February 3, 2016

I’m always tremendously impressed when filmmakers have the ability to be as prolific as they are. Looking over the filmography of Phil Joanou is kind of mindblowing. This is the guy that kicked off his feature directing career with THREE O’ CLOCK HIGH, easily one of my all time favorite movies from the 80’s. He was behind the camera with one of the biggest bands on the planet for U2: RATTLE & HUM, going on to direct a handful of their music videos as well. He’s worked with Sean Penn & Gary Oldman on STATE OF GRACE, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson on GRIDIRON GANG and brought back Thomas Jane’s version of THE PUNISHER with the short film DIRTY LAUNDRY.

So the fact that he’s tackled a genre film for Blumhouse Tilt is cause for celebration. THE VEIL is a new film very loosely based on the cult of Jim Jones. It’s been 25 years since the mass suicide of Jim Jacobs (Thomas Jane) and his followers. Only one little girl survived the whole ordeal and now documentarian Maggie Price (Jessica Alba) wants to return to the original location where it all went down with Sarah Hope, the lone survivor and get the full story. But upon their arrival, things start to get a bit… well, supernatural? We caught up with Joanou to get the whole lowdown on this project.

Blumhouse.com: First and foremost, how did you come to be involved with THE VEIL? What was it about the script that stood out to you and made it a project you wanted to be a part of? To me, the most shocking thing is it was written by RENO 911’s Robert Ben Garant!

Phil Joanou: Well, the script was sent over to me by Blumhouse. We had already talked about doing a project together and after a few scripts and a few discussions it was finally THE VEIL that caught my eye. The main reason I wanted to do it was I felt it was… really different. Not just the same old, “family trapped in a house” horror film. It tells two contrasting stories — one set in a cult back in the 80’s and another in present day with a small band of filmmakers led by Jessica Alba — and then, deeper into the film, both of those stories end up colliding (through various supernatural events) in a really interesting way. It also has characters who have their own agendas and secrets that slowly get revealed throughout the film, which again, is kind of different for the genre in that usually the characters are reduced to stock-types running around in fear, rather than people that have some depth and real character issues to deal with.

And you’re right — it is funny that Ben is so well known for RENO 911 and here he is writing in the “horror” genre. At first I didn’t even realize it was the same guy! I guess the connection just went by me as I couldn’t imagine this huge comedy writer being in the horror world. But I thought he did a great job of bringing a fresh point of view to the storytelling and the characters (I think in some ways because it is new territory for him). The movie is just a very left-of-center take on the supernatural-mystery-thriller (which is how I see it, as it’s not really a “horror” film) and that really is its strength.

Blumhouse.com: The backstory of THE VEIL is very loosely based on the Jim Jones story. Do you remember much about when that all happened? Were you at all fascinated by I guess what we’d call “true crime” cases like that one? And how much time (if any) did you spend going back to the true story when in prep for THE VEIL?

Phil Joanou: I was a kid when Guyana and Jim Jones happened. I can still remember being scared out of my mind by the news photos from the suicide: the bodies of men, women and children, bloated in the sun, laying in muddy ditches, stacked top of each other. It was truly horrifying. And I’ve been fascinated by what would make people do that ever since.

Our story gets into those issues and then goes beyond it because Jim Jacobs ultimately has a very different agenda than that of Jim Jones. He’s not just another psychopath who takes everyone down with him. Jim Jacobs has much, much more going on. In many ways I think his story and the mystery of what was really happening up at his compound is the true hook in this film. The performance Thomas Jane gives is very powerful and unique — not what you’ve seen before in your typical cult leader in these kinds of movies — and the way his story plays out is central to the “Are-you-kidding-me???” outcome of the film.

And of course I’m beyond interested in the “true-crime” nature of this backstory. In fact, that’s why we start out on a kind of “documentary” style at the top of the film. With 16mm footage of Jim preaching and the CNN archival footage of the suicide crime scene. All of this was in an effort to establish a more real and legitimate backstory for the cult. Once the film gets going I shifted over to a more cinematic and omniscient narrative driven style as none of us wanted to make a “found footage” movie. But without a doubt there was an effort both in the script and then the film itself to give Jim’s story a kind of real-world weight.

Once Thomas Jane was on board he and I went into a lot of depth on the Jim Jones and David Koresh backdrop of it all. Thomas really got into it and did a major rewrite on all his dialogue once he was done researching, which for me, elevated his character and the entire movie. He’s the one that drove us away from a cult-leader-as-religious-fanatic to a supernatural spiritualist whose point of view dates back to ancient times… way before Christianity began. It’s really amazing stuff.

