11 Horror Sequels That Were Actually Better Than The Original

The original Paranormal Activity was a terrible horror film that somehow became the most profitable film ever made and launched a huge franchise of equally terrible movies that did nothing but coast along on repetitive found-footage shocks. The sole exception is Paranormal Activity 3, a prequel that shows when the activity began.

This one rises about all the other Paranormal Activity films because it's what they mostly failed to be: scary. This is loaded with tense, well-directed shocks that get more and more hard-hitting as the film goes along, but crucially the scares never become repetitive. The plot is as thin as ever, but this is undeniably a pretty scary movie. It's especially memorable for having one of the cameras placed on a rotating fan arm, which is at the centre of many unbearably tense sequences.

Thankfully found-footage horror has largely died out; this remains one of the only entries from that dire sub-genre you should actually check out.