We Go Back to the Beginning - Hell House LLC Review
HELL HOUSE LLC. is a found footage horror film written and directed by Stephen Cognetti and stars Gore Abrams, Jared Hacker, Phil Hess, Ryan Jennifer Jones, and Adam Schneider. They are a crew who sets up Halloween haunts, but after an unexplained malfunction causes the death of 15 tour-goers and staff on the opening night of Hell House, a documentary film crew visits the scene of the tragedy to investigate what really happened that night.
Since this is a found footage film, it’s got all the usual found footage clichés. There’s shaky cam, there’s the cliché cast of characters, and the jump scares. The thing that struck me about this film at first is that it looked like it was trying to cash in on the haunts craze that was everywhere at the time (Houses October Built for example). But this movie takes that idea, and adds a new aspect to it. It’s very much a supernatural horror film. The house where they film the entire movie is pretty atmospheric. Everything that happens there, using mostly conventional effects, is effective. That’s what makes this movie different than the other haunt films.
I mentioned earlier that it’s got the shaky cam, and it does. The crew who are putting together the haunt decide to document everything they do, almost like they’re setting up for a “behind the scenes” DVD, which explains why the cameras never stop rolling, even when the shit hits the fan. The cast’s acting skills were pretty good, and when they got scared or freaked out, it felt genuine. The scares are actually really amazing in this movie. Sure, they’ve got jump scares (what found footage movie doesn’t?) but they also use some pretty effective scenes involving dummies that freaked even me out. They have some very interesting tense sequences as well that got under my skin.
In the end, the film is an effective found footage horror film. The story is very simple (sometimes too simple) and the acting is basic but effective. The scares are interesting and the film is entertaining with friends and a bowl of popcorn on a dark night.
Hell House LLC III Lake of Fire drops September 19th on Shudder!
In the final