IS THIS MAN THE DEVIL?

British director Marc Evans made the scariest film of 2002 in the brilliant My Little Eye. We spoke to him around the time of the film's release...

My Little Eye features five people living together in a house for six months. Was it inspired by TV's Big Brother?
Marc Evans: "Sort of. We had the idea in January 2000, before it happened here. Big Brother happened first of all in Holland. In the movie it's a website, not a reality TV show, so we had to imagine our own website. In a way, we invented the details of it before Big Brother appeared. Even though the website was very different to Big Brother, it made sense to the people we were trying to pitch it to, because by September 2000, Big Brother was a massive phenomenon. In a way, Big Brother has been a part of the story since the beginning. It sort of still is, because people obviously refer to it."

So the general format of the Dutch show inspired you?
Evans: "Exactly. This is definitely a 'What if?' film. What if a group of kids in Anerica had set up a website? The rules are that if you stick it out for six months, you get $1 million. If one of you leaves, you all lose the money, so there's immediate pressure to stay. We actually got a green-light from Working Title Films on the last day of the first Big Brother series, which was kinda poetic justice."

Is this a British/American co-production?
Evans: "Not exactly. It's a Working Title film, and they're funded by Universal. But we didn't co-produce with anybody. They basically told us, 'If you can make this film for less than $3 million, go ahead and make it'. It was obviously a digital film, because of the nature of the story. It was also something you should make quite quickly and cheaply, before somebody else made it. "

You must have felt a real pressure to beat the rest of the pack...
Evans: "There was a pressure. If anything sits still long enough, America will syndicate it and make it into a film. So Big Brother: The Movie is just around the corner, I suppose - to the extent that the new Halloween movie has surveillance cameras and all that. We knew that it was a very current idea - there had been Series 7: The Contenders, and a couple of other things. But we wanted to be first in that respect. If you watch My Little Eye thinking it's a pastiche or parody of Big Brother, you'll be very disappointed - it bears little resemblance to the Big Brother we see on television. But the comparisons are there, obviously."

Are you saying anything about the reality TV/website format?
Evans: "Well, the weird thing about Big Brother, is that in British television the prize is 70,000 quid. I can't imagine anybody's doing it for that money - they're doing it for other reasons. This obsession with celebrity and instant fame - it's like a quick fix thing. You get the impression with this Pop Stars thing that they'll go along to an audition and be at the top of the charts within six weeks. But My Little Eye isn't a social satire on that - it's more related to an idea about the web and about a world attached to the web. The internet has made everybody's lives a lot easier, but you still have this feeling when you feed the beast your credit card number, that somehow it's going into an unregulated world. This is playing with an idea of an unregulated, sinister idea that might have developed on the web. When you see the movie, you'll know what I mean. If it's a comment about anything, it's maybe that a generation who's brought up on the web gets its morality from the web, and therefore will be able to achieve things on the web that the rest of us wouldn't think was rest or possible."

The house in the movie is extremely creepy...
Evans: "Yeah, that horror house has turned up in so many films over the years. Now it's in our film, and we feel, or hope, that this is the web-head, 21st century take on that house."

I'd hope you'd consider My Little Eye as a horror film?
Evans: "Oh yeah. I'm in a zone now, where I'm hoping to get the approval of horror fans. I don't know if I've succeeded yet, but I know the horror press who have been to see it have approved of it. One thing everybody says about it, is that it has a fantastic sound design and that it sticks to the courage of its convictions. It doesn't back out at the end... so don't expect a happy ending!"

Which horror films have influenced you?
Evans: "I'm into films that would probably stray into a category which is not straight horror, but more to do with weirdness. I love David Lynch and Roman Polansky. I like filmmakers who take you into a world where you're not quite sure what you're supposed to feel - where you feel disoriented. The dream-like quality of directors like that is probably my biggest influence. I like being made to feel unsettled by tone and atmosphere, rather than necessarily by short, sharp shocks. I tried to bend reality with My Little Eye."

Are you much of a slasher movie fan?
Evans: "Yeah, you know, to a point. I'd be honoured if this was seen as being alongside some of the best. I just like films, basically. I haven't got the cred of a specialist film fan, but I like anyone in that genre who pulls it off. I love Ringu and I love Cronenberg. I've got no objection to violent films, but I love all that stuff that just gets under your skin."

