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''Paranormal Activity'' is an American
supernatural horror Horror is a genre of fiction which is intended to frighten, scare, or disgust. Horror is often divided into the sub-genres of psychological horror and supernatural horror, which is in the realm of speculative fiction. Literary historian J ...
franchise consisting of eight films and additional media. Created by
Oren Peli Oren Peli ( he, אורן פלאי / אורן פלי; born January 21, 1970) is an Israeli film director, producer and screenwriter, known for directing the 2007 film ''Paranormal Activity''. Early life Peli was born in Ramat Gan, Israel, to a J ...
, the
original film Original Film is an American film and television production company founded by Neal H. Moritz. Notable films the company has produced include the ''Fast & Furious'' franchise. History Original Film was started out in the early 1990s by Neal ...
premiered in 2007 and was widely released in 2009. The films are typically based around various families who become
haunted Haunted or The Haunted may refer to: Books * ''Haunted'' (Armstrong novel), by Kelley Armstrong, 2005 * ''Haunted'' (Cabot novel), by Meg Cabot, 2004 * ''Haunted'' (Palahniuk novel), by Chuck Palahniuk, 2005 * ''Haunted'' (Angel novel), a 200 ...
by the
demon A demon is a malevolent supernatural entity. Historically, belief in demons, or stories about demons, occurs in religion, occultism, literature, fiction, mythology, and folklore; as well as in Media (communication), media such as comics, video ...
Asmodeus "Tobi" of the
Book of Tobit The Book of Tobit () ''Tōbith'' or ''Tōbit'' ( and spellings are also attested) itself from he, טובי ''Tovi'' "my good"; Book of Tobias in the Vulgate from the Greek ''Tōbias'', itself from the Hebrew ''Tovyah'' "Yah is good", also k ...
, that stalks, terrifies and ultimately murders several members of the family and other bystanders during the course of the films. The series makes use of production cameras set up and used
security cameras Closed-circuit television (CCTV), also known as video surveillance, is the use of video cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place, on a limited set of monitors. It differs from broadcast television in that the signal is not openly tr ...
or other recording devices in an attempt to present the films as found footage. The series has received overall mixed reviews across all films. The first and third films received generally positive critical reception, the second and fifth films received more mixed reviews, and the fourth, sixth and seventh received mostly negative reviews. The series was financially successful, making strong profits based on
return on investment Return on investment (ROI) or return on costs (ROC) is a ratio between net income (over a period) and investment (costs resulting from an investment of some resources at a point in time). A high ROI means the investment's gains compare favourably ...
. The series as a whole has grossed over thirty times the overall budget. A seventh mainline installment, titled ''Next of Kin'', was released on October 29, 2021 to the
Paramount+ Paramount+ is an American subscription video on-demand service owned by Paramount Global. The service's content is drawn primarily from the libraries of CBS Media Ventures (including CBS Studios), Paramount Media Networks (formerly Viacom Media ...
streaming service Streaming media is multimedia that is delivered and consumed in a continuous manner from a source, with little or no intermediate storage in network elements. ''Streaming'' refers to the delivery method of content, rather than the content it ...
, with an eighth installment, ''The Other Side'', set for a 2023 release.


Films


''Paranormal Activity'' (2007)

Set in October 2006, a young couple, Katie and Micah, who have recently moved to a new house in
San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...
,
California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
, are terrorized by a demon that has stalked Katie since childhood. The film is designed to look like a found footage-styled film with Micah filming the activity in their house.


''Paranormal Activity 2'' (2010)

Set in August 2006, two months before the events of the first film, Katie's sister Kristi and her family reside in
Carlsbad, California Carlsbad is a coastal city in the North County region of San Diego County, California, United States. The city is south of downtown Los Angeles and north of downtown San Diego. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 114,746. ...
, where they experience strange activity after her baby, named Hunter, is born. The film uses security cameras and in some scenes, a hand-held camera to film the activity in the house.


