Blumhouse is associated with some of the greatest horror movies of the last little while. Get Out (2017), Freaky (2020), and Sinister (2015) are a just a few of the company's releases that audiences have been enjoying. Blumhouse also has some famous franchises to its name, from Paranormal Activity to The Purge to Insidious. These are all very different from each other, whether focusing on the supernatural or one night a year when people can commit crimes.
If horror fans compare these three franchises, which one is the greatest? There is definitely one clear winner.
While Insidious is a solid horror movie, it could be argued that the other films in the franchise aren't as good, and fans could say that there is one good movie in The Purge franchise. When comparing the three film franchises, it can be argued that Paranormal Activity is the best one because of the original concept, the storytelling in every movie, and of course, the story around the first film's budget and marketing.
Even if horror fans don't love every Paranormal Activity movie, there was something so scary and powerful about the very first film. According to Entertainment Weekly, the film's marketing campaign involved a website with a yellow box with the words "Demand it!" People clicked on those words and could vote on the movie playing at a theater in their city. EW noted that this created "excitement."
It's also interesting to look at the movie's budget and how much money it made. The Hollywood Reporter reported that the budget was $15,000 and when Steven Spielberg wanted to redo the ending, that cost $50,000 along with $150,000 to fix hte sound. Dreamworks spent $18 million on marketing within the United States and $350,000 for the movie. The global box office earnings are an impressive $193 million.
The storytelling of the Paranormal Activity franchise deserves praise. Unlike overrated found footage horror movies, the 2007 movie presents a realistic-seeming story that audiences really did feel fear while watching. Katie (Katie Featherston) and Micah (Micah Slout) are living in San Diego and realize that their house is haunted. It's impossible to watch the movie and not feel nervous about seeing something in the middle of the night. Chances are that fans can remember the first time that they watched this movie and how unique the experience felt. It really did seem like a documentary and like something that could happen to anyone.
In an interview with The Young Folks, Jason Blum shared that it was fun and exciting to work on the Paranormal Activity franchise and that the movies became really popular. Blum said, "I was doing all different kinds of movies before I did Paranormal Activity. I was doing little indie, art movies that no one saw. I was kind of tired of making movies that no one ever saw, so I wanted to try something new. I think that’s kind of what inspired me. I thought it was more commercial than what I had been doing, and so I wanted to try something where there was actually an audience. I was making movies that had more people in the crew than people watching the movie. It was fun to make a movie that people were actually going to go see."
While there are some poor horror movie endings, the conclusion of the first film is unnerving and sets up audience interest in the rest of the franchise. The fact that Micah dies and Katie could still be alive but has disappeared proves that the spirits in these movies are brutal and won't spare anyone. The franchise delivers what audiences want: characters in terrifying situations. The films are also great haunted house horror movies that show what it is really like to feel a strange, supernatural presence.
Critics are wrong about Paranormal Activity: Next Of Kin as there are many reasons to love this film, and the 2022 movie Paranormal Activity: The Other Side sounds great. According to IMDb, the plot description is as follows: "Moving in together before college starts, four friends discover a gruesome past of their house and the connection to the 1988 incidents."
When compared to Insidious and The Purge, Paranormal Activity definitely comes out on top. The world of Insidious has become a bit tired after so many movies examining the same evil spirits, and The Purge's concept is interesting but the movies haven't really given audiences much to think about besides that. There is still an audience for Paranormal Activity and the original premise still feels scary and exciting, which is an amazing feat considering that the first movie came out in 2007. While there will be criticism of every horror franchise, this one has done a great job in maintaining its scares.