After moving into a suburban home, a couple becomes increasingly disturbed by a nightly demonic presence.After moving into a suburban home, a couple becomes increasingly disturbed by a nightly demonic presence.After moving into a suburban home, a couple becomes increasingly disturbed by a nightly demonic presence.
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Blumhouse Horror Films, Ranked by IMDb Rating
Blumhouse Horror Films, Ranked by IMDb Rating
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Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe actors weren't given scripts but were given guidelines on how to behave or what to discuss in their scenes.
- Goofs(at around 18 mins) Towards the beginning of the movie, when Micah and Katie are talking with the psychologist, there is a hard cut from the doctor to Katie as the doctor is talking, but the dialogue does not skip. Since the movie is supposed to be entirely self-filmed footage, this would imply that either there were two cameras filming at once, or that they did a second "take" with the doctor, both of which are unlikely.
- Crazy creditsFans who submitted their name on the official website during the film's theatrical run were treated with having their name listed in the film's ending credits on the DVD/Blu-ray release of the film as thanks from Paramount for making the film such a success.
- Alternate versionsThe version that was released in theaters is the cut supervised by Steven Spielberg. The Director's Cut, comprised of the unedited film with three possible endings, has several differences:
- 1. There is a scene in the Theatrical Cut not present in the Director's Cut that takes place early on, where Katie and Micah wake up and find her keys thrown from the kitchen counter to the floor.
- 2. The low frequency tone that occurs when the demon is present is not quite as loud in the Director's cut. There is only one instance of the demon whispering in the Theatrical Cut; there are at least three in the Director's Cut, all of which are heard in the bedroom at night.
- 3. A lot of the demon noises - the loud growl followed by the bang, the footsteps, even the shadows that appear on the bedroom doors - were completely re-dubbed and retouched. All of these scenes are much, much louder/noticeable in theaters for jump scares. There seem to be at least two added "shadow" effects - another on the bedroom door, and a silhouette in the hallway - in the Director's Cut, whereas the Theatrical Cut only has one shadow used.
- 4. The night when the demon plays the door games with Katie and Micah (opening and slamming it shut, knocking furiously) has been re-dubbed, as well. The knocking is much faster and louder in the Theatrical Cut.
- 5. There's some added dialogue between Katie and Micah where they discuss how the stress is negatively affecting their lives. She says she's failing her university course and won't pass unless she "does something drastic" on her midterm. He says he lost a large sum of money playing the stock market earlier, and that he'll be taking a break for awhile.
- 6. The demon's daytime attack is completely absent. The only time we get a good look at the picture that is smashed and clawed is when the two run up and down the hallway during the night to get away from the demon.
- 7. There's an extra video attached to the "Goodbye Dianne" explanation at the computer. There is at least two minutes of added footage of the woman's ordeal, which has been heavily used in the TV commercials. Micah shows Katie footage of Dianne's demonic possession and subsequent exorcism as she is tied to a bed. Her appearance transforms from healthy to disheveled and dark, with large cuts on her face and body. Eventually, the footage shows that the exorcism was unsuccessful, and the possessed Dianne becomes so destructive that she chews her own arm off to the elbow.
- 8. The double-layered voice Katie projects in bed when she says, "Everything will be fine from now on" (and later screaming downstairs) uses a different effect to achieve this. Unlike the Theatrical Cut, the two voices are very distinct.
- 9. The ending is completely changed. Katie awakes shortly after midnight on the final night, gets out of bed and stares at Micah for roughly three hours. Unlike the Theatrical Cut, she does not move to his side of the bed to continue watching him, and the sheets do not fly off of his body. Instead, she goes straight downstairs. After Micah is awakened by the scream, he runs downstairs and we hear the ensuing scuffle. Like before, Katie slowly climbs the stairs, except the footstep effect is slightly altered and when she enters the room, she is holding a knife and covered in blood. Micah's body is not thrown at the camera; he remains downstairs. Katie sits down on the floor against the bed and proceeds to rock back and forth, knife in hand, for several days. We hear her ignore phone calls and the door bell. Eventually, one of her friends comes in to check on her and finds Micah's body, which momentarily interrupts Katie's rocking. The friend lets out a scream and runs out of the house. Twenty minutes later, we hear the police knock and enter, warning anyone in the house to "make themselves known" because they have their weapons drawn. As they search the first floor, it appears as if the demon has left Katie's body: we see the light to the attic turn on, then off, as if the demon went back into hiding. The police come upstairs, find Katie and warn her to drop the weapon. She's dazed, running toward them yelling, "Where's Micah!? Where's Micah?!". The door to the attic slams shut, startling the police so much that one accidentally shoots Katie dead. The final sixty seconds of the film shows the confused policemen, asking "Where did that [noise] come from?" and ultimately declaring the house "clear". The film fades to black, and a text appears that dedicates the film to Katie and Micah.
- ConnectionsEdited into Paranormal Activity: The Chronology (2012)
- SoundtracksParalyzed
Performed by Rock Kills Kid
Featured review
Katie and Micah move into their new home, but instead of domestic bliss, the couple share several sleepless nights, prompting them to set up cameras during the night. The nights become more and more eventful.
I didn't exactly fall in love with this film when it was first released, people were apparently collapsing with fear in the cinemas, I never bought that, I didn't find it scary, looking back, I find it original.
It always felt as though the found footage genre took off after, and because of this film, not my favourite type of film, but I can appreciate what went on behind the scenes here.
I actually think the followups did a better job with scares, they took it much further, but when it came to originality, this one is the winner.
Later films seem more scripted, and are definitely more heavily produced, this one feels a lot more raw, more naive in a way, that's where this film's charm comes from, that and the snappy running time.
7/10.
I didn't exactly fall in love with this film when it was first released, people were apparently collapsing with fear in the cinemas, I never bought that, I didn't find it scary, looking back, I find it original.
It always felt as though the found footage genre took off after, and because of this film, not my favourite type of film, but I can appreciate what went on behind the scenes here.
I actually think the followups did a better job with scares, they took it much further, but when it came to originality, this one is the winner.
Later films seem more scripted, and are definitely more heavily produced, this one feels a lot more raw, more naive in a way, that's where this film's charm comes from, that and the snappy running time.
7/10.
- Sleepin_Dragon
- Nov 4, 2023
- Permalink
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official sites
- Language
- Also known as
- Paranormal Activity 1
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $15,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $107,918,810
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $77,873
- Sep 27, 2009
- Gross worldwide
- $193,355,933
- Runtime1 hour 26 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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