Blumhouse.com: You had done THE PUNISHER: DIRTY LAUNDRY short with Thomas Jane and now he plays Jim Jacobs in this movie. How’d you guys initially hook up and begin your working relationship together? And what kind of discussions did you have when it came to figuring out how this portrayal of this character would play out in this movie? He’s always been to me a fascinating actor, so I’m curious about the creative process you both had together.

Phil Joanou: Thomas and I were supposed to do a feature film together written by the incredible David Peoples (BLADE RUNNER, UNFORGIVEN, TWELVE MONKEYS), but the financing fell apart. So we got together to lick our wounds and he said, “Ya know, I’ve always wanted to do my version of THE PUNISHER — want to try and put a short together?” And naturally, I said “yes” on the spot. A writer named Chad St. John wrote a really great script and I pulled together a crew of my friends and we shot it for free over a three day period. It was a total blast from start to finish and Thomas and I swore to each other we’d make a movie together one day. (You can watch it right here on You Tube.) The people at Blumhouse saw the short and that’s how I ended up meeting everyone over there and they offered me THE VEIL off of those meetings. So it really was the short film with Thomas that got this entire thing started. And there was perfect symmetry to having Thomas then join the cast as Jim Jacobs.

As I mentioned, once he came on board he really got into the world of these cult leaders. He actually listened to all of Jim Jones’ tape recordings and let me tell you, that is NOT easy listening. I got through some of it… but Thomas did it ALL. I know he got a lot of inspiration hearing how Jim Jones’ mind worked (or didn’t work!). But that material… all the way up to the suicide in Guyana… is very scary stuff. He and I then worked a lot of this new information and dialogue into the script and even the story structure. In the end, I was so blown away by how much Thomas brought to the film. He is a tremendously underrated actor and I’m so glad this movie allows him to show people what he can do. I’m very grateful to have had the chance to work with him again.

Blumhouse.com: In the same regard, Lily Rabe who plays Sarah Hope has to deal with some dark stuff in this movie. Obviously, she’s a great actress, but I’m wondering how you prepped her to get into the mindset of a “survivor” such as Sarah. Any real life influences/people that you both discussed? Or did you try to create something solely based upon what was on the page?

Phil Joanou: One of the amazing side stories of Lily Rabe’s involvement in the movie is that her father, the playwrite David Rabe, rewrote my film STATE OF GRACE so I had met her when she was… seven years old! And now, all these years later, here we were working together. When Lily came on she already had a ton of great ideas for the character and also brought a lot of depth to Sarah. We didn’t really research any other “victims” of cults together, but I know she created a whole inner-life for Sarah as well as a backstory for her life after the suicide. We talked about that material a lot. And I know it informed literally all of her scenes. She’s such a talented actress and I was really, really lucky to get her on this film.

Blumhouse.com: Lastly, this is a horror website, so we’ve got to know – what are some of your all time favorite horror films? Do you remember some of the first ones that had an indelible effect on you? Although THE VEIL isn’t your traditional horror film, is this a genre you’d be open to making more films in?

Phil Joanou: When it comes to favorite horror films, I always default to the classics: Kubrick’s THE SHINING — Polanski’s ROSEMARY’S BABY and REPULSION — Robert Wise’s THE HAUNTING (a lot of inspiration came from that film) — Nick Roeg’s DON’T LOOK NOW is a masterpiece, and then the one that started the modern direction the genre took, John Carpenter’s HALLOWEEN and of course, the ultimate: Hitchcock’s PSYCHO.

Literally all of those movies shaped how I see the genre. I suppose it’s no coincidence that THE VEIL follows in the footsteps of the “slow burn” with the set-up/pay-off nature of old-school storytelling that those directors followed. I’ve always liked the way those movies quietly build and build and build and then finally let it rip in the end. Basically, that’s the same way we structured our movie. And as you mention, that’s what makes it really different from most of the horror movies today (and again, why I don’t even consider it a “modern horror film” at all). I’m proud of the fact that we tried something different (or “retro,” I guess you could even say), but that also means that it’s not going to be a movie for those that expect a more modern and aggressive take. In the end, I know that’s probably the biggest reason the film didn’t get a theatrical release: it just wasn’t “jump scare-y” enough. But I’m fine with that. I was allowed to make the movie I wanted to make and I’m really proud of the work everyone did on it. It is different — but if you give it a chance — and let it grow on you… I think people will be in for a satisfying ride.

THE VEIL is now streaming on Netflix Instant, so if you’re a Netflix subscriber, check it out!