10 Ridiculous Times Horror Movie Franchises Jumped The Shark

When Paranormal Activity hit theaters in 2009, it was praised largely because of its restraint. After a decade of over the top, gory horror films like Saw and Hostel, here was one that made a still shot of a bedroom terrifying. Oren Peli barely needed to show anything, and if you accept the fact that demons could be real, it all comes across as mostly realistic.

That carried through during most of the sequels, thankfully, and each one stayed subtle despite getting an increased budget. Never would the filmmakers show a demon or a ghost on screen, and it was easy to buy everything that was happening. Then came Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones to totally mess that up.

In this sequel, the main characters end up in a witches coven, Hector runs through a doorway and he ends up...back in the events of Paranormal Activity 1. Yes, the main character has just traveled back in time. Apparently, these aren't just witches raising a demonic army. That's not enough. No, they're time traveling witches, and when Katie screamed at the end of the first movie, it's because she ran into Hector from the future.

Just...what? Now the next installment, "The Ghost Dimension," appears to be embracing this wackiness, throwing subtly out the window and showing all the ghosts and demons you can handle. So much for restraint.