Westport’s Paranormal Activity

“Paranormal Activity” makes “Blair Witch Project” look like a blockbuster Hollywood production.

The uber-low budget film — it cost $11,000, which usually covers donuts for 1 morning of filming — debuted last week to frenzied anticipation in select small theaters around the country.  Viewers were eager to see the indie offering that EW.com’s Hollywood Insider called a “fright flick that fanatics have been foaming at the mouth to see since its storied debut at the January 2008 Slamdance festival.”

The local link:  “Paranormal Activity” stars Micah Sloat, a Westporter who while at Staples was not a member of the famed Players acting troupe.

But now he plays the male half of a San Diego couple terrorized by things that go bump in the night.  At a recent Toronto screening, EW says, “a packed audience gasped and screamed.”

The marketing campaign for “Paranormal” is a 2009 version of “Blair Witch Project.”  Midnight screenings on college campuses will lead — the film’s backers hope — to blog, Facebook and Twitter posts, creating an underground viral buzz that will carry the film to world mega-hit status.

Or at least earn back its $11,000 budget.

(To see the “Paranormal Activity” trailer, click here.)

Micah Sloat (left), actress Katie Featherston and writer/director Oren Pell pose at the Slamdance Fillm Festival in Utah.