Franchise Marathon: Paranormal Activity (2007-2021)

Red Rose Horror
Sep 14, 2022
29 min read

Updated: Oct 2

Disclaimer: The following Paranormal Activity franchise review was originally posted September 14, 2022 and was updated September 2025.

Paranormal Activity Franchise Introduction

Prior to Paranormal Activity (2007) found footage success was limited to the first Blair Witch Project movie that premiered in 1999 with the caveat that the 2nd movie flopped hard. Like its predecessor in the subgenre the first Paranormal Activity movie relied heavily on guerrilla marketing. That term, guerrilla marketing, refers to marketing that doesn’t feel like marketing or straight up advertising despite being just that. The Paranormal Activity franchise used night vision camera footage of audience reactions, screaming and squirming in their seats as the action on screen unfolded, as the trailer for the film rather than relying on a traditional marketing campaign that featured a trailer to hook the audience.

In Paranormal Activity’s instance the hook was the fear, rather than a particular story or setting out to create an Oscar worthy plot. Additionally, like Blair Witch, the movie played with the idea that the found footage was real and happened upon after the very real film events. Using most of the actors real names to further muddy the waters between reality and fiction for viewers the filming also took place on location in San Diego inside a real home. Creators took what could’ve been setbacks like lesser known actors with a budget of less than $15,000 (main actors originally paid $500 after answering online ads for the parts) and made them the marketing benefits to earn enough buzz in the film festival circuit for Paramount Pictures to acquire it. After revamping the film with another $200,000 which included a modified ending, which the 2007 film is now famous for, it went on to earn about $194 million in the worldwide box office following a fall 2009 release.

Not only did this work excellently for the creators and studio but it started what is now a 7 film franchise that includes 3 spinoffs to the original universe and characters in the 2007 original. Despite mixed reviews and receptions for many films in the franchise it is ultimately known as one of the most prolific modern horror franchises. As is true with many horror franchises however it has been a box office giant success with each installment raking in well over $75 million and the most successful over $200 million when theatrically released. The following Franchise Marathon post covers brief background, a plot overview, and review for each of those 7 films. For a more in depth review of Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin (2021) click here to redirect to that post.

Movies in Chronological Order

Paranormal Activity (2007)
Paranormal Activity 2 (2010)
Paranormal Activity 3 (2011)
Paranormal Activity 4 (2012)
Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones (2014)
Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension (2015)
Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin (2021)

Movies by Worldwide Box Office

Paranormal Activity 3 (2011) grossed $207.03 million ($104.02 USA)
Paranormal Activity (2007) grossed $194.18 million ($107.91 USA)
Paranormal Activity 2 (2010) grossed $177.51 million ($84.75 USA)
Paranormal Activity 4 (2012) grossed $142.81 million ($53.9 USA)
The Marked Ones (2014) grossed $90.9 million ($32.46 USA)
The Ghost Dimension (2015) grossed $78.9 million ($18.3 USA)

Note: there are no box office figures for Next of Kin because it was released straight to streaming

Paranormal Activity by Movie

Paranormal Activity (2007)

Overview

Created, directed, and written by Oren Peli the first installment, Paranormal Activity, received theatric release in the US on September 25, 2009. Produced by himself, Jason Blum, and Steven Schneider as mentioned before the found footage film follows a couple in San Diego who begin to experience a haunting. Katie portrayed by Katie Featherstone and Micah portrayed by Micah Sloat are a normal, young couple aside from Katie having experienced paranormal activity at the behest of some nefarious presence since childhood.

Due to Katie’s suspicions Micah decides to film them while they sleep, hoping to catch some of the activity on film or to prove to Katie it’s all in her head. Unfortunately for the couple they do catch some activity, the sound of footsteps in the home while both are soundly asleep in frame. More fearful they seek outside help they call in Dr. Freidrichs, a psychic played by an actor also named Freidrichs. He not only diagnoses their issue as a demon haunting feeding on energy but also advises them to not interact with that demon in fear that will only make it stronger. He also gives them the contact information for a demonologist that might be able to help them, but Micah doesn’t take the situation seriously. Katie now more interested in the paranormal investigation because of Freidrichs’ advising and insistence that the demon will follow Katie.

