With six American films and one Japanese sidequel, the Paranormal Activity franchise has been running on fumes for the last few iterations. The last film came out in 2015 and in those years, found footage has gone in different directions and iterated on itself, as well. So it only makes sense that Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin would abandon most of what worked in that original series to create something that feels like a Paranormal Activity film without really doing anything those films did. Add to the mix director William Eubank, whose work on the immensely underseen and underappreciated Underwater, and a script by Christopher Landon and you have the most exciting Paranormal Activity since the third one. And it might be my favorite.

Margot (Emily Bader) is a documentarian who has travelled to Scottsdale, Arizona with her cameraman Chris (Roland Buck III) for her most personal work yet: to meet her biological family. For years, she’s been haunted by the fact that her mother unceremoniously dropped her off at the front doors of a hospital and left with a bunch of unanswered questions. For years she didn’t know where she came from, or why until, out of the blue, a man named Samuel (Henry Ayres-Brown) contacts her to tell her that her mother belonged to his family. And that her mother was Amish. Armed with her cameraman Chris and Dale (Dan Lippert), her sound guy, she’s here to film the story of her family and to gets answers to all of the questions that have lingered. Such as why she dropped Margot off at the hospital. Why did her mother drive so far away just to abandon her? And, most importantly, is she even still alive?

The Amish family, led by Jacob (Tom Nowicki) is very standoffish. She’s allowed access to film at the community, but is given strict rules to not approach anyone without asking permission. She’s also warned away from the woods because bears are known to prowl the woods. But they aren’t the only ones because, on the first night there, Margot awakens to see people moving through the trees, carrying torches. A hunting party, she’s told. But as the nights wear on, Margot begins to hear footsteps walking in the supposedly vacant attic (which is, itself, deadbolted shut and adorned with crosses). And while she doesn’t get too much information on her mother Sarah, a kid creepily tells her that she’s still here.

“And she doesn’t like you.”

From here, Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin plays out like you would expect it to. Creepy events and bumps in the night soon give way to more pronounced horror moments, but the location and the setting adds to the creep factor in fantastic ways. The farmhouse is isolated and, because they’re Amish, doesn’t run on electricity. Everything is dark and moody, with oil lamps and candles providing the only reprieve from the dank nights. It also makes the filmmaking perspective seem necessary, as the lights (and night vision) on the cameras become a requirement once the sun sets.

On a fundamental level, Next of Kin does feel like a Paranormal Activity film even though it seemingly ditches the original franchise’s mythology and the standstill photography that defined the films. Days still are imprinted on the screen, showing us the passing of time but they lack the ever-present dread the original films could produce. What surprised me was how epic the film actually felt. Eubank crafted some immaculately staged frights in Underwater and Next of Kin continues to play with darkness in creepy ways.

Once the supernatural elements become more pronounced, Next of Kin unleashes actual set pieces that bring to mind the best of found footage films. In this way, Eubank’s film feels like a Greatest Hits of found footage beats, pulling in terrifying homages to [rec] and Blair Witch, while honoring some of the visuals from the original Paranormal Activity entries. It’s lushly shot by Don’t Breathe cinematographer Pedro Luque and evokes some of the frantic claustrophobic moments captured in that film. Everything builds to a delightfully epic climax that has monstrous visages hunting Margot, mad cultists and so much WTFery.

Next of Kin is probably going to be divisive. I would not be surprised if the reception is a bit more icy than my review paints the film. Some of the early parts feel stock found footage plot points (stay away from the second trailer for the film) and can be hit or miss at times. For every nicely staged jump scare, there’s an abundance of slower-paced narrative sequences. It makes for a slightly uneven middle section...but the same could be said for the narrative of most of the Paranormal Activity films that came before. Once it gets to the third act, it goes hard. It also has one of my favorite climaxes I’ve seen in a found footage film, as the action and horror become unrelenting. It knows what it wants to be and it delivers on the scares in the third act.

It’s a shame COVID has derailed a theatrical release because Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin is an experience begging for a big screen and the right horror crowd.