Paranormal Activity

Made for about 15,000 dollars in Oren Peli's own house over a week, and it took 193 million.

A couple set up a camera in the bedroom. The film is a sequence of static night-vision shots with a timestamp, and its method is patience: for the first hour almost nothing happens, and the audience learns to scan the doorway in the background because the film has taught them the frame is where information lives.

The door moving a few inches is the whole technique. No score, no cuts, no reveal.

Spielberg saw it and reportedly took it home, then would not go back through his own bedroom door. Paramount picked it up, shot a new ending, and released it on a demand-it campaign.

Six sequels killed the format's credibility, which is not this film's fault. On its own it is a very disciplined piece of work.