Nights continue to pass and the hauntings worsen while picking up intensity which leads to Micah taunting the demon. On the 13th night they are woken up suddenly by a loud scream and thudding then two nights later Katie is seen standing at the end of the bed staring at Micah while he sleeps for a few hours before going outside to sit on a swing in the backyard. When Micah finds her still outside he tries to get her to come inside but her voice is like she’s still asleep. He goes to get her something from inside and she startles him by having followed him but Katie doesn’t remember this incident by the following day. Micah then decides to bring home a Ouija board to communicate with the demon despite Freidrichs warning not to which makes Katie upset. Not surprisingly the session ends with the board on fire after the planchette moves on its own.

Despite this seeming like a climactic point they continue investigating when Micah places white powder throughout their hallway and around their bed. They go to sleep but are woken up and find hand prints but no foot prints in the powder that lead from their room to the attic. Following this clue they discover a partially burnt photo of Katie as a child that she thought was lost to a house fire with an unknown cause. The building incidence list doesn’t deter the couple and the following night they are awoken by banging doors and lights turning off and on. Upon inspection they discover a framed couple photo has been smashed and the portion of Micah is scratched out. When they contact the demonologist they’d been recommended he’s out of town so Freidrichs comes again and panics upon entering the home. He’s so freaked out that he apologizes and gets the hell out of there as the couple begs for help but he doesn’t return. After this the hauntings become physical and Katie is ripped from the bed and drug into the hallway which causes them to finally make plans to leave the house and stay at a hotel.

Katie is overtaken then, tightly gripping a cross that Micah rips out and burns alongside the photo of Katie from the attic. He goes to leave but Katie in a weird state tells him that things will be okay with a voice unlike her own. Somehow this does convince Micah to stay and the next night Katie stares at Micah again but then leaves the room and from the off camera hallway screams for help. When Micah goes to find Katie after waking in a panic the room is quiet, the screaming stopped. Suddenly Micah’s body is flung back into the room and towards the camera, presumably dead. Katie then enters the room again and approaches Micah’s body and smiles at the camera, appearing like she’s smiling at the audience and then lunges at the camera attacking the scene to black.

This is one ending but the film has multiple endings, alternates that Paramount created for theatrical release. One alternate diverges from the original when Katie awakens and stares at Micah from beside him and then goes downstairs on camera. Moments pass then Katie screams Micah’s name and he wakes up, rushing to her still on camera which catches Katie screaming. Micah tries to comfort her but suddenly wrenches his body in pain which stops Katie’s screaming and audible footsteps hulk up the stairs before Micah’s body is chucked at the camera that knocks it over, landing sideways and revealing Katie standing in the doorway. Soaked with blood she walks into the room and lowers near Micah’s body before smiling into the camera before lunging at it to a black screen. Text appears that reveals Micah’s body was found but that Katie is missing and her whereabouts are unknown at the time of the film.

The 3rd version is the same up until Katie wakes in the middle of the last night and stands staring at Micah but doesn’t move to his side of the bed. After several hours she goes downstairs and screams loudly which wakes Micah who runs down to her as the screaming carries on. A struggle ensues while Katie continues screaming then things suddenly stop and go quiet followed by more silence then loud footsteps on the stairs. Katie enters the bedroom covered in blood with a knife from the kitchen in her grasp. She closes and locks the bedroom door and then stands next to the camera before slitting her throat and falling dead to the floor.

Review

It’s interesting that in each of the 3 alternate endings Micah presumably dies or is confirmed dead with a text epilogue. His character is a definite haunting casualty and the only in the first film. Katie however lives in 2 of the alternate endings, only dying in one and being a character that shows up in other Paranormal Activity movies. This film benefitted from worth of mouth marketing as people shared their experiences watching the film, often posted online. Currently this first installment has a 83% Tomatometer score and a 57% Popcornmeter score, the former based on a little over 200 critic reviews and the later based on over 250K audience reviews. Over on IMDb the film has 1,306 audience reviews with an average ranking of 6.3 out of 10.

Paranormal Activity 2 (2010)

Intro & Overview

Following the Paranormal Activity success the second installment, Paranormal Activity 2, released in 2010, one year after the first on October 22. With a larger budget of $3 million the movie acts as a prequel to the first movie and generated $177 million at the worldwide box office. Also diverging from the original the sequel opts for actors not portraying versions of themselves with Sprague Grayden playing Kristi Rey, Katie’s sister, and Brian Boland playing Daniel Rey, Kristi’s husband. Opening in 2006 with a burglary the only item stolen from Kristi and Dan’s home is a necklace Katie gifted Kristi. Due to the robbery Dan installs cameras throughout the home, coming up with a clever solution to films being throughout a home in 2006, something only popularized in recent years.