''Paranormal Activity 3'' (2011)

Set in September 1988, it focuses on a younger Katie and Kristi, who live with their mother Julie and her boyfriend, Dennis, in
Santa Rosa, California Santa Rosa ( Spanish for " Saint Rose") is a city and the county seat of Sonoma County, in the North Bay region of the Bay Area in California. Its estimated 2019 population was 178,127. It is the largest city in California's Wine Country and ...
. As they experience sightings and then encounter "Tobi" the demon for the very first time. Concerned, Dennis decides to set up a few cameras around the house with the help of his friend Randy, who also encounters "Tobi" as well. There are many cameras set around the house, one of which is attached to a small oscillating fan that moves the camera back and forth from the kitchen area to the living room and vice versa. The film also uses a hand-held camera handled mainly by Dennis.


''Paranormal Activity 4'' (2012)

Set in November 2011, the film focuses on Alex Nelson and her family residing in a neighborhood in
Henderson, Nevada Henderson is a city in Clark County, Nevada, United States, about southeast of downtown Las Vegas. It is the second largest city in Nevada, after Las Vegas, with an estimated population of 320,189 in 2019. The city is part of the Las Vegas Val ...
. The family began to experience hauntings, concerning Alex's adopted brother, Wyatt, after Katie and her mysterious son, Robbie, move in across the street. Alex is helped by her boyfriend, Ben, to film the activity via MacBook webcams, a
video camera A video camera is an optical instrument that captures videos (as opposed to a movie camera, which records images on film). Video cameras were initially developed for the television industry but have since become widely used for a variety of oth ...
, an iPhone camera and
Kinect Kinect is a line of motion sensing input devices produced by Microsoft and first released in 2010. The devices generally contain RGB cameras, and infrared projectors and detectors that map depth through either structured light or time of fli ...
technology.


''Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones'' (2014)

Set in June 2012, the film follows a Latino community in
Oxnard, California Oxnard () is a city in Ventura County, California, United States. On California's South Coast, it is the most populous city in Ventura County and the 22nd-most-populous city in California. Incorporated in 1903, Oxnard lies approximately west ...
, where a group of high school graduates deal with the demon of a mysterious cult which has "marked" one of them. They document their experiences using basic tools of recording and with clues from the previous films to try to understand what is happening to them. ''The Marked Ones'' is the last film in the series to feature Katie Featherston.


''Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension'' (2015)

Set in December 2013, the film follows the Fleeges, a family of three who, after having relocated to a house in
Santa Rosa, California Santa Rosa ( Spanish for " Saint Rose") is a city and the county seat of Sonoma County, in the North Bay region of the Bay Area in California. Its estimated 2019 population was 178,127. It is the largest city in California's Wine Country and ...
, discover several tapes, set in 1992, that show Katie and Kristi in the midst of their initiation ritual to enter a demonic coven. The family begins to be haunted by the demon when the daughter, Leila, is targeted as she was born on the same date as Hunter from ''Paranormal Activity 2''. Along with normal recorders, the family also discovers a unique video recorder that can visibly show supernatural happenings, which they use to record the increasing paranormal activities.


''Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin'' (2021)

A seventh installment, ''Next of Kin'', was directed by
William Eubank William Eubank (born November 15, 1982) is an American film director, screenwriter, and cinematographer. On his first feature film, '' Love'', released in 2011, in addition to directorial and director of photography duties, Eubank also served as ...
with a script by Christopher Landon. Originally scheduled for release on March 19, 2021, the film was delayed to October 29. Due to the negative
impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cinema The COVID-19 pandemic has had a substantial effect on certain films in the early 2020s, mirroring its impacts across all arts sectors. Across the world and to varying degrees, cinemas and movie theaters have been closed, festivals have been c ...
, the project skipped its theatrical release and was instead released via
streaming Streaming media is multimedia that is delivered and consumed in a continuous manner from a source, with little or no intermediate storage in network elements. ''Streaming'' refers to the delivery method of content, rather than the content i ...
, as a
Paramount+ Paramount+ is an American subscription video on-demand service owned by Paramount Global. The service's content is drawn primarily from the libraries of CBS Media Ventures (including CBS Studios), Paramount Media Networks (formerly Viacom Media ...
exclusive film. This installment features a teenage girl named Margot who, alongside her group of friends, attempt to make a documentary on an Amish community to try and find out more about Margot's mysterious past, only for them to discover the horrific secrets the town holds. Although not addressing the events of its six predecessors, ''Next of Kin'' does still have a slight connection by featuring the same demon and overarching antagonist Tobi, otherwise known as Asmodeus from the Book of Tobit.


