![]() Usually the first few nights are filled with little-to-no action, as it’s used for establishing the characters (some would argue a bit poorly) and setting the tone of the film. After a series of strange occurrences, the families use cameras to document what they’re experiencing. The first four films pretty much utilized the same beat-by-beat premise, following a white, upper middle-class family living in a large, suburban home. However, by the time of the release of the fourth installment, something was starting to become very clear: these Paranormal movies were looking and feeling all the same. So began the tradition of releasing a new installment almost every year, satisfying the hunger that both mainstream audiences and genre fans were beginning to crave. With the overwhelming success of the first film– and backing from multiple producers– sequels to the handheld-phenomenon were eagerly demanded. But in 2014, the Paranormal franchise may have had a similar plan in mind when the fifth entry in the franchise came along, the underappreciated The Marked Ones - it may have just been a few years ahead of its time.Īs history goes, the first Paranormal was released in 2009 and would soon become a smash hit. More filmmakers of color like Jordan Peele and Karyn Kusama are at the genre forefront– leading the charge into the next decade– and they’ve introduced fresh perspectives and characters that come from different cultures and backgrounds, adding to the brand of inclusivity we’re now seeing more of. Since then, horror as a whole has come a long way. Its wide-release debut brought the once-dormant found footage subgenre back into the subconscious and helped spawn a plethora of imitators that would attempt to emulate and capitalize upon its narrative success.īut as quietly disturbing and as memorable as Paranormal may have been, the diversity within its cast was far from remarkable. While it's possible the new movie could be a reboot, the more likely outcome is the next Paranormal Activity will be catching up with Toby and his antics following the events of The Ghost Dimension.This year marks 11 years since the first Paranormal Activity film scared its way onto the horror scene, and there’s no denying how much it shook up the genre. The sixth film was supposed to mark the end of the series, but a seventh entry is now in development. The film ends with Toby actually succeeding in this goal, though only his feet are shown. Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension reveals Toby's ultimate goal is to take physical form, and the film gives viewers glimpses of the entity throughout. The movie also ends by traveling back in time to the end of Paranormal Activity, where Katie kills her husband. Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones shines a light on what happens to the first-born males, with the witch coven helping a demon create an army of possessed men. This backfires spectacularly when Toby takes possession of Katie, killing Micah and in the finale of part two, killing Kristi and her husband before taking their son and disappearing. Kristi's husband feels their only way out of trouble is to transfer the demon to a blood relative - in this case, Katie. Paranormal Activity 2 - which is set at the same time as the original - is set in Kristi's home, with Toby coming to collect her newborn son Hunter. Paranormal Activity's Toby has to wait a long time for a male to be born into the family, though he first makes himself known to Katie and Kristi when they are children in 1988. The backstory behind this entity is that Katie's grandmother Lois made a deal with a coven of witches for wealth and power in exchange for a demon taking the soul of her family's first-born son. While Paranormal Activity's Toby isn't a horror icon like Halloween's Michael Myers or Jason Voorhees, he made for a memorable villain. The series also received a Japanese spinoff with 2010's Paranormal Activity 2: Tokyo Night, though the events of that film have never been mentioned in the rest of the series. Related: Paranormal Activity: Marked Ones' Ending & Connections Explained Subsequent sequels expanded the mythology, exploring Katie's backstory, with prequel Paranormal Activity 3 revealing how the demon first made itself known with Katie's young sister Kristi dubbing it "Toby." Like with most horror franchises the sequels were a mixed bag, with the third movie and spinoff Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones considered the best, while the last entry Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension was regarded as a disappointment. The movie became a massive success and soon kicked off a long-running franchise that dethroned the Saw series at the box-office. Paranormal Activity was re-edited for its theatrical release and a new ending was shot, with Steven Spielberg himself suggesting the final jump scare where a possessed Katie lunges at the camera.
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