Following the camera installation the couple discover their housekeeper nanny burnt sage inside the home in an attempt to cleanse it of evil spirits. This seems a bit intense but Dan isn’t convinced anything paranormal is happening despite footage evidence from the security system. Katie and Kristi discuss demons they both remember being tormented by as children after Kristi explains she also believes their house is haunted. Ali Rey portrayed by Molly Ephraim is introduced as Dan’s daughter who begins helping them investigate the paranormal occurrences. She informs them about humans making deals with demons to exchange first born sons’ souls for wealth and power and that the deals not fulfilled result in a demon attaching to the family until the next son is born. Kristi and Dan’s son Hunter would be the first male born since the 1930s and the intensity of the attacks escalates.

The family’s dog, a German Shepherd named Abby, is attacked by the demon and has a seizure, taken to the vet by Dan and Ali. While they are out Kristi is attacked and drug into the basement where the demon possesses her. Ali, unaware that Katie is possessed, stays home with her and hears weird noises from the basement, discovering the Latin word, meus, scratched into the door translated to “mine” with scratch marks around it. She goes upstairs to check on the baby and finds Kristi holding him with a bite mark in her leg which causes Ali to call Dan and insist he get back home. Ali shows Dan the security footage of Kristi’s attack when he gets home and he calls the housekeeper he fired for help, Martine portrayed by Vivis Cortez. Martine makes a cross and intends to exorcise the demon from Kristi who won’t remember the period she’s been possessed.

Dan informs Ali that the plan is to pass the demon from Kristi to Katie so that Kristi and Hunter will be safe to which Ali demands he not due to it being unfair. He is resolved to carry out his plan and that night confronts Kristi with the cross and after attacking him all of the lights go out, leaving the house dark. With a handheld camera night vision is activated and Dan is unable to easily find his wife or son, then taking the camera around in order to look for them. He ventures into the basement where he’s attacked by Kristi and uses the cross to defend himself which causes her to fall and the house to shake. After this violent outburst things are calm and both Martine and Dan put Kristi to bed and proceed to burn a photo of a young Katie, which ends up being the same photo from the first movie. It is confirmed that they succeeded in passing the demon on to Katie from Kristi. Flash forward 3 weeks and Katie is over at their house explaining that strange occurrences are happening to her, which mirror those of the first film.

The movie finishes with October 9, which is the same night that Micah dies in Paranormal Activity 1 and picks up with Katie breaking into Kristi’s house. After breaking in she murders Dan and Kristi then takes Hunter and leaves the house. Like one of the alternate endings of the first movie a text card appears that informs Ali returns from a school trip and finds the bodies of her stepmother and father but that Katie and Hunter are still missing. With the added context of the first movie this ending is jaw dropping and reveals that Katie had the events of that film inflicted on her by family members. Before this detail can be fully processed and added to the updated lore karma balances between the sisters when Katie stops by Kristi’s house to kidnap her nephew before disappearing into the unknown. This then makes the first movies end even more intense with a baby included in Katie’s disappearance that she stole after committing a double homicide. The ending also dispels any question if Katie kills Micah or he was killed by a demon and also solidifies certain alternate endings while making the one where Katie dies improbable.

Review

Expanding laterally on the universe is really clever and ties perfectly in with the occurances at the end of some of the first movie's alternate endings. By picking a universe and version the franchise continues on that path, expanding on the story of Katie's history and thus the demonic haunting. Using callbacks to the first movie the film and franchise going forward make particular nods to audience members who are noting the crossovers in each movie. Like a reward for following along the reveal, like in this second movie, often relates back to the preceeding movies.

Paranormal Activity 3 (2011)

Intro & Overview

Since the prequel route worked once and the ending of Paranormal Activity 2 making a future Kristi impossible the 3rd installment jumps back even further in time. Introducing a box of video tape footage that Katie delivers to a pregnant Kristi in March 2005 the movie transitions to that footage created by their mother Julie, portrayed by Lauren Bittner, and her boyfriend Dennis, portrayed by Chris Smith, in 1988. Similarly to the other 2 movies weird occurrences surrounding Katie, portrayed by Chloe Csengery, and an imaginary friend named Tobi inciting even more recording. On par with the vibe Dennis gives off he and Julie attempt to create a sex tape but an earthquake breaks out, causing dust to be knocked from the ceiling. In a creative scare that Paranormal Activity had been come to known for by movie 3 outlines a figure in the falling dirt, revealing a figure had been in the room the whole time watching them.