''Paranormal Activity: The Other Side'' (2023)

The day after ''Next of Kin''s release to the
Paramount+ Paramount+ is an American subscription video on-demand service owned by Paramount Global. The service's content is drawn primarily from the libraries of CBS Media Ventures (including CBS Studios), Paramount Media Networks (formerly Viacom Media ...
streaming service Streaming media is multimedia that is delivered and consumed in a continuous manner from a source, with little or no intermediate storage in network elements. ''Streaming'' refers to the delivery method of content, rather than the content it ...
in October, ''
Screen Rant ''Screen Rant'' is an entertainment website that offers news in the fields of television, films, video games, and film theories. ''Screen Rant'' was launched by Vic Holtreman in 2003, and originally had its primary office in Ogden, Utah. ''Scr ...
'' confirmed that an eighth film had been greenlit for an October 2022 release on the service, tentatively entitled ''Paranormal Activity: The Other Side''. Featuring a script written by franchise creator
Oren Peli Oren Peli ( he, אורן פלאי / אורן פלי; born January 21, 1970) is an Israeli film director, producer and screenwriter, known for directing the 2007 film ''Paranormal Activity''. Early life Peli was born in Ramat Gan, Israel, to a J ...
, his first since writing-directing the original 2007 ''Paranormal Activity'' film, the film would be directed by Wincent Sommers, and star
Sonja Gerhardt Sonja Gerhardt (born 2 April 1989) is a German film and television actress. She is best known for her roles in the television series ''Schmetterlinge im Bauch'' and ''Deutschland 83'', and the upcoming Action film, action-horror film ''Paranorma ...
, Chethrin Schulze, Nika Sofie, Tamara Hitz, Chany Dakota, and Leon Pelz. After then announcing the film would feature a "return to Katie Featherston's story with Tob the following November, by January 2022, the film was specified by ''The 25th Frame'' to be set for an October 14, 2022 release date. However by February 28, British listings service ''
Radio Times ''Radio Times'' (currently styled as ''RadioTimes'') is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves ...
'' reported that the film (described as an action- horror, roughly 89 minutes long) had been delayed to an unspecified 2023 release date. ''The Other Side'' will feature four young friends who move into Katie and Kristi's childhood house together before college starts, only to discover the gruesome past of their home and its connection to the 1988 incidents. Set in the 1990s, it will reportedly address the fire that destroyed the property which has only been mentioned briefly in a few past installments.


Cast and crew


Cast

* A dark grey cell indicates that the character was not in the film or that the character's presence in the film has yet to be announced. * An indicates an appearance through archival footage or stills. * A indicates a cameo role. * A indicates a infant version of the character. * A indicates a toddler version of the character. * A indicates an uncredited role. * A indicates a voice-only role. * A indicates a younger version of the character.


