Paranormal investigation films revolve around themes of horror and the supernatural, featuring ghost hunters, investigators, or victims who encounter sinister afterlife entities. These films often blend reality-show elements, using video footage to validate paranormal occurrences or clear investigators' names. The genre, popularized by films like *The Blair Witch Project* (1999), pioneers the found-footage style, immersing audiences in a fictional investigative process akin to reality TV. Marketing strategies for films like *Paranormal Activity* and *The Conjuring* enhance their realism, playing on cultural paranoia and blurring the lines between documentary and fiction. This genre elicits powerful responses by creating cognitive dissonance, where viewers suspend disbelief for emotional engagement.
Renowned "ghost hunter", Carter Simms is paid to conduct a paranormal investigation of a supposedly haunted house. Along with a cameraman, a reporter, and a spiritual advocate, she embarks on a three night journey into terror.
Thomas Finley has been arrested for the murder of his nineteen-year old sister, Samantha and fifty-two year old, Edgar Lauren, a Professor and paranormal investigator. Police were called to the scene by Thomas himself in the early hours of the morning, finding him inside with his sister's body cradled in his arms. In his statement given in police custody, Thomas claimed that the victims were attacked by a demonic entity of unknown origin. Days later, he committed suicide. It is the opinion of those closely related to the family that a video found at the scene be shown to the public as a final testament to what actually happened inside the Finley home in those final days.
A group of paranormal investigators enter the abandoned home of paedophile and serial killer John Gacy, hoping to find evidence of paranormal activity. Upon entering the house they set-up cameras throughout the abandoned house while going room to room with hand-held cameras, performing séance's and asking for John Gacy to come forward. As the evening progresses it seems the investigators are not prepared for the horror still within the house.
Riley Venn is being chased by spirits. His family and friends think he is crazy and delusional. A documentary filmmaker is asked by his producer to go and investigate the validity of Riley's claims. What the crew finds is a war of attrition between Riley and the spirits that torment him.
The infamous Odenbrook Sanitarium closed after a mass suicide occurred within its walls. Sixty years later, six college students armed with cameras and recording equipment venture into the asylum to prove the existence of the paranormal. Thrills turn into nightmares as members of the group go missing without a sound, cell phones mysteriously vanish, corridors turn into mazes, walls appear where doors once stood, flashlights fail and something or someone begins toying with the group. Days later, when five of the six friends turn up missing, the lone survivor must go through the recovered footage in order to clear his name and find out what happened to his friends
In 2010 six reality television show contestants spent seven nights in an abandoned and haunted asylum. The show never aired but an editor for the network was able to piece together some footage. The prize for staying all seven nights was a share of one million dollars that was to be split amongst any contestants that didn't leave. No prize money was ever awarded.
After the death of her husband, a penniless woman moves into the home of her Uncle. Strange things begin to occur. Is the house haunted or is it something more?
A local television show embarks to capture the paranormal activity at Pennhurst, an abandoned psychiatric hospital well known to ghost hunters across the world.
When Liz returns home on a college break, her best friend Ashley coaxes her out for a rendezvous with ex-boyfriend Danny at Preston Castle, an abandoned boys correctional institute with a gruesome past. What begins as a dare for the three teens seeking weekend excitement, turns into a grisly nightmare as they try to escape an evil presence still lurking on the terrifying grounds. As they probe the decaying depths and shadows of Preston Castle, they find themselves in deeper and deeper trouble with no way out from the maze of rooms and locked doors. Trapped inside, they’re caught in a horrifying life and death struggle with the unstoppable evil. Will they all survive the night?
A group of amateur paranormal investigators, frustrated with the lack of any solid evidence after months of attempts, decide to provoke and taught spirits from the afterlife in a last ditch attempt for a paranormal encounter. The experiment works, but they have awakened something angry and very deadly - something that follows them home and now will not leave. The investigators must now defend their home, and their family, from the spirits who were brought into this world and are not going without taking some souls with them.