Dennis is filmed reviewing the footage from this earthquake and catches the dirt outline, showing his friend Randy, portrayed by Dustin Ingram, who suggests that Dennis arm the entire residence with cameras to capture all of the incidents. Just that night they film Katie in the room she shares with Kristi, portrayed by Jessica Tyler Brown, getting up in the middle of the night and having a conversation with someone out of frame. The strangeness causes Dennis to ask her about it the following day and she informs him she was talking to Tobi, her imaginary friend.

The couple end up hiring a babysitter, Lisa portrayed by Johanna Braddy, to watch the girls but she is terrified before the night is through and begs to leave. Due to being upset about losing their babysitter Katie tells Tobi they’re no longer friends and Dennis discovers a demonology related symbol in the girls’ closet. When Kristi becomes sick Julie and Dennis take her to the hospital and leave Katie at home with Randy. They play Bloody Mary in the bathroom and after nothing happens she insists they play again and Randy gets a large, unexplained scratch on his torso. Suddenly a black figure moves past the door and shuts it repeatedly hard. Katie is terrified and sobs while Randy decides to investigate outside the bathroom.

When he goes to investigate the furniture starts being tossed around then stopping suddenly and a crying Katie apologizes for everything. Randy returns the room to normal and leaves in a rush when Julie and Dennis return, warning them that whatever is going on is dangerous. Dennis then informs Julie the following day that the symbol is from a coven of witches who manipulated girls capable of having kids into having sons that they then forced them to give to the coven, forgetting everything right after. She doesn’t believe him and the couple argue about everything after she dismisses his thinking. Following this the demon attacks intensify and it harms Katie to force Kristi to listen and do what it wants her to do.

The demon makes her ask to go to visit her grandmother Lois, portrayed by Hallie Foote, but Julie shuts that down but after being impacted by the hauntings she agrees to. Dennis adds cameras to his set up with a new shot of the guest bedroom and then they’re woken up in the night and Julie goes to figure out what is going on but Dennis goes to look for her shortly after when she doesn’t return. Behind a curtain he sees a human shaped silhouette, another new tactic employed by the franchise. On his walls are strange symbols like the one he found in the girls’ closet and goes to the garage. When he turns on the camera light in the darkness it’s revealed that the garage contains several women, including the grandmother Lois, all in dark attire.

Rather than quickly capture him they pace at him in steady, normal speed motion, with a certainty they’ll catch him. Julie is at the top of the staircase when he gets back inside and he approaches only to discover to his terror that she is limp and levitating. Suddenly she’s thrown at Dennis and he falls down the stairs with her lifeless body. Heard off camera Dennis tries to help Julie and get her up but can only sob as he accepts she’s not alive. Kristi finds Dennis and he gets her and hides in a closet but an invisible being growls and tries to get into the closet but seemingly gives up. When they think it’s safe to leave a dark figure goes past and slams the door shut, the two then walking through the kitchen. Dennis sees the women from the garage now outside, circling a bonfire, and then find Katie near Julie’s body crying. Dennis approaches her and puts a hand on her shoulder but when she turns around she is visibly possessed and she breaks into a demonic scream.

Dennis is swiftly flung across the room by something invisible and injures his leg which causes Katie to run away. Dennis tries to make it to Julie’s body but Lois appears and blocks him, looking down with a straight expression. He’s pinned to the ground by the invisible force and then his back is bent backwards swiftly, breaking it and thus killing him. Calmly Lois motions for Katie and Kristi to come to her, and they all go upstairs together. Kristi then calls Tobi to join them and then a faint growl is heard before the shot cuts to static then turns off completely, that signals the films ending. This film doesn’t have the ending text cards from the first 2 but is a prequel to those events so presumably Katie, and her nephew Hunter, are still missing after she killed Kristi years later in 2006 at the end of Paranormal Activity 2.

Paranormal Activity 4 (2012)

Intro & Overview

With an increased budget of $5 million and coming out just one year after the 3rd installment the fourth follows the same pattern in many regards and is titled Paranormal Activity 4. Picking up in 2006 following Kristi being murdered by Katie before Katie kidnaps Kristi’s son Hunter which left Kristi’s stepdaughter, Ali, as the only survivor who’d been out of the house during the attack. Still unable to locate Katie and Hunter their story leaves off on that cliffhanger and the events of the fourth installment pick up in November 2011 following Alex Nichols, portrayed by Kathryn Newton from The Society (2019) series and Freaky (2020) movie, in Henderson, Nevada rather than California. She lives with her brother Wyatt, portrayed by Aiden Lovekamp, and her parents Doug, portrayed by Stephen Dunham and Holly, portrayed by Alexondra Lee, in a wealthy suburban neighborhood, opening with her filming Wyatt’s soccer game.

