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Many people have wondered if the Paranormal Activity film series is based on true events. While the movies are fiction, they are inspired by real life events that have happened to the directors and producers.
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Introduction
The Paranormal Activity film series is a set of found footage horror films that began with the original Paranormal Activity in 2007. The movies follow a family or group of friends who are terrorized by a demonic entity, and the movies are purportedly based on true events. But are they really?
The short answer is: no, the Paranormal Activity movies are not based on true events. However, the developers of the films have said that they were inspired by true stories, and some of the elements in the movies are drawn from real life.
For example, the character of Katie in the first Paranormal Activity movie is based on a real person named Katie Potter, who was part of the team that made the film. And some of the demonic activity in the movies is inspired by reports of real-life hauntings.
But at the end of the day, Paranormal Activity is a work of fiction, and should be treated as such.
The first film
The first Paranormal Activity film was released in 2007 and was directed by Oren Peli. The movie is said to be based on true events that took place in Peli’s home in San Diego, California.
Paranormal Activity is a found footage horror movie that follows a young couple, Katie and Micah, who are terrorized by a demonic force in their home. The couple sets up a camera in their bedroom to document the strange occurrences that are happening in their house.
While the Paranormal Activity film series is said to be based on true events, it is important to note that the movies are fictionalized accounts of what allegedly happened to Oren Peli.
The second film
The second film in the Paranormal Activity series is set in 2009, and revolves around the young couple Katie (played by Katie Featherston) and Micah (played by Micah Sloat). The couple live in San Diego, California, and start to experience strange activity in their home after Micah purchases a video camera to document what is happening.
As the activity gets more and more intense, Katie becomes convinced that they are being haunted by a demonic entity. The film culminates with a shocking ending that will leave audiences wondering if the Paranormal Activity films are based on true events.
The third film
The third film in the Paranormal Activity series is set in 1974 and follows sisters Katie and Kristi as young girls, before the events of the first two films. In the movie, the girls encounter a malevolent spirit after moving into a new home with their mother, Julie.
While the Paranormal Activity films are fictional, they are loosely based on true events that happened to director Oren Peli. In the early 2000s, Peli lived in a home in San Diego that was reportedly haunted. He claims to have experienced strange phenomena while living there, including doors opening and closing on their own, appliances turning on and off by themselves, and strange noises.
Peli used his experiences as inspiration for the Paranormal Activity series. While the films are not documentary-style films, they do try to capture the realistic feel of haunted house stories.
The fourth film
The fourth film in the Paranormal Activity series, titled Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones, was released on January 3, 2014. The Marked Ones is a spin-off/sequel to the first three films and is set in 2006, three years before the events of the first film. The film follows Jesse, a teenager living in Oxnard, California who is marked by demon and starts to exhibit strange behaviors.
The film was directed by Christopher Landon and written by Landon and Jason Blum. It stars Andrew Jacobs, Gabrielle Walsh, Jorge Diaz, and Todd Graff.
While the first three films were found footage films, The Marked Ones is shot in a traditional narrative style.
The fifth film
The fifth Paranormal Activity film is set to be released in October, and we still don’t have a solid answer as to whether or not the franchise is based on true events. The first film was released in 2007, and follows a young couple who set up a camera in their home after strange events start occurring. The found footage style of the films has led many to believe that the events are real, but the franchise’s producer has said that the films are “fictional dramatizations of events that happened to people who know people.”
Whether or not the films are based on true events, they have certainly been successful at scare audiences. The fourth film, released in 2012, grossed over $140 million dollars worldwide. It will be interesting to see if the fifth film can match that success.
The sixth film
The sixth film in the franchise, The Ghost Dimension, was released on October 23, 2015. The movie opens with new footage of Katie and Kristi as children playing with a Ouija board, which only appears in this film.
The footage is from 1988 and shows the sisters playing with the board in the attic of their house. It’s implied that they summon something evil during their game. The girls are then shown going downstairs, where they find their mother Lorraine Warren (played by Vera Farmiga) talking to a priest about a demonic presence in their home.
Warren is reluctant to believe that her daughters have been communicating with spirits, but she eventually comes to accept it after seeing the girls levitate off of their beds. The family decides to move out of their house and leave the entities behind.
The Ghost Dimension then jumps ahead to the present day, where Ryan (played by Chris J. Murray) and his wife Emily (Bryce Cass) are moving into a new house with their daughter Leila (Ivy George). Ryan is a skeptic who doesn’t believe in ghosts, but he starts to change his mind when strange things start happening in his house.
Emily is pregnant, so Ryan’s brother Mike (Dan Gill) comes to stay with them to help out. Leila soon begins talking to an invisible friend named Toby, who she says is her imaginary friend from when she was younger.
Toby starts doing things like opening doors and moving objects around, which scares Ryan and Emily. They also find out that Toby has been appearing in photos and videos that were taken around their house.
Eventually, Ryan comes face to face with Toby, who turns out to be a demonic entity that has been following Ryan’s family for generations. The entity wants to possess Emily’s baby so it can be born into the world, but Ryan won’t let that happen. He destroys the entity and banishes it back to whatever hell it came from.
The movie ends with another scene from 1988, where young Katie and Kristi are seen playing with the Ouija board again. This time, however, they seem to be summoning something good instead of evil.
Conclusion
After careful research and investigation, it appears that the Paranormal Activity film series is not based on any specific true events. However, the movies are inspired by a variety of real-life paranormal activity cases, including the infamous Enfield haunting. While the specifics of the films may be fiction, it seems that there is some truth to the general idea behind the Paranormal Activity movies.
