TheParanormal Activityfranchise has grown considerably from its humblefound footagebeginnings. What began as a small indie movie was then picked up byJason Blumand his studio,Blumhouse. The series completely reinvigorated the horror genre, bringing found footage to the forefront and making it the de-facto format for similar horror movies for years to come. To celebrate a new entry in the franchise, here’s a list of all theParanormal Activitymovies ranked, in all of their demonic, bated breath glory!
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7. Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension (2015)
We begin our list with the sixth film in theParanormal Activityfranchise, a poster child for bottom-of-the-barrel found footage. With nearly a decade ofParanormal Activitymovies under their belt, the found footage formula that made the first film such a success finally began to get stale. It’s almost baffling how wrongParamountgot this one, as the prior film is a fun, schlocky movie that completely understands what it is and never makes any claim to be more than a goofball genre movie.
The movie centers on a family that stumbles on a vintage camcorder that appears to have been modified with futuristic upgrades. As their daughter, Leila begins communicating with an apparition she calls Tobi and the family learns the history of their recently purchased home, the influence of story elements introduced in the first film approach their logical end. Prior to Paramount’s announcement of a seventh film that would release in 2021,Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimensionacted as the de-facto conclusion to the six-movie arc.
In an attempt to try and stay fresh, the movie introduces us to a science fiction-grade camera that acts as a looking glass into the titularghost dimension. Ironically, the most technically ambitious film in the lineup, the sixth entry has the weakest special effects and plotline. At this point, possessed little girls whispering into mirrors and predictable jump scares feel tiresome.
6. Paranormal Activity 4 (2012)
Paranormal Activity 4, more than any other movie on this list, is the most concerned with trying to deepen the lore and duct tape together a cohesive story. But, like a child who just started learning how to juggle, it inevitably drops the ball at every opportunity. Bringing the series back to the modern-day, we focus on a new family who find a lost boy and take him in while they search for his parents. Shockingly, the boy is connected to Katie. A grand reveal this is not.
However, the movie has one saving grace that spares it from being ranked in last place - the XBOX Kinect night sequences. The gaming console emits thousands of tiny lasers to read human movements that are then transferred into the game. These tiny dots are subsequently used to display some admittedly creepy shots of blink-and-you-miss-it ghost sightings. While fun, their presence in a movie that’s otherwise so bland ends up feeling more like a gimmick than a fun feature.
5. Paranormal Activity 2 (2010)
A prequel that takes place two months before the original film,Paranormal Activity 2brings little to the table aside from a less interesting, larger budget remake of the first film. Switching perspective to Katie’s sister, Kristi, the first two acts of this film are a nearly shot-for-shot remake that takes place in a new home. Doors that open by themselves, swinging chandeliers, and late-night strolls with night vision are all present here, confirming that a larger budget doesn’t necessarily make a better horror film.
Changing gears from the first film’s finale, we join Kristi, her husband Daniel, and their son Hunter prior to the aforementioned events with Katie. Where the first film only observed a married couple at night,Paranormal Activity 2introduces a nanny camera positioned in Hunter’s room that drives many of the scares. The new point of intrigue introduced in this film focuses on the infant boy Hunter, Katie’s fascination with him, and their roles in the larger cult plotline.
The film culminates in an, admittedly, entertaining bloodbath perpetrated by none other than Katie (a trend that will occur in future entries) that establishes her as a menacing figure in the series and kicks off the sacrificial boy plotline. Still, there’s little on offer here that warrants watching this movie for any reason other than to comprehend the higher quality entries in the franchise.
4. Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin (2021)
Boiled down to their most basic components, theParanormal Activitymovies can be defined by a handful of key attributes: handheld cameras that are baked into the narrative, ghostly spirits upsetting a property as they become increasingly irritated, and an extensive, interconnected plot that ties each entry together. As the series grew exceedingly long in the tooth, the need to feature connective tissue tying each film to Katie’s original plotline began to eclipse original storytelling.
Paranormal Activity: Next of Kinsucceeds in overcoming a hurdle that is faced by every found footage movie - how to satisfyingly explain the reason for our characters documenting everything via shaky, ugly handheld videography. Protagonist, Margot, reconnects with her estranged Amish family in search of answers about her past. Accompanying her are her amateur filmmaker and sound design friends, Chris and Dale. The premise is established as a legitimate documentary about rekindling familial bonds, and in doing so, provides the audience a plausible reason as to why three early twenty-somethings are carrying thousands of dollars worth of video production equipment. The benefits of this are two-fold: first, we now have an in-movie reason to believe why the footage we’re watching is so high quality. Secondly, we no longer have to sit through the motion sickness-inducing cinematography from earlier entries.
