The Blair Witch Project sparked a found footage craze in cinema. In the years that followed its release in 1999, more movies have attempted to replicate the success of that iconic horror film to varying degrees of success, placing audience members in the center of increasingly visceral terrors. This Halloween season, found footage fans can stream one of the best movies in the genre after it returned to a free streaming platform, but they won’t be able to watch its hit sequel.

Oren Peli’s seminal low-budget, found-footage horror movie Paranormal Activity is now available to stream on Tubi. The movie, about a couple who use home video cameras to capture increasing paranormal activity in their new suburban home, joined the free streaming service on September 1st alongside the franchise’s fifth installment, Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones. Getting its start back in 2007, the Paranormal Activity franchise remains one of the most iconic in horror and is known for its terrifying scares. Although only the first and fifth installments are available on Tubi, viewers can stream the remainder of the franchise on Paramount+, including the best sequel in the franchise, Paranormal Activity 3.

Why You Should Watch Paranormal Activity

Made using a single home video camera and practical effects, Paranormal Activity remains a masterclass in horror and suspense building. The movie centers itself on relatable characters and a relatable setting and takes a less-is-more approach to scares, relying on unseen threats through movements, creaks, and other noises at night to transform the safety of a home into a terrifyingly unsafe space. The slow-burn suspense and gradual loss of control experienced by the characters will send chills down the spines of even the bravest viewers, and remain just as haunting after multiple rewatches.

Paranormal Activity is far from the first found-footage film, but it is one of the best and indisputably helped revitalize the low-budget, found-footage style that followed in its wake. A cultural touchstone, the movie went on to spawn a massively successful franchise that now includes a total of seven films. While some of the later installments in the franchise fumbled, the franchise maintains a legacy of creating incredible suspense and a truly terrifying sense of dread and remains an integral part of horror history.

Other Horror Movies Now on Tubi

Paranormal Activity and Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones are far from the only horror movies newly streaming on Tubi. Those two films were joined by other new scary arrivals on September 1st, including Drag Me To Hell, Evil Dead (2013), Halloween (2018), I Know What You Did Last Summer, Scream 4, Sinister, and The Cabin In The Woods.

The free streaming service is keeping the scares going all Halloween season long and has already revealed the list of horror movies arriving next month. On October 1st, Tubi viewers will be able to watch An American Werewolf in London, Arachnophobia, Insidious: The Last Key, Jennifer’s Body, The Omen (1976), The Ring, and the first three Saw films, among numerous others.

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