1. Katie - Paranormal Activity
The original ending to Paranormal Activity, shot in 2007 but not released until 2 years later, is vastly superior to the theatrical version, which was in fact suggested by Steven Spielberg after he saw a rough cut of the film. Originally, the ending had Katie killing Micah and rocking back and forth for a while before two police officers arrive at the residence. Katie, holding a knife, begins walking towards them - and this is the clever bit - yet just as she does, a door slams behind the cops (obviously a move on the part of the demon), which causes one of the cops to panic and fire his gun, killing Katie. Essentially, the demon gets away with it, and Katie is killed. Spielberg, smelling a franchise, changed the ending to a more familiar Hollywood one, where Katie ends up lunging towards the camera in a cliched horror movie close. Had the director, Oren Peli, been able to stick to his guns, he would have avoided three awful and needless sequels (and another on the way), though given the millions he has doubtless raked in out of the franchise, I'm sure he has no regrets. Were these character changes good ideas or not? Let us know in the comments below.