Oren Peli

Director Oren Peli took his own fear of the unknown, shot it with a night-vision camera, and scared to death all those who dared to experience it. Peli brought moviegoers face-to-face with evil with the horror flick "Paranormal Activity" (2009), the story of a couple terrorized by a strange presence in their suburban home. With a cast of unknown actors, an $11,000 budget, and no prior filmmaking experience, Peli created a shoe-string budget masterpiece that struck abject terror into the hearts of those who saw the film, including that of director Steven Spielberg, whose company DreamWorks produced the film. Peli's directorial debut earned just shy of $100 million less than a month after its wide release in the U.S., and scared up comparisons to another indie film, "The Blair Witch Project" (1999), which also had the same slow burn effect by exploiting the visceral fear of the unknown via a camcorder. With "Paranormal Activity," Peli succeeded not only in leaving in his wake thousands of sleepless fans, but also proving that imagination - not special effects - was a more powerful force in creating a great horror movie.