Before it was ever a horror movie franchise, The Amityville Horror was Jay Anson's well-publicized "non-fiction" book from 1977. It told the "true" story of the Lutz family, who moved into a house in Amityville that, according to the family, was haunted by a demonic presence that drove Ronald DeFeo, the son of the previous owner, into a murderous rampage. DeFeo took the lives of his entire family, but insisted that voices in the house drove him to madness. The Lutz family claimed to have been tormented by the same spirits, which led them to flee the house.

Naturally, this sensational story inspired a movie, a remake, and a ton of sequels. As of 2019, The Amityville Horror film series includes 23 films, just as many as the Marvel Cinematic Universe. For a series that's never been the most popular horror franchise around, that's a truly astounding figure that defies belief. Now, we're going to take a closer look into this franchise's unlikely staying power.

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The Series's Initial Success

The book in question, as well as the film it was based on, caught the public imagination for a very simple reason: it was real. The DeFeo murders were real events that made headlines. Likewise, the Lutz family did live in that house where the murders happened. With headlines to support the book and film's claims of veracity, audiences are inclined to believe that these things really did happen.

But that evidence only got the filmmakers so far. There are tons of films "based" on real stories. Texas Chain Saw Massacre, for example, is "based" on the true story of Ed Gein. The Exorcist was "based" on a true exorcism story William Peter Blatty read about. However, The Amityville Horror, both the novel and film, claimed to be accurate representations of real events, not "inspired by," but real. Despite the fact that The Amityville Horror lacks overt horror like those previously mentioned movies, audiences were scared because they believed what they saw actually happened. Audiences flocked to the original film, which grossed over $86 million, which is still the highest grossing of the series by far, after accounting for inflation.

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Its success inspired the filmmakers and writers to fast-track multiple sequels in short succession. Both the film and book have sequels that expand on both the demonic history of the house and the further experiences of the Lutz family. However, the moment sequels to a "true story" start showing up, audiences begin to catch on to how much fiction was in the original product to begin with. This is made even more evident when the sequels include demons coming out of the floors and haunted, time-bending clocks.

And, indeed, the entire story of the Lutz family is widely regarded today to be an absolute lie. In an interview with People Magazine after the film's release, William Weber, Ronald DeFeo's defense attorney, said, "I know this book is a hoax. [The Lutz family and I] created this horror story over many bottles of wine."

The Direct-to-Video Market

The first three films in The Amityville Horror series were released in theaters in the late '70s and early '80s, with the third one being both in 3-D and featuring a very young Meg Ryan in an early role. However, after that film's disappointing returns, the filmmakers changed strategy. The mid '80s featured the birth of the video market, which led to several filmmakers releasing their low-budget films direct to video, where they became massive successes.

Series like The Puppet Master became sprawling sagas due to the inexpensive production for the video market. Even a horror icon like Hellraiser found a second life on the direct-to-video market. Likewise, the direct-to-video market also reanimated the dying Amityville Horror franchise.

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The vast majority of The Amityville Horror series was released direct to video, often working around their low-budgets to create a successful film. Many of these early direct-to-video films wouldn't even feature the house, but rather an item from the house, so filmmakerscould cut costs by building the house set. Items like an evil lamp or clock -- which are the plots of Amityville 4: The Evil Escapes and Amityville: It's About Time -- carry with them the spirits of Amityville, so they filmmakers could film in any inexpensive set or rented-out house.

Because of the Amityville name and the clever strategy of not labeling the sequels after 4 with numbers, audiences could pick up any of the videos based on name recognition, never knowing they were watching, say, the eighth film in a franchise when watching Amityville Dollhouse.

The Next Generation

However, after Dollhouse, the series laid dormant until the 2005 remake of The Amityville Horror, which, arguably, was a far better film than the original. It grossed $107.5 million worldwide, renewed interest in the story of the house and once again, inspired sequels and spin-offs.

Since 2010, 14 films in the larger Amityville franchise have been released. This is in part due to the remake's success, but also due to the success of another film franchise: The Conjuring. The Conjuring focuses on the highly fictionalized adventures of Ed and Lorraine Warren, who also investigated the Amityville House thanks to the Lutz Family's story.

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While The Conjuring 2 primarily focuses on the Enfield Poltergeist story, it features scenes in the Amityville House, complete with its iconic, eye-like windows. But even before that, the popularity of the Warrens, who were tangibly associated with the Amityville Horror, renewed interest in that iconic haunting.

But another factor led into The Amityville Horror franchise becoming so huge in the 2010s: by this point, the story had entered the public domain. This meant that literally anyone could make a series that would be released as part of the wider Amityville Horror franchise, which is why four Amityville films were released in 2017 alone.

Quantity Does Not Equal Quality

Ultimately, however, these films are being produced despite almost no demand for them. Flourishing, long-running franchises like the Marvel Cinematic Universe can reach 23 films in length because of a growing, enthusiastic audiences who demand another installment. The majority of The Amityville Horror franchise exists to make a quick buck off of an iconic film's name, with none of the films ever coming close to the original's success.

They are cheap, quick films to make that are almost guaranteed to make a little bit of money. While the original "nonfiction" book was made to capitalize on the real DeFeo tragedy, these movies are meant to coast off of the success of the early films in the franchise. The reason this series has prospered isn't that any of the films are particularly great; it's because people are drawn to real-life tragedy and horror, even when theyknow what we're watching is an absolute fabrication.

That's even some of the appeal of the series. Poking holes in the story of Amityville is almost a subgenre of horror in and of itself. All of the books and documentaries that deconstruct the supposed story prove that Amityville isn't just a franchise; it's a cottage industry that's built around consistently churning out low-cost content. In some ways, it's bigger than the Marvel Cinematic Universe -- but that doesn't mean it's more successful than it.

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