Back at their house the Alex and her boyfriend Ben portrayed by Matt Shively discover Robbie, a neighbor child, in their backyard tree house. They return him to his house across the street and the next morning an ambulance can be heard outside of their house that Alex hears. Later in the day Robbie comes to their house because Alex’s mom has offered to let him stay with them for a few days because Robbie’s mother is in the hospital. Alex discovers both Robbie and Wyatt in the tree house later on and they report they’re talking to Robbie’s invisible friend Tobi. In Paranormal Activity’s new scare tactic a Kinect dot field is used to illustrate an unseen presence, something highly marketed at the time as a first of its kind technology. Another new aspect is the use of webcams, particularly ones that record the call when Ben reveals his and Alex’s webcam chats have been recorded automatically on his computer. He captured Alex sleeping and in the middle of the night Robbie coming into her room and sleeping next to her which startles Alex. Ben offers to install cameras in Alex’s house so that anything else happening gets recorded.

Footage is then recorded that shows Robbie awake in the middle of the night and talking to the TV as well as Robbie and Wyatt playing with a small child figure. Robbie even draws a symbol on Wyatts back that is from Paranormal Activity 3 and is from the coven of witches that the family in those installments had been intertwined with. They are also informed that the possession ritual of the coven required virgin blood sacrifice. One night Alex sees multiple black cars outside of Robbie’s house and investigates, discovering women in black attire going into the house. Before she learns anything else she’s confronted by one of the women in black and runs back to her own house. Alex hears noises while home alone the following day and witnesses her chandelier fall to the ground, just barely missing her. Her dad chalks the incident up to faulty installment of the light fixtures rather than attribute it to anything Robbie or paranormal related.

Furthering Alex’s anguish she witnesses both boys enter Robbie’s home and she discovers that Robbie’s mother is in fact home, which is revealed to be Katie. She’s perfectly fine and this reveal ties the movie into the other three in the franchise, being a continuation of Katie’s story as Robbie’s mother. On the same night Alex’s dad experiences paranormal activity when a knife almost falls on him. The movie characters unaware of the significance of Katie being the mother across the street carry on still being haunted without making the connection. Wyatt is then seen arguing with an unseen figure that his real name isn’t Hunter, which is the name of Katie’s nephew that she abducted. When Doug enters the room a visible figure dissipates and Holly ends up taking Wyatt to have a bath. In the bath he’s pulled under when Holly leaves the room and after some moments he emerges as a calmer version of himself and calls himself Hunter. He tells Alex that Katie informed him he was adopted like Robbie had been and this makes Alex question her parents but they won’t spill any of the beans to her.

Later that night Wyatt enters Alex’s room and watches as she levitates in her sleep and this cuts to the following day with Alex video chatting with Ben. She goes back and forth to the garage after hearing it open then close and on the last time she’s trapped in the garage when the car turns on and begins pumping carbon monoxide into the closed space. Meanwhile Katie has broken into their house and informs Hunter/Wyatt that she will wait for him until he’s ready. Back in the garage Alex smashes a car window with a golf club and drives the car through the garage door to reach fresh air. Despite all of this physical evidence her parents don’t believe her and the footage isn’t available to show them as proof. Without heading the warning Holly remains and is confronted by an invisible force when Katie enters their home the next day. She’s thrown against a wall and then the floor, presumably killing her. Katie drags Holly’s body away and hides it so that when Ben gets home later he believes no one is home and not that anything happened.

Ben proceeds to call Alex with the update that he found more information about the coven related to the symbol they encountered. From the view looking out from her room Ben enters but unbeknownst to him Katie comes up behind him and before he is even aware she snaps his neck, killing him instantly. When Alex and Doug return home he believes he sees Holly taking Wyatt over to Katie’s house and goes to investigate which leaves Alex to discover Ben’s body to her horror and dismay. Alex runs outside to warn her dad but sees him drug inside Katie’s house by an invisible force and runs to hide until she hears Wyatt call out to her. Before she can go back outside to search for him Katie attacks Alex amidst screaming. Alex manages to make it outside and runs into Wyatt who she begs to go with her and leave but he has a blank expression and stares at her. Suddenly women with the same blank expression he has appear around them and behind him, causing Alex to turn to run away only to be stopped and killed by Katie. Once this happens the scene cuts to black and the post-credit scene shown to audiences in theatrical releases shows 2 men in Mexico speaking Spanish with a camera. The pair go into a store and realize it’s a witchcraft store, causing them to turn to go out of the exit but an old woman appears and tells them, “this is only the beginning,” in Spanish. The men leave the store scared and the footage cuts, the scene an easter egg for the next installment Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones.