Production


Development

First-time director
Oren Peli Oren Peli ( he, אורן פלאי / אורן פלי; born January 21, 1970) is an Israeli film director, producer and screenwriter, known for directing the 2007 film ''Paranormal Activity''. Early life Peli was born in Ramat Gan, Israel, to a J ...
had been afraid of ghosts his whole life, even fearing the comedy film '' Ghostbusters'', but intended to channel that fear into something positive and productive. Peli took a year to prepare his own house for shooting, going so far as to repaint the walls, add furniture, put in a carpet, and build a stairwell. In this time, he also did extensive research into paranormal phenomena and
demonology Demonology is the study of demons within religious belief and myth. Depending on context, it can refer to studies within theology, religious doctrine, or pseudoscience. In many faiths, it concerns the study of a hierarchy of demons. Demons may ...
stating, "We wanted to be as truthful as we could be." The decision to make the supernatural entity in the story a demon was a result of the research pointing to the most malevolent and violent entities being "demons." The phenomena in the film take place largely at night—the vulnerability of being asleep, Peli reasoned, taps into a human being's most primal fear, stating, "If something is lurking in your home there's not much you can do about it." Attempting to focus on believability rather than action and gore, Peli chose to shoot the picture with a home video camera. In deciding on a more raw and stationary format (the camera was almost always sitting on a tripod or something else) and eliminating the need for a camera crew, a "higher degree of plausibility" was created for the audience and they were "more invested in the story and the characters". Peli says that the dialogue was "natural" because there was no real script. Instead, the actors were given outlines of the story and situations to improvise, a technique known as "retroscripting" used in the making of ''
The Blair Witch Project ''The Blair Witch Project'' is a 1999 American supernatural horror film written, directed and edited by Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez. It is a fictional story of three student filmmakers—Heather Donahue, Michael C. Williams, and Josh ...
''. In casting the movie, Peli auditioned "a few hundred people" before finally meeting
Katie Featherston Katie Dianne Featherston (born October 20, 1982) is an American actress. She is known for playing Katie in the ''Paranormal Activity'' series. Early life and career Was born in Texas. She attended Bowie High School in Arlington, Texas and part ...
and Micah Sloat. He originally auditioned them individually and later called them back to audition together. Peli was impressed with the chemistry between the actors, saying, "If you saw the footage, you would've thought they had known each other for years." During a guest appearance on ''
The Jay Leno Show ''The Jay Leno Show'' is a talk show created and hosted by Jay Leno. Premiering on NBC on September 14, 2009, the program aired on weeknights at 10:00 p.m. ET/ PT through February 9, 2010. The program was modeled upon the format of a late ...
'' on November 3, 2009, Sloat and Featherston explained they each saw the casting call on LACasting. Featherston noted they were originally paid $500 for their work. The film was shot out of sequence due to Peli's self-imposed seven-day shooting schedule, though Peli would have preferred the story unfold for the actors as he had envisioned it. Sloat, who controlled the camera for a good deal of the film, was a former cameraman at his university's TV station. "It was a very intense week", Peli recalled, stating that the film would be shot day and night, edited at the same time, and would have the visual effects applied to it as the acting footage was being finalized. Paramount and DreamWorks hired screenwriter Michael R. Perry to create '' Paranormal Activity 2''. Oren Peli, the director of the first film, served as a producer for this prequel. Kevin Greutert, director of '' Saw VI'', was initially hired to direct the prequel; however, Lions Gate Entertainment exercised a clause in Greutert's contract to have him direct the final film in the ''Saw'' film series. Both of the actors from the first film, Katie Featherston and Micah Sloat, reprise their roles in the
prequel A prequel is a literary, dramatic or cinematic work whose story precedes that of a previous work, by focusing on events that occur before the original narrative. A prequel is a work that forms part of a backstory to the preceding work. The term ...
. Tod Williams directed ''Paranormal Activity 2'', which started production in May 2010 and was released in October the same year. ''
Paranormal Activity 3 ''Paranormal Activity 3'' is a 2011 American found footage supernatural horror film, directed by Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman. It is the third (chronologically, the first) installment of the ''Paranormal Activity'' series and serves as a pr ...
'' and '' 4'' were directed by
Henry Joost Henry Joost (born October 30, 1982) is a German-born American filmmaker, whose work includes directing, with Ariel Schulman, the films ''Catfish'', '' Paranormal Activity 3'', '' Paranormal Activity 4'', ''Nerve'' and '' Project Power''. Henr ...
and
Ariel Schulman Marek Ariel Schulman (born October 2, 1981) is an American filmmaker and actor. He starred in, produced, and directed the 2010 documentary ''Catfish'', and directed '' Paranormal Activity 3'', '' Paranormal Activity 4'', ''Nerve'' and '' Project P ...
, documentary filmmakers who were well-known for their feature debut ''
Catfish Catfish (or catfishes; order Siluriformes or Nematognathi) are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Named for their prominent barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, catfish range in size and behavior from the three largest species alive, ...
''. Production on the third entry began in June, 2011, with a release October 21 of the same year. Filming for the fourth film commenced in June, 2012, with a release of October 19. A
Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived ...
n-themed fifth film, '' Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones'' was released on January 3, 2014.
Oren Peli Oren Peli ( he, אורן פלאי / אורן פלי; born January 21, 1970) is an Israeli film director, producer and screenwriter, known for directing the 2007 film ''Paranormal Activity''. Early life Peli was born in Ramat Gan, Israel, to a J ...
, the creator of the franchise, returned to produce the film, while Christopher Landon, a screenwriter who had worked on the prior three entries in the series, served as the writer and director. The sixth film in the series, '' Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension'', was announced to be released on October 25, 2013. However, in August 2013, the release date was pushed back to October 24, 2014. On September 17, 2014, the film's title was finalized and the release date was set on March 27, 2015, later changed to October 23, 2015. In September 2013, it was confirmed that Gregory Plotkin, a film editor who had edited every release in the series since ''Paranormal Activity 2'', would make his directorial debut with the sixth film.
Oren Peli Oren Peli ( he, אורן פלאי / אורן פלי; born January 21, 1970) is an Israeli film director, producer and screenwriter, known for directing the 2007 film ''Paranormal Activity''. Early life Peli was born in Ramat Gan, Israel, to a J ...
, the creator of the franchise, and Jason Blum would return to produce the sixth film. In late September 2013, Paramount hired ''
Almanac An almanac (also spelled ''almanack'' and ''almanach'') is an annual publication listing a set of current information about one or multiple subjects. It includes information like weather forecasts, farmers' planting dates, tide tables, and othe ...
'' writers Jason Pagan and Andrew Stark to write the screenplay. Though series writer Christopher Landon said that several sequels would follow ''The Ghost Dimension'' to wrap up the story, producer Jason Blum later confirmed that the film would indeed be the last in the series. He said:
"It’s coming to an end. This is it, the finale. We’re saying it before the movie opens. We’re not going to grind this horror franchise into the ground. This will keep ''Paranormal Activity'' as part of this culture and this particular time in a really fantastic way… All the questions that everyone has asked from the past ''Paranormal Activity'' films: What does Tob- look like? What’s the backstory to the families? These questions have been teased out. Now they will be answered."
A seventh film was released on October 29, 2021.


