Tom DeLonge says paranormal film he directed ‘way more real than people realise’

By Rachael Davis and Hannah Roberts, PA reporters

Blink-182 guitarist Tom DeLonge has said a paranormal film he directed is more realistic than people might realise.

Monsters Of California is a science-fiction adventure drama, directed and co-written by DeLonge, which follows a group of friends who are on a quest to discover the meaning behind a series of mysterious, paranormal events.

US musician DeLonge, 49, who makes his directorial debut, had a fascination with UFOs and the paranormal while growing up.

He told the PA news agency: “When I was younger we would go out to haunted houses, and then right after high school, we took a trip up into California, the northern territory of California, looking for Bigfoot.

“One time, we found out that he wasn’t where we were at, but we did look for him.

“And so, I’ve been out to the desert many times (with) my friends, looking for UFOs and shit, you know, you go out there and smoke weed and just like, have fun, but you’re still kind of like, ‘What if something happens?’

“So this is all shit that I’ve done… as well as meeting with people from the US government, and weird locations, and having these discussions that you see in the film.

“There’s way more shit about this film that’s real than people would even realise.”

Speaking about the research he did, he added: “I had some moments of jaw dropping, like world view-changing moments.

“I had other conversations where I was way in over my head and very nervous about what I got myself into, and then I had other conversations that were just absolutely enlightening and changed the way I just think about myself and how I live my life because of it.

“So there’s a bit of that in this film, but the enormity of what I’ve been involved in, personally, is probably for another film later.”

The movie was made during the Covid-19 pandemic, according to DeLonge, and was released in US cinemas and on demand in 2023.

Monsters Of California is available on digital in the UK from July 7th.