Review

The suprise of the 4th Paranormal Activity is that the seemingly unconnected story using modern technology is actually connected to the first 3 movies. Disguised as an anthology or remake version for the franchise one of the main characters is Hunter, the first born male in the family's line that sparked the cult's active involvement in their lives. It is bizarre that Katie would just be living across the street from this family and begs the quesiton of how powerful and pervasive the cult is.

Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones (2014)

Intro & Overview

Two years after the release of the last installment the 5th movie, Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones, released with the new naming convention and an expanded universe. Diverging from the predecessors in more than title the 2012 set fifth installment follows an 18 year old named Jesse Arista, portrayed by Andrew Jacobs, living just outside of Los Angeles, California. Opening on his high school graduation Jesse goes with his family and friends outside right after and boast about the significance of Jesse graduating. By the time they return home their apartment courtyard is full of party guests there to celebrate Jesse’s graduation, the original explanation for filming the entire event. His best friend Hector Estrella, portrayed by Jorge Diaz, arrived home with him but his other best friend Marisol Vargas, portrayed by Gabrielle Walsh, arrives during the celebration.

At this party they talk about an apartment in the complex with newspapers obscuring the windows where a woman, Ana Sanchez portrayed by Gloria Sandoval, who many believe to be a witch lived. They gossip about the reports of loud, strange noises coming from her apartment at all hours. The following day Jesse uses money his dad gave him for graduation to purchase a new video camera which he takes to Hector’s work to show him. Jesse is able to convince Hector to get inside a laundry basket and ride down the apartment complex stairs with a Go Pro camera on his head, resulting in him crashing. While filming this the pair see Oscar, portrayed by Carols Pratts, their school’s valedictorian, rushing out of Ana’s apartment. He’s noticeably panicked and avoids talking to Hector and Jesse, leaving the complex as fast as possible.

They don’t investigate, which is smart, and instead later on are hanging out with Jesse’s grandmother, Irma, portrayed by Renée Victor. They convince her to do tequila shots and then hear strange noises and whirring from Ana’s apartment. Due to the close proximity they realize they can hear through a vent what is going on downstairs and resolve to put a camera down the vent. Once they do this they get footage of a naked woman inside of the room and then a nude Ana also appears in the room. She paints a circle and triangle on the woman’s stomach with a red liquid that could be blood and just as this happens Irma suspects the boys are sneakily watching porn, taking their attention away from the feed. Once they look back both women downstairs are staring towards the camera in the vent which causes them to quickly try to pull it up and close the vent before they are confronted.

The boys decide to send a little kid to Ana’s door, and try to set off fireworks outside of her window. Oscar comes barreling out of the window before they accomplish this and flees the scene. They discover Ana has been murdered and immediately suspect Oscar. After the scene is cleared the trio breaks into Ana’s apartment to get a look for themselves. Inside are several altars that scare them along with materials associated with witchcraft. They are then confronted by Oscar’s brother, a heavily tattooed man implied to be a gang member, Arturo portrayed by Richard Cabral. He insists to them that Oscar isn’t the murderer despite the circumstantial evidence. They attempt one of the rituals that they find in Ana’s apartment which causes weird things to happen inside Jesse’s apartment. After this the group is playing with a Simon-Says toy that lights up red and green when it starts to answer Jesse directly, with one color for no and the other yes.

Jesse and Hector resume their normal lives and are approached by a group that tries to mug them but beats up Jesse when he resists. Both guys are thrown by an unseen force presumably from Jesse and confirm later with the Simon toy that the unseen force got revenge on the boys for beating Jesse up. He also discovers he can no longer fall down and if he is about to he’s righted by some unseen force that puts him right again. They also discover he can inflate an air mattress with one breath with great ease which solidifies Jesse’s arrogance. Feeling he can’t be touched he goes to a party in the area and meets a girl named Penelope who he takes back to Ana’s empty apartment so the 2 can hook up. While he gets protection she discovers a trap door and Oscar tries to grab her from inside and pull her in. She runs away screaming and Oscar comes full out of the space and into the bedroom where he’s then chased by Jesse. When he catches Oscar he reveals that he was also bitten and had been marked by Ana, stating that something will take over Jesse like it had him and that he’s a danger to his loved ones. Oscar then escapes Jesse and before him or Hector can find Oscar he has flung himself to his own death.

