All 7 Paranormal Activity Movies in Chronological Order

Director Oren Peli revolutionized twenty-first-century horror by placing a static tripod camera in the master bedroom of a young suburban couple, Katie and Micah. By forcing audiences to endure the quiet dread of nocturnal time codes and subtle shifts in domestic space, the film built suffocating psychological suspense. Grossing nearly $200 million worldwide against a tiny budget, it launched Blumhouse Productions into an industry powerhouse.

Serving as both a prequel and parallel narrative to the original film, the second installment shifts the haunting to Katie's sister Kristi and her family in Carlsbad, California. Setting up a network of home surveillance cameras following an apparent break-in, the scares intensify with the presence of a helpless infant and a protective family dog. The film cleverly deepens the malevolent demonic covenant binding the family's bloodline.

Directed by Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman, this acclaimed prequel dials the clock back to 1988 using vintage VHS camcorders to explore the childhood origins of Katie and Kristi. The film reveals their chilling first encounters with the demon Toby and their grandmother's sinister occult coven. It is rightfully celebrated for its ingenious oscillating fan-cam sequence, which delivers pure suspense as the lens pans slowly across the room.

Set five years after the disappearance of Katie, this installment relocates to a quiet suburban neighborhood in Nevada when Katie and mysterious young Robbie move in across the street. Teenager Alex utilizes modern digital webcams, laptops, and the infrared dot-matrix tracking of an Xbox Kinect to record supernatural phenomena in her home. The innovative infrared night-vision tracking provided some of the franchise's creepiest visual scares.

A refreshing Latino-led spin-off set in Oxnard, California, written and directed by Christopher Landon. High school graduate Jesse discovers mysterious bite marks on his body and begins developing terrifying telekinetic powers linked to the Midwives coven. Blending found-footage horror with streetwise buddy comedy, the film culminates in an exhilarating, mind-bending time-loop climax that loops directly back to the original 2007 house.

Billed as the grand finale of the original storyline, this installment introduced a customized 1980s video camera capable of rendering the supernatural realm visible in 3D. A young family moves into a new home and unearths a cache of VHS tapes that directly predict their daughter's demonic possession. The film offered the first visual manifestation of the demon Toby, concluding the overarching coven ritual.

Directed by William Eubank, this atmospheric reboot takes the found-footage premise into the secluded, snow-covered enclave of an Amish-like religious community. Documentarian Margot travels to the remote farm to uncover the truth about her biological mother, only to discover a terrifying demonic cult operating beneath the village church. Shot with high-definition digital cameras, it brought fresh cinematic scale to the franchise.