Horror fans have been seeing Catholic exorcisms for decades, and Armaan Zorace is looking to shake up the “possession” sub-genre with Wraith. Not only is his plan to dive into the world of Islamic exorcism, but to film a live exorcism as part of the movie.
With plans to shoot in 2019, I was excited to catch up with Armaan to learn more about the live exorcism, new technology he’s developing for the movie, and the differences between Catholic and Islamic exorcisms:
What can you tell me about the story? I understand that it's a possession story based around a couple from Seattle that go on vacation. Where are they headed?
Armaan Zorace: It’s about a couple that are taking a vacation to an Islamic village because they wanted to explore something completely new that’s outside of their comfort zone. They go to this place, and they have a completely new form of paranormal experience. These things are seen from their point of view.
Obviously, Catholic exorcisms have been heavily featured in horror films for decades, but we don’t really see the Islamic side of possession. What would you say the big difference is between what people are used to seeing from Catholic exorcisms?
Armaan Zorace: Catholic exorcism is based on verses, like a chant to exorcise the demon. But the Muslim exorcism that I want to show is completely different. There are certain kinds of beings that a person is surrounded by. So, the Iman (or the exorcist) entices certain forces and he actually sees if the leaves catch fire. And, if they do, then he believes that the person is possessed. From then on, he performs a ritual that makes sure that the being is taken out. So, I wanted to take the American audience into this new world, and give them a completely new perspective of how exorcisms are done in the Islamic world.
What are some of your horror inspirations? Did The Exorcist have a big impact on you?
Armaan Zorace: That was a big inspiration to me growing up. I grew up in Dubai and in India, and my parents have always spoken about that film, and how they actually played a prank on the audience, where they would close the doors when the film was being screened. There would be [people in the] audience banging on the door; they wanted to get out, but they would not be allowed outside, so they were stuck in their chairs to watch the film.
I understand that you will be filming a live exorcism as a part of the movie. Can you talk about how you got permission to do that and the challenges around filming something like that?
Armaan Zorace: I personally have shot some exorcisms with a friend of mine. I know the Iman who does it, so I had to ask him for permission and I'm very happy that he obliged. I want the audience to see exactly what I see. I thought it could be a big challenge to shoot a live exorcism and place the actors there and actually see what happens. I thought the whole experience would be unique, without any kind of special effects, without any kind of added post-production gimmicks. I want the audience to see exactly what I see.
I understand that you’re working on new filming technology for this movie. Can you talk about what you’re developing?
Armaan Zorace: “Ghost Cam” is something that I've been working on for a bit now. Actually, the whole effort in this film is going to be minimizing the use of special effects and bringing a lot of stuff on set. So, I will not be adding special effects in post. And “Ghost Cam” is one of the most interesting things I have been working on. The camera kind of takes on how I perceive the ghost. And as far as sound is concerned, we are in the process of working on a new 4D sound, which explores 3D sound in a victim space, like when the actors speak, the gap between them. And then you have sounds coming out of nowhere.
We are also working on sounds that have not been heard by humans before, like sounds from the space. We have been collecting those kinds of sounds. There are some radio frequency emissions coming from other planets. So, we've been taking those sounds and seeing how to completely come up with new sounds for the audience.
It sounds like something that's going to be exciting to see and hear on the big screen, and you have already been shooting tests. When will actual production begin?
Armaan Zorace: We've already started doing tests of what I would like to do on the set, but I hope to start shooting in July 2019.
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