Have you always wanted to make a horror movie?
Evans: "Yeah. I'm not interested in making a comment on how society is: I'd rather imagine how it might be - in an evil way, or a good way. This is my first film that fits into this genre, but my others have all tried to exploit mood and atmosphere a lot. There's also a very strong central idea to this film, which is showing the story from the point-of-view of web cams. That's the kind of thing that interests me. Halfway through the experiment, you think you're maybe mad, but we stuck to the idea. I also like the horror fanbase, and the fact that they're like, 'The weirder the better - bring it on!'. You're trying to outwit them and they're trying to outwit you - that doesn't happen in other spheres of cinema. When you're making a horror film, you're very aware of all the other horror films that have ever been made. You're dealing with an audience that's very, very literate in that. It's an experimental film in a sense, but I'm also confident that the audience won't have any trouble understanding what the hell is going on. They're bright and they understand the medium. The Blair Witch Project did it with wobbly-cam: we did it with surveillance cameras and the pan and zoom of those cameras..."

How do you feel about My Little Eye being compared to The Blair Witch Project?
Evans: "I don't mind, because both films have something in common: experimentation and having the courage of their convictions."

Universal are reportedly unsure of what to do with My Little Eye. Why do you think that was? Evans: "It's a tough movie for them, because we did break a few rules, in a sense, although not in any massive way. One of the things is, that it's not ironic and doesn't take the piss out of itself. That breaks some big rules in terms of what they consider commercial. Another rule is that kids like bumps every 15 minutes. In this movie, nothing happens - in a way - for the first two acts. There's just this insidious unpleasantness going around. Then it kicks in in the third act. Which breaks the rule of keeping young audiences interested. Whether it's true or not, I don't know."

Speaking broadly about the movie's real subject (although if you, the reader, haven't seen the movie, you might want to skip a couple of questions) - do you think it's possible?
Evans: "Technically, it's probably on the edge of possible. Half of me says, it's just an urban myth. But look what's happened on 'Big Brother' - each new series became increasingly cruel, it seems to me, in terms of making the characters suffer more. On the internet, it's known that child porn exists, and there was that 'Bum Wars' thing, where kids paid homeless people to beat the shit out of each other. That's a phenomenon that's existed. So if there's not an immorality to the 'net, there's an amorality to it. So generally, I'd say it's possible."

So you think people could be that evil?
Evans: "I think some people could be. We tried to suggest that, in the unrestricted wasteland of the web, people could get up to all sorts. It's only one step away from pornography."

Was making the movie as intense as it appears on the screen?
Evans: "It was quite intense, because we were in the same house for six or seven weeks, with the same cast and everything. So it became a bit like Big Brother, except people didn't sleep there. These young actors had a pretty intense chemistry going between them. It was also very cold: minus 24.5. All that added to the desolate feeling of the whole enterprise."

Did the actors get spooked out, during the film's production?
Evans: "A few strange things happened. For example, the actor who plays Danny - his grandfather did actually die. Wihtout wanting to cheapen that, the truth is, there were an element of those actors in the characters. "

Nine Inch Nails producer Flood spearheaded the incredibly harsh, unsettling soundtrack. How did he get involved?
Evans: "He expressed interest, actually: I think there's always a fascination between musos and film. It was a great experience working with him - he was totally into pushing it and playing with it. Nine Inch Nails were definitely an influence - every song Trent Reznor writes is basically a horror movie!"

What's the most extreme reaction you've had to the movie?
Evans: "Somebody walked out with a panic attack. But there's an agreement between you and the audience when you make a horror film. If people complain it's too scary, it's like, 'Uh, hello, it's a horror film!'. You try and make the film aesthetically pleasing, but there's an element of it that's like a fairground ride. The audience are challenging you to scare them, and you're letting them down if you don't go for it."

So when someone walks out with a panic attack, you must see that as...
Evans: "... a massive compliment! A badge of honour!"



[My Little Eye at Amazon UK]

[My Little Eye at Amazon US]

[My Little Eye Review]

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