Paranormal Activity (2007) on Netflix
Katie and Micah move into a San Diego house, where Katie says a presence has haunted her since childhood. Micah sets up a camera in their bedroom to record the nights.
- Netflix3.3/5
- IMDb6.3/10274,551 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes83%
Trailer
Plot summary
Micah records his life with a new video camera, including the San Diego home he shares with his girlfriend Katie, who believes an evil presence from her childhood has followed her there. Katie asks the psychic Dr. Fredrichs to visit; he tells her a demon that feeds on negative energy is tormenting her, warns against communicating with it, and suggests they contact a demonologist. Micah disregards the advice and keeps filming and provoking whatever is in the house. Over the following nights, the camera captures noises, flickering lights and doors that move on their own, and Katie's unease with the presence and with Micah grows.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Paranormal Activity (2007)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Oren Peli shot Paranormal Activity for $15,000, and DreamWorks Pictures, then a Paramount subsidiary, later modified the film and added a new ending that cost an additional $200,000.
- A test screening of Peli's original cut, held for the remake DreamWorks was planning, went badly until executive Goodman learned viewers were walking out because they were so frightened; he decided a remake was unwise and unnecessary.
- Once DreamWorks and Paramount owned the film, the original ending was shown at only one public viewing before being scrapped; two new endings were made, one released in theaters and one kept for home releases.
- Its success compared with its tiny budget made Paranormal Activity the most profitable film of all time, overtaking The Blair Witch Project.
- Its low budget and easy-to-copy style made found footage a horror trend for years, with The Last Exorcism, Apollo 18, The Devil Inside and the V/H/S series following in its wake.
- There was no real script: Peli gave the actors outlines of the story and situations and had them improvise, a technique called retroscripting that was also used on The Blair Witch Project.
- Micah Sloat and Katie Featherston each found the casting call on LACasting, and Featherston said the two were originally paid $500 for their work.
- For a DVD promotion, 15 minutes of fan names were added to the end of the film, and Paramount received more than 170,000 submissions within 24 hours from fans who had clicked the "Demand It" button.
