The Paranormal Endings Spielberg Didn’t Want You to See [Spoilers!]
Spoilers. Spoilers spoilers spoilers!
You should mosey along to another post if you haven’t yet seen Paranormal Activity — or could care less about how it ends.
But before Steven Spielberg scooped up Oren Peli’s micro-budgeted chiller, he suggested an alternate ending, the relatively bloodless one that made its way to the final print. Now several Web sites (including News in Film) are reporting that Peli filmed not one but two different endings before settling on Spielberg’s suggestion.
One version has Katie returning to the bedroom after the scream-filled, off-screen tussle with Micah, clutching a knife and rocking back and forth on the floor as the time stamp progresses. Soon her friend shows up and later the police, who attack Katie when it’s clear she poses a threat.
The other take also has Katie returning to the bedroom with a knife, but this time doing a zombie-walk toward the camera, looking downward. And then she suddenly slits her throat.
I think the current ending is by far the creepiest; though I can imagine Alternate No. 2 being pretty disturbing, too. As far as the first choice — meh. Bringing cops in would only yank the story back to the real world, when the film’s strength is its increasingly inhuman freakiness.
Surely, all the endings will end up on the DVD. Do you think Spielberg’s sendoff was the most effective?
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3:20 pm
What I didn’t understand about the decided ending was why she threw him at the camera. It made it seem as though the demon’s motive was revenge against Micah’s act of voyeurism, which seemed kind of superficial. Of course it was sufficiently scary when she attacks the screen, pulling the audience into the film in its final moments, but hasn’t that been done to death?