The Paranormal Activity franchise is undeniably scary – especially the first two films which scared the living s*** out of everyone who saw them. But did you know the franchise’s release order and chronological order are a little different? Check out our guide below to find out where every Paranormal Activity movie is streaming online and how to watch the franchise in order.
Paranormal Activity Movies by Release Date
- Paranormal Activity (2009)
- 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)
If you want to watch the franchise in chronological order, it will be a bit different. Here’s every movie in the franchise and how they connect chronologically.
Paranormal Activity Movies in Chronological Order
Paranormal Activity 3
Paranormal Activity 3 serves as an origin film, showing how Katie and her sister Kristi originally began being afflicted by the demon when they were just little girls. The movie takes place in 1988 and is also the highest-grossing movie in the franchise, earning more than $207 million at the box office.
Paranormal Activity 2
Paranormal Activity 2 is a prequel that takes place immediately before the events of the first movie, and the end of the film brings it right up to date, running concurrently with Paranormal Activity. The movie follows Kristi and her husband as they fight off a demon who wants their baby. In a desperate attempt to rid themselves of the burden, Kristi’s husband passes the demon along to Katie…igniting the events of the first movie. In the finale scene, a now-possessed Katie comes over and kills her sister, and steals her baby…never to be seen again.
Paranormal Activity
The original movie that started it all. Did you know that despite premiering theatrically in 2009, the first movie initially premiered in 2007 and then had screenings in college towns across America, slowly building up its reputation as one of the scariest movies ever made (this also explains why the movie is set in 2006, which was three years prior by the time it premiered in 2009). When it did finally have its wide theatrical release, audiences were literally screaming in theaters, watching Katie and her boyfriend Micah get terrorized by an unseen force.
Paranormal Activity 4
Remember the end of Paranormal Activity 2 when Katie steals her sister’s baby? Well, Paranormal Activity 4 takes place five years later in 2011, and that little baby is now a young boy staying with a neighboring family while his “mom” (aka Katie) is gone with a mysterious illness. But it turns out this is all part of the demon’s plan to use him as a vessel for demonic possession. It’s also revealed that the demon gets its power through a group of witches.
Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones
Ok, let's just be real here. By this point, the Paranormal Activity franchise was running out of steam and the producers knew it. The whole witch coven nonsense in the fourth movie didn’t pay off and audiences were getting bored. To fix this, they tried to reinvent the plot with a new cast of young SoCal kids who stumble upon one of the witches. Interestingly though, in one of the final scenes, one of the kids is sent back to Katie and Micah’s house from the first movie, offering a (somewhat) explanation for the movie’s terrifying finale.
Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension
In The Ghost Dimension, a family discovers they live in a house that was built on the site of Katie and Kristi’s childhood home…and the demonic presence is still there. The movie’s big gimmick is, as the name implies, for the first time viewers will get to see the spirit world. Nobody liked this, it was critically panned, the movie bombed, and it ended the franchise.
Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin
Some fans have wild and far-flung theories that Next of Kin might secretly be connected to the previous films, but in general, it’s considered a standalone movie. However, being set in the present day (2021) means that regardless of whether it's a sequel or not, it still chronologically would take place after everything else. The movie sees a group of filmmakers visit an Amish community looking for answers, only to discover that this cult is actually keeping a demonic presence held prisoner to prevent it from overtaking the world.
Where Can I Watch Paranormal Activity Movies Online?
Check out our guide below to find out where every Paranormal Activity movie is streaming online.
