Spielberg scared of 'Paranormal Activity'?

Steven Spielberg reportedly believed that his copy of horror film Paranormal Activity was haunted.

The low-budget movie about demonic possession in a suburban home - made for $15,000 (£9,270) and filmed by Oren Peli over a week in 2006 - was presented to the Academy Award-winning director in 2008 as a potential deal for DreamWorks and Paramount Pictures, the Los Angeles Times reports.

It is understood that Spielberg took a DVD copy of the film to his Pacific Palisades home to view, while not long after he watched it the door to his bedroom locked from the inside and a locksmith had to be summoned. He then supposedly returned the disc back to the studio in a garbage bag.

However, the studio decided against remaking the original after audiences walked out of a test screening and claimed that it was too scary.

Paramount plans to release the film in 13 US university towns on Friday. A wider release is scheduled for mid-October.

"The movie could be stratospheric, or it could just become a cult favourite," said IM Global's Stuart Ford, who sold Paranormal Activity to more than 50 foreign distributors.

"It just depends on whether the studio can catch a wave."