Paranormal Activity
Young couple Katie and Micah move to a new house in San Diego. Katie claims an evil presence has been haunting her since she was a child, so Micah sets up a camera in their bedroom to record any paranormal activity that occurs while they sleep. A famous psychic Dr. Fredrichs, who reveals that Katie is being haunted by a demon that feeds off of negative energy and is intent on tormenting Katie, advises them not to communicate with the demon and to contact demonologist Dr. Johann Averies if needed. Katie seems interested, but Micah does not take this seriously.
The camera manages to capture many strange occurrences, which are minor at first, such as noises, flickering lights, and doors moving on their own. However, Micah taunts and mocks the demon, worsening the situation. During the thirteenth night, the demon angrily screeches and there is a loud thud, causing the entire house to vibrate. Voice recorder tests are conducted by Micah the following morning, which reveal demonic grunting when Micah asks if it would like to use an Ouija Board. During the fifteenth night, Katie, in an apparent trance, stands beside the bed and stares at Micah for two hours before going outside. Micah tries to convince Katie to go back inside, but she refuses and appears to remember none of it the next day.
Micah brings home a Ouija board, which infuriates Katie. When they leave the house, the camera records an unseen force moving the planchette to form an unknown message on the Ouija board, which then spontaneously catches fire. Katie sees the video and pleads with Micah to contact the demonologist, but again he refuses. During the seventeenth night, Micah sprinkles baby powder in the hallway and bedroom. The couple are awakened by creaks, and find non-human footprints leading to the attic, where Micah finds a burnt photograph of a young Katie, previously thought to have been destroyed in an unexplained house fire. Katie finally calls the demonologist, Dr. Averies, but he is occupied.
The events of the seventeenth night have psychologically terrified the couple, which in turn has strengthened the demon. Over the next few nights, the paranormal activity is excessive and intense. They eventually call Dr. Fredrichs back to the house, but he is overwhelmed by the demonic energy upon entering. He apologetically leaves despite their pleas, stating that his presence only makes the demon angrier. The bleak reality causes the couple to lose all hope, which makes the demon strong enough to be able to pull Katie out of the bedroom and bite her, causing her to become fully possessed. Micah discovers the bite mark and deciding events are too out of control to remain in the house, he packs to head to a motel. Just as they are set to leave the possessed Katie insists they will be okay now.
The following night, Katie gets out of bed and stares at Micah for two hours before going downstairs. After a moment of silence, Katie screams for Micah, seemingly being attacked by the demonic presence; he abruptly rushes to help her. Suddenly, Micah exclaims in pain, Katie stops screaming, and then heavy footsteps are heard coming upstairs. Micah's body is violently hurled at the camera, which is knocked off the tripod, revealing Katie, now a demonic human, standing in the doorway. She slowly walks into the room, stained with blood. She crawls to Micah's body and then looks up at the camera with a grin. As she lunges toward the camera, her face takes on a demonic appearance just as the scene cuts to black. Epilogue text states that Micah's body was discovered by the police on October 11, 2006, and Katie's whereabouts remain unknown.
=== Alternate endings ===
Once Paramount acquired the film, the original ending was scrapped, and two new endings were developed for the film, one of them being the one seen in theaters (the scrapped ending was shown at only one public viewing).
==== Original ====
After going downstairs on the final night and waking Micah with a scream, only Katie is shown returning to the bedroom, covered in blood and holding a large bloody kitchen knife. She sits beside the bed, holding the knife and rocking herself for hours. The next day, her friend Amber calls and leaves a message, expressing concern. That night, Katie is still sitting and rocking by the bed, and Amber can be heard entering the house. During this short period, Katie stops rocking, but when Amber screams (presumably after finding Micah's body) and runs out of the house, she resumes her motion.
Half an hour later, police enter the home and discover Micah's body as well. They find Katie and call to her. She wakes from her catatonic state and seems confused. As she approaches them with the knife in hand, they ask her to drop the weapon, but then a nearby door slams shut, startling one of the policemen, who shoots and kills Katie. The police investigate the area and find nothing but the camera, still running. The screen fades to black, as a dedication to the deceased Katie and Micah is displayed.
==== Paramount alternate ending ====
In this ending, available as alternate ending on the home releases of the film, Katie gets out of bed and stands staring at Micah, as she did in the theatrical ending, except she does not move to Micah's side of the bed. After three hours, she goes downstairs and screams, waking Micah, who runs downstairs. The same screams and heavy footsteps are heard. After a moment of silence, Katie re-enters the room covered in blood with a kitchen knife. After closing and locking the bedroom door, she approaches the camera and promptly slits her own throat, before collapsing dead. The scene then fades to black.
==== Unfilmed alternate ending ====
A third alternate ending was written in which a possessed Katie would corner Micah and bludgeon him with his camera, while viewers watch from the camera's point of view. This version was deemed too complicated and too brutal to shoot.
dark, boring, psychological, murder, paranormal, horror, atmospheric, haunting, psychedelic, entertaining