With its insane reputation, Paranormal Activity arrives ten years after The Blair Witch Project, with which it shares many common points: its low-budget (only $11,000), its profitability (a box-office hit in the US, having pulverized Saw 6) and its will to scare people with archetypes of horror cinema (ghosts, demons, invisible forces). Paramount originally bought the rights from Dreamworks and orchestrated viral marketing like in the drive-in era of the 1970s: Paranormal Activity was initially screened on college campuses late at night before word of mouth spread on Facebook and Twitter, inviting Internet users to rush to discover the happening of the century. One thing led to another, and the show found its way into a more mainstream distribution channel. At the time of the interview, its author, Oren Peli, 39 years old, of Israeli origin, does not yet realize the spectacular scale of the success of a small film, originally intended for a small circle, which has become in a few months a cultural phenomenon. Aware of the advantages but also of the inconveniences of this sudden popularity, he refuses to comment on his projects in order to avoid putting pressure on himself while he is only at the writing stage. All we know is the title of his next feature film (Area 51) and its subject (an alien abduction). While waiting perhaps, as the ending suggests, for a sequel to Paranormal Activity.
What did you do before making Paranormal Activity?
I started as a video game designer. At the time, I wanted to make a fantasy film. But I was convinced that I would never have the opportunity. So I gave it to myself and tried to be as inventive as possible.
How was the film born?
I got the idea for Paranormal Activity in 2005, when I moved to San Diego. At night, I would hear strange noises. All by myself, I started to fantasize about my own movie. I didn’t know yet if the result would be good or bad, I just had a few hints, vague notions. I spent a year researching the subject and learning about the technical aspects: editing, mixing, special effects. In the meantime, I was working on the casting and I spotted the two main actors who didn’t know each other. I chose them because they were the best. The shooting lasted one week. The following year, I took care of the editing and mixing. We did a lot of testing and test screenings. Once we were all happy with the edit, we sent it to festivals. It was selected for the Scream Fest in Los Angeles. That’s when the wheels started turning: we got rave reviews and won several awards.
How did Paranormal Activity come to Steven Spielberg?
Everything that happened during the festival led to us signing with an artist agent who introduced us to two Dreamworks producers who saw the potential. At first, they were hesitant, didn’t see how to release it and wanted me to make a remake with more means. To test it, we showed it to a real audience and when they saw the reactions, they finally decided to abandon the idea of making a remake and release the original. Once the decision was made, they showed the film to Steven Spielberg. Legend has it that after watching the film, he found his bedroom door locked from the inside. This apparently worried him to the point of not wanting to touch the DVD! He described Paranormal Activity as “the scariest movie since The Exorcist” and that’s a huge compliment.
Is it true that he intervened to change the outcome?
For him, Paranormal Activity had to be released in the original version and only in this version, but with a different ending. In order for the version to be usable, we did a little rewinding and started thinking about an alternative ending. We tried several in new test screenings and one of them was suggested by Spielberg. That’s the one we kept because it drove people crazy. People who were scared when they saw it didn’t know that it was the one suggested by the director of Duel.
Have other filmmakers besides Spielberg praised you?
Yes, I have received encouragement from artists, including M. Night Shyamalan who told me he was scared to death when he saw Paranormal Activity. I also know that the two directors of The Blair Witch Project saw it and liked it.
Paranormal activity has the same phenomenon as The Blair Witch Project ten years later…
I’m glad I did. It’s thanks to films like The Blair Witch Project and Open Water that I felt like picking up my camera and creating a story based on the principle of immediacy (it’s impossible to escape from events). They proposed cinema with little means and outside the system. As in these two films, the actors contributed a lot through their chemistry and authenticity. Almost everything was improvised, nothing was written. So much so that if the current version lasts 1h30, we had shot 70 hours of it! As for the success of Paranormal Activity, I’m the first one not to return. Recently, it beat Saw 6 at the box office. It fascinates me but I don’t take any credit for it. There’s room for everyone.
Are you a fan of the genre?
I discovered The Exorcist when I was 11 years old with my parents and I was scared, like many viewers before me. I don’t believe in ghosts, but when I was younger, I was terrified of anything to do with ghosts and demons. I avoided watching movies of the same genre because I wanted to look as original as possible. I wasn’t really influenced by the YouTube style because when I started working on Paranormal Activity, it wasn’t as developed. Instead, I showed the two actors TV shows and paranormal material to get them to understand the reactions of a haunted victim. In real life, what scares me is how vulnerable you can be when it’s dark. An invisible presence watching you while you sleep. It’s a universal fear and that’s probably why the film works so well on people. It’s not contemporary, it’s just timeless.