Where the latest entry in the franchise succeeds in its attempt at telling a story that doesn’t rely on the tiresome foundation of previous entries. Other than a few easter eggs throughout, one could easily reach the credits without knowing the film was set in theParanormal Activityuniverse. Genre trappings abound, but it’s still a competent found-footage movie in its own right, with genuinely creepy monster design and tense night vision sequences.
3. Paranormal Activity 3 (2011)
Paranormal Activity 3is chronologically the first film in the series, and I can already hear you asking: “If this movie is set in 1988, how will it use cameras in fun and unconventional ways to drive scares?” The third entry in the franchise scales back what would later become an overreliance on technological gimmicks (XBOX Kinect, ghost dimension, etc.) to tell a grounded story of sisters haunted by an otherworldly presence. There’s also a solid case to be made that this movie has the scariest scene in the franchise, with a sequence that involves affixing the camera to a revolving fan.
Three films into the franchise, theParanormal Activitymovies could no longer rely on the narrative template laid out in the first two films. The producers had to begin building coherent and believable lore that not only tied in with the first two films but left the story open-ended enough to continue weaving more movies into the greater franchise. This becomes a problem in later entries, where the consistent need to keep all the narrativeducks in a row hinders its ability to craft new and original stories, but here it’s used effectively to explore the premise that was laid out in the first film.
By honing in on Katie and Kristi’s childhood years, we grow to understand the cult and their place in it, giving more weight and credence to the events that transpired in the first film. In this way, it does what a great prequel should, elaborating on morsels of story that were laid out in earlier entries in a way that feels satisfying and drives our appetite to see more, and managing to be an enjoyable horror flick while doing so!
2. Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones (2014)
Paranormal Activity: The Marked Onesrepresents the fifth entry in the series, and, followingParanormal Activity 4, audiences wouldn’t be blamed for thinking the franchise had run dry of creative ideas. Never has it felt so good to be wrong. Now, let’s take a step back and admit something to ourselves first: this is not aconventionallygood movie, but it’s become a cult favorite in recent years for all the right reasons.
Set in a Southern California apartment complex, we follow Jesse and his friends as they do typical teenage things such as: breaking and entering, skateboarding, and entangling themselves in the curse of an evil cult. The kids joke with one another about Ana, a fellow tenant of their complex that they believe to be a witch or “bruja” in Spanish. After snooping through her apartment, and attempting a ritual of their own, Jesse becomesmarked, an ailment that both makes him integral to the franchise’s plot and blesses him with superpowers such as flight and super-strength. What presents itself as a drastic departure from the Katie and Kristi plotline,Paranormal Activity: The Marked Onesexpands the series’ witch coven into a menacing presence with unknown reach and influence.
It’s dumb and incomprehensible at times, but markthesewords: the fifth entry in theParanormal Activityfranchiseabsolutely rules.Give this film a chance and you’ll be delighted by: cholo’s shotgunning possessed grandmothers, a teenager jumping his skateboardoverhis apartment’s lobby, and a character delivering the line: “I’d timeportal my ass to the Bahamas” with not a hint of shame.
1. Paranormal Activity (2007)
This is it folks, the movie that would unknowingly kick off not just a film franchise, but brought new life to the found footage genre and Hollywood’s approach to producing horror films. Made in 2007, this small indie film focuses on a young couple, Katie and Micah, who begin experiencing odd occurrences around their new home. Eager to capture evidence of their experiences, Micah purchases a camcorder and begins documenting these supernatural events.
The majority of scares are light and captured on-camera, with only the final sequence using CGI (a late-stage addition to the movie that was introduced to keep the film open-ended in the event of a sequel). It’s a small movie, not just in budget, but narrative scope. The overwhelming majority of the movie takes place in Katie and Micah’s home, and the result is a claustrophobic and confined atmosphere that is ripe with tension. The movie relies in equal part on the tension between its leads as it does on the paranormal happenings that occur every night, and feels even more engaging because of it; making you feel like you really are watching someone’s home videos.
It’s impossible to divorce this movie from the effect it had on modern horror cinema and the story of its production. Made for an initial $15,000 (with $200,000 of reshoots after Paramount’s acquisition), the film grossed $108 million dollars at the box office. To this day. It remains one of the greatest returns on investment of any film ever produced. Its success cemented it as a horror cinema heavyweight, and with it, Jason Blum adopted a newfound philosophy of producing high-yield horror films with minuscule budgets. Stepping back from the legacy it left in its sequels and its greater impact on the industry,Paranormal Activitystands as a phenomenally creepy indie horror film that is in every way deserving of the praise it still garners.
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