In 2007, "Paranormal Activity" first premiered at the Screamfest Film Festival. Over the next two years, the film picked up steam until its USA wide release when it became a must-see for horror fans. It jump-started a “found footage” craze that is only now slowing down. It became one of the most successful horror film franchises alongside movies like "Scream" and "A Nightmare on Elm Street." I recently rewatched the entire series over three days hoping that I would be able to connect some of the dots that I couldn’t connect when I saw the movies in theaters. But I still have some major questions.
How did the police think these people died?
In the first film, Micah was stabbed on the first floor, but was then launched across the room, which definitely broke some bones. Who did they think was capable of that? In "Paranormal Activity 2," the dad had his neck snapped, which I guess a lot of people are capable of, but then the mom was thrown against a wall hard enough to kill her, which I’m sure the police know because they had those security cameras. So what did their police report say? As far as the third movie, did the police even know Julie and Dennis died? Or were they just reported missing? Because literally nobody ever talks about it. I feel like the police would notice a strange connection of events with this family at this point. Then comes "Paranormal Activity 4," in which I’m pretty sure everyone dies (except for Hunter/Wyatt who is kidnapped/missing) and the police would have access to all those saved videos of Ben and Alex chatting. Even if they just think the family went missing, Ben’s body was left behind in Alex’s closet and I don’t think that frail 15-year-old girl could overpower him and snap his neck. In "The Marked Ones," we get to see the most police involvement, but they don’t actually help at all. If Oscar could find all that information about the missing boys, I’m confident the police would have access to all that and more. So do they realize there is a cult/coven out there who is taking boys? Even if they don’t acknowledge the supernatural aspect, they can notice a trend of creepy old women taking children. In "Ghost Dimension," the police would show up to Skyler’s undetermined cause of death, Mike dying of some sort of acid all over his face and chest, Ryan having something thrust through his entire chest, and Emily and Leila both missing. And in that house, they would have all of the information about why this was all happening. But did they figure it out? I want to know.
If Katie and Kristi were taken as children, why do we see them as adults remembering being haunted as kids, but not remembering that they are participating in some type of prophecy?
In the first and second movie, we see Katie and Kristi as adults and they don’t understand what is happening to them. They do hint at something happening to them when they were kids but neither of them remember the specifics. In the third movie, we learn that they were taken as children after experiencing these hauntings and then began some sort of training within this coven. So when did they leave the coven to be a part of the normal world? And why did they forget all of their time training but not the time they were haunted?
What is the deal with the changing stories of taking boys?
Hunter/Wyatt was taken at age six, but Oscar and Jesse were both targeted after turning 18. And all of those other news stories were of young boys. And who even was Robbie? The prophecy that they read in the last movie says they needed two children of the same moon which explains why they needed Hunter and Leila, but why were they taking all those other boys and where were they? Are they trying to bring all of the Princes of Hell to life so they need more? They made a big deal of the fact that Oscar and Jesse both had moms who died during childbirth, but Kristi gave birth to Hunter and didn’t die so where is the connection there? There are so many things left unclear.
What was Katie doing in between movies?
The climax scenes in the first and second movie were a day apart. So after she viciously attacked Micah, did she just walk from San Diego to Carlsbad over the course of the next day? Did anybody try to stop the crazy chick walking around with a massive blood stain on her shirt? Fast forward to the fourth movie. Why did Katie ever leave Hunter? After she kidnapped him, couldn’t she have just raised him until he was ready to be a part of the ceremony? And where did she find Robbie? How long was she his “mother”? In the final movie, the couple talks about the woman who sold them the house being named Katie which we can easily assume is our beloved and possessed Katie from the other movies. So did she basically just become a slave of the coven after her initial possession? They should just make a movie about Katie and that would clear a lot of things up.
There are endless other small questions that I’m left wondering about when it comes to these movies. Ultimately, I think they made an interesting series that intertwines in interesting ways. I’m not sure how far ahead they were thinking when they made each movie, but it seemed like they placed some parts of each movie in there with a plan of being able to use it later. Or maybe they just worked really hard to incorporate parts of older movies into their newer ones. Either way, these movies are pretty cool. But I can’t fully enjoy them with all of these questions. Next time you have a couple days of free time, watch all six movies and see what questions you have.