Reception


Box office performance


Critical and public response


Other media


Digital comic

In December 2009, a short digital comic entitled ''Paranormal Activity: The Search for Katie'' was released for the iPhone. It was written by
Scott Lobdell Scott Lobdell (; born 1960) is an American comic book writer and screenwriter known for his work on numerous ''X-Men'' series for Marvel Comics in the 1990s, various work for DC Comics in the 2010s, namely '' Red Hood and the Outlaws, Teen Tita ...
and features art from
Mark Badger Mark Billings Badger (October 16, 1958), known as Mark Badger, is an American illustrator who has worked as a penciler, inker, cover artist, painter, and occasional colorist in the American comic book industry. In addition to his career as a comic ...
.


Video games

A augmented reality game called ''Paranormal Activity: Sanctuary'' developed by Ogmento, was released in 2011. This mobile game was the first location-based augmented reality game ever produced, and combined vision-based AR with user-generated content and geo-social elements. A video game called ''Paranormal Activity: The Lost Soul'' was released on August 15, 2017 for
Microsoft Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for ...
and PS4. The game was engineered for VR and made use of the
PlayStation VR The PlayStation VR (PS VR, known by its code name Project Morpheus during development) is a virtual reality headset developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, which was released in October 2016. It is fully functional with the PlayStation 4 an ...
for the PlayStation as well as
Oculus Rift Oculus Rift is a discontinued line of virtual reality headsets developed and manufactured by Oculus VR, a division of Meta Platforms, released on March 28, 2016. In 2012 Oculus initiated a Kickstarter campaign to fund the Rift's development, af ...
and
HTC Vive VIVE, sometimes referred to as HTC Vive, is a virtual reality brand of HTC Corporation. It consists of hardware like its titular virtual reality headsets and accessories, virtual reality software and services, and initiatives that promote appl ...
for Windows, but VR was not required for play. The game was nominated for "Best Sound Design for an Indie Game" at the 16th Annual Game Audio Network Guild Awards.


Documentary

A documentary about the making of the films called ''Unknown Dimension: The Story of Paranormal Activity'', was released on October 29, 2021.


See also


Related film

A non-canon
Japanese language is spoken natively by about 128 million people, primarily by Japanese people and primarily in Japan, the only country where it is the national language. Japanese belongs to the Japonic or Japanese- Ryukyuan language family. There have been ...
''Paranormal Activity'' sequel was released in 2010. It follows Haruka Yamano, who was in a car accident that broke her legs. She stayed home with her brother while their father was away as strange activity started happening in the house. It is later revealed that Haruka killed the possessed Katie in the car accident, causing the demon to transfer to her.


Notes


References


External links

* (Archived) {{Paranormal Activity, state=collapsed Film series introduced in 2007 Horror film series Paramount Pictures franchises