Fortean Times: Why do you think Paranormal Activity has had such a strong reaction?

Oran Peli: For whatever reason, people really respond to the movie, they find it genuinely scary. From what we’re hearing from people, it's the first movie that really scared them in a long time. On a higher level, a lot of people have different reasons: it's because of the realism, or subject matter a lot of people relate to – what happens at night while you're asleep is sort of a primal fear that a lot of people share.

FT: What were your hopes for it?

OP: I was hoping – after the success of Open Water and Blair Witch – that maybe it would have some future in theatres. I didn’t know until I saw people’s reactions in test screenings.

FT: How did Spielberg get involved?

OP: After we did a test screening for Dreamworks executives, they changed their minds from wanting to make a remake of the movie to distributing the original. They then gave the DVD to Spielberg to get his authorisation because he owns the studio. The story I heard the next day from the president of Dreamworks is that Spielberg started watching the movie and he got so unnerved by it that he turned it off halfway through and finished watching it the next day during daylight. But the next day he tried to get back into his bedroom and it was somehow locked from the inside – there was NO other way to get into the bedroom! So he got a locksmith who tried but failed to unlock the door. They had to actually cut the door open with a saw! He then took the movie to the office and he wanted it out of his sight. And these are stories I heard directly from him and Dreamworks executives, they’re not just marketing stories!

FT: Do you believe in ghosts and demons?

OP: Logically I don’t, but they still scare me.

FT: So would you term yourself a sceptic?

OP: Somewhere between curious and sceptical. Once I see proof I can believe in it – until then I don't know what to believe.

FT: Did you grow up interested in these phenomena?

OP: The main impact on me was just from being exposed to movies like The Exorcist. I was not a believer, and I still don't think I am, but it terrified me. I had nightmares and couldn't sleep well for a long time. We’re hearing the same thing about Paranormal Activity from people who are very logical and sceptical. I think one of the reasons it's effective is that the concept of something around you and possibly attacking you while you’re asleep, even if you don't believe in ghosts or demons, is something a lot of peole can relate to.

FT: Were there any strange occurences on set? Because, readers may not realise this, but the movie was filmed in your home.

OP: I wish there had been because it would have been a good story but everything went very smoothly. Anyhow, in the movie, the evil is not  related to the house, it's related to the person. So if you're a victim of the demonic haunting it doesn't matter where you go, it's going to stay with you!

FT: What if your girlfriend was a victim?

OP: I would have been like Mikah and tried to figure out what was going on, but it would depend on how much I loved her.

FT: The motivation is left ambiguous. Is this on purpose?

OP: Yes. We don't know why, but there is evil and it likes to torment people! For some poeple that makes the whole thing scarier because it's so unpredictable. We dont really understand the motivation, that's just what demons do!

FT: Was it a conscious choice to revolve the ‘evil’ around Katie as opposed to the house?

OP: Yes. Once an entity picks you, then there is no way to shake it off! You can't move, you can't do anything, it just stays with you for the rest of your life. To me, that's much scarier than the concept of a haunted house because then, you can just move away and problem solved! But if the entity decides to choose you and torment you for your entire life, that's much scarier!

FT: Was the house being possessed by a demon your first choice when elaborating the story or did you consider other options?

OP: Actually when I started doing reseach for the movie I wasn’t that educated about the difference between ghosts and demons. I knew I wanted it to be some sort of invisible entity with a potential for violence, but it wasn't until I did research that I learned the difference between demons and ghosts.  I thought a demon would be perfect for this particular thing because they are purely evil, have no motivation and we dont know really what they are.

While ghosts can be a scary concept, they usually represent the spirit of a certain individual – we know where they came from, what they are, how they operate. Demons just seem much more powerful. They have the ability to possess people and they do a lot more damage – they’re tenacious! To me it just seemed like a natural choice.

FT: One of the most unusual and effective scenes is the footage of Katie standing still...

OP: That scene is something I’m really proud of. I thought it would be cool to make the point that you can have something very simple happening, basically someone standing still for a long time. It usually gets a huge reaction from the audience. People gasp at screenings – they’re really really unnerved by it! I’m very pleased that something subtle like that can get the greatest audience reaction as opposed to having to show lots of gore, blood and guts. This scene is actually one of my favourites in the movie.

FT: Did the actors know what was happening?

OP: There are a few scenes where the actors didn't know anything about what was going to happen, we just told them goodnight and did something to surprise them! Later on, as we kept working we saw that they were so talented we didnt even need to do that, they were performing so well.

FT: Interestingly for a film about the filming of paranormal activity, some of the most effective scenes happen off camera.

OP: Yes, in much of the film, you do see things because they happen right in front of the camera. But in other instances, for example if you just hear a noise, you don't even know where it’s come from! It could have been from inside the room or from down the hallway or from downstairs. Sometimes knowing that something is going on but you don’t know what it is and you cant see it, can be a lot more unnerving that seeing it happening right in front of you.
Often whatever is in your imagination is much more effective than what can be shown on film – for example, if you hear a knock coming from inside the house, it doesn't have to be anything big, it doesn’t have to be too loud, but just the fact that it's there and you know it's not supposed to be there gives you the idea there's something lurking nearby and primes you to know that something is about to happen. Sometimes the anticipation and the anxiety is worse than what actually ends up happening!