Found-footage horror has always been pretty hit-or-miss: for every Blair Witch Project there’s a Last Exorcism. Most of the time, it’s the low-budget efforts that succeed in utilizing the style’s greatest strengths, so it’s not surprising that Paranormal Activity, made on a budget of $15,000, became a global phenomenon. The sequels are what they are, but the first movie is still chilling to this day, in part because of its two leads, who act in such a way that it’s easy to believe it’s all real.
The first three Paranormal Activity movies, released in successive years from 2009-2011, made over $577 million worldwide. The fourth movie made half what the previous film did, and the fifth, a Latin-American themed spinoff subtitled The Marked Ones, made even less than that. The film built up a complicated mythology and then seemed to abandon it all. The next, and reportedly final, Paranormal Activity movie will arrive in theaters this fall (in 3D, no less) and promises to reveal all the film’s secrets. Now you can watch the trailer for the latest installment and see if you still care.