Upon investigating the trap door space the trio of friends discover it is plastic covered and contains another alter but this one has pictures of Oscar, Jesse, and Jesse’s family including his mom when she was pregnant standing next to Ana. After this Jesse begins acting differently and begins experiencing negative physical side effects to being marked. He follows his dog down into Ana’s apartment at one point and goes back inside the trap door and encounters 2 little girls with black eyes who are Katie and Kristi as little girls and other ghostly figures. This reveal shows the Paranormal Activity witchcraft lore is connected to Ana’s witchcraft connected to her marking people. Hector goes to visit Jesse the next day and finds him acting strangely and then snaps and tells Hector they aren’t best friends. Jesse turns the camera around on Hector to embarrass him and he leaves after this, Jesse still in uncontrollable rage.

Now looking for answers to what is happening the trio go to Oscar’s house and examine his room which is filled with news articles about the coven and articles about missing children. These articles are seemingly connecting the coven activities with a trail of missing kids and Ali Rey, Kristi’s stepdaughter’s number is on the wall as contact information. Hector takes the number and later him and Marisol contact Ali, meeting up in a park. Ali informs she’s researched demons following her father and stepmother’s murder and she explains to the pair that the coven is trying to create an army of possessed young men. She tells them that these men are chosen once they turn 18 to fully transition to possession. When Irma witnesses Jesse using his powers to hold the dog up she realizes what is happening and Hector stops Jesse himself. Looking for help Hector, Marisol, and Irma go to a shop to see if anything can be done which results in Irma doing a ritual that worsens Jesse’s condition.

During the ritual Jesse breaks an egg and reveals the contents are red before the room begins shaking. Hector turns on night vision and uses the camera to look around the room, serving as the audiences guide. Following a high pitched noise in the corner of the room the edges appear to be sucked into themselves when Jesse reappears, like portal travel. With Jesse are pieces of unfamiliar furniture, a callback to moving furniture in previous installments. The 3 not possessed run from the room but when they return they find Jesse unaware of what has just happened and confused. The next day he wakes up not doing well and Irma runs a cold bath for him but he disappears when she leaves the room. Hector goes to find him and he’s outside looking down with delight at his grandmother’s injured body at the bottom of the stairs, implying he pushed her. When Hector runs to her Jesse disappears again.

Marisol and Hector have another confrontation with Jesse when they try to flee, Marisol having to use a bat to knock him out. The pair put him in the car and plan to take him to the hospital and reveal that his eyes have gone black. Suddenly their car is struck by a truck, and while Marisol and Hector collect themselves one of the passengers in the truck take Jesse’s passed out body from the wreckage. The car flees with Jesse and after this Marisol and Hector resolve to go to what is the ritual house with Arturo and his friend Santo. The foursome arrive at what is Lois’s house, a location where all the witches have been seen in previous movies. Santo attempts to pick the lock while the others walk around the property until they hear a woman screaming from inside. At this same moment women came out and towards Marisol, Hector, and Arturo which Arturo gets away by firing a shotgun. He tells Marisol and Hector to get out of there and they find that Santo is dead, stabbed in the back as he tried to get into the house.

Hector and Marisol flee inside the house and realize the entire outside is surrounded by coven members. Looking for a way out Hector comes across a room with a symbol on the floor and a horse head in the center, a voice calling his name quietly. He goes to the window in the room and sees Arturo’s body hit the glass before an entity tries to break in. Seeing this Hector rushes out of the room and tries to find Marisol as he searches the house frantically. Her body is then dropped through a skylight in the house and Hector flees towards a door but is stopped by coven witches before he reaches it. Detouring he hides in a closet until things seem to have quieted down only for him to be momentarily blinded by a white sheet. When it falls he sees Jesse who lets out a roar then attacks towards Hector who is able to escape and lock himself in a room with markings on the door. Jesse attempts to convince Hector to let him in but when he doesn’t Jesse opts to break into the room in his possessed state.

Hector then rushes out the door with the camera and is actually in a garage now, which is revealed to be Micah and Katie’s house from Paranormal Activity. He witnesses Katie walking downstairs and grabbing a knife, presumably the night she murders Micah before disappearing. To the audience’s horror Hector has no idea about the ensuing events and rushes to Katie for help who then screams to Micah for help. When Micah gets downstairs in his panic he believes Hector to be an intruder thief and attacks him only to be attacked by Katie who stabs him. Hector runs away to the garage but is stopped in his tracks by Jesse whose face is inhuman with black eyes and sharp teeth. He knocks the camera out of Hector’s hands and kills him before an old lady picks up the camera calmly and turns it off, ending the movie.

Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension (2015)

Intro & Overview

Whereas The Marked Ones wasn’t considered nearly as bad as Paranormal Activity 4 the promise of the new franchise direction was quashed in it’s tracks by The Ghost Dimension, releasing just one year later in 2015 as a 3D movie. Around the time of the 3D craze we’d just transitioned from VHS to DVD within the last fifteen years and the Blu-Ray proved to be not different enough from DVD to cause another mass exodus from one product to the other. With that context 3D seemed like the new Blu-Ray, a thing that studios determined to make happen that never caught on in the intended ways. Many movies were made to be 3D for no reason other than fitting into this trend and The Ghost Dimension is definitely an example of these movies.

Opening at the end of Paranormal Activity 3 in 1988 young Katie and Kristi see Dennis snapped in half by an unseen force. Their grandma, Lois, then takes them away to have a man explain to them that Tobi was an important imaginary friend with an ultimate plan. Flash forward to 2013 and Ryan Fleege portrayed by Chris J. Murray and his wife Emily portrayed by Brit Shaw get ready to celebrate Christmas with their 6 year old, Leila portrayed by Ivy George. Their plans are disrupted when Ryan’s brother Mike portrayed by Dan Gill moves in following him and his girlfriend breaking up. Skylar is also celebrating with them, portrayed by Olivia Taylor Dudley, who points out Leila is talking to an imaginary friend named Tobi. Mike happens to find a box of video tapes from 1988 through 1992 along with a camera that show young Kristi and Katie living with their mother Julie and her boyfriend Dennis. The later 1992 tapes show Lois’ house and feature young Kristi and Katie practicing using supernatural abilities with an unidentified man. The girls in the footage seem aware that Ryan and Mike in the future are watching the tapes and predict their actions while they watch.

As if this isn’t horrifying enough Ryan connects that when he uses the camera they found Leila interacts more with Tobi and he’s more likely to capture something supernatural on camera. Despite this scary theory he records overnight and catches a black figure hovering over Leila and eventually Leila talking to the figure. Skylar is also attacked by the spirit and Ryan is taping Leila sleeping when he’s forced to stop by the supernatural being. Then Ryan and Emily discover a concrete slab with Katie, Kristi and 1987 carved into it which leads them to believe their house is built on the same plot where the girls’ house burned down. Katie had sold the home to the family and it’s revealed that the house was built by the coven who are called The Midwives. When Leila begins acting strange they call in a catholic priest, Father Todd portrayed by Michael Krawic, and she attacks him when he visits. He’s convinced that the Tobi friend is actually a demon that is connected to the coven of witches. When Ryan does more research he uncovers that the coven is accused of killing a family in Nevada in relation to a boy, Hunter. He also uncovers that Hunter and Leila were born on the same day and sees Hunter in a 1992 tape despite Hunter being born in 2005.

It’s revealed that Tobi wanted to materialize into the world and needed Leila’s blood to accomplish this. On camera she’s seen entering a doorway to another world that Tobi leads her to and when Ryan sees this him and Emily take Leila from the house to a hotel. Father Todd tries to cleanse the house but he’s stopped by Tobi and strangled. Ryan then gets the demon in a white sheet and dumped holy water on it while finishing the prayer which makes Leila return to normal as the demon disappears. They think things are over until Skylar vomits blood on them that begins burning Mike and her which kills both of them. Ryan and Emily chase Leila when she runs away but Ryan has a large arm through his chest and Leila leads Emily through the portal in her room. They arrive in the 1992 house and she confronts a human version of Tobi, pleading to have Leila spared, but she’s killed and her body flies at the camera mirroring Micah’s in the original. Leila and Tobi walk off together which is what the film ends on.

This in particular relies on Christianity and helps denote a time when movies became more influenced by it, particularly using it as a be all end all solution to supernatural occurrences. Whereas in the first few movies Paranormal Activity left on a cliffhanger The Ghost Dimension attempts to close all of the plot holes you didn’t ask to close. In an alternate ending they successfully eradicate the demon and the young family of 3 moves into a new home. Outside during Leila’s birthday celebration she is seen with young versions of Katie and Kristi and Emily is seen pregnant. Leila wishes for a brother but the film ends on Emily saying they don’t have a gender yet.

Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin (2021)

Overview & Review

Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin came out direct to streaming in 2021 and a full dedicated post is up now that overviews and reviews the movie. For the full review click here to be redirected to the dedicated blog post.