Mr. Strysik said.

Such black humor, a signature of Mr. Gordon’s since his mid-1980s breakthrough with the H.P. Lovecraft adaptations “Re-Animator” and “From Beyond,” is on cringe-worthy display in “Stuck,” in which Stephen Rea’s mangled limbs are subject to the appetite of a curious dog. Fans who may have lost track of the 60-year-old director and missed more recent efforts, such as his brutally nervy adaptation of David Mamet’s “Edmond” or his work on Showtime’s “Masters of Horror” series, have an occasion to cheer.

“You’re only as good as your latest film, so I think my stock has gone up,” Mr. Gordon said. “I’m not the kind of director who will ever be given a $100 million movie to direct. The best horror movies are always little films made by people who want to go beyond what a studio will do. You’re looking to break the mold and go beyond the boundaries of good taste.”

“Stuck” achieves Mr. Gordon’s prime directive. But the film also plays out as an existential drama about individuals taking responsibility for their actions — and why they often do not.

“We’re all stuck in our little bubbles of self-interest,” he said. “It’s every man for himself. Taking responsibility for your choices, that’s about as existential as it gets.”

Rather than quote Sartre, Mr. Gordon recalled a favorite quotation from his favorite author. “Lovecraft says that man lives on an island of ignorance, and that it’s better to be ignorant because if we knew the truth we’d either go crazy or kill ourselves.” He smiled. “It’s a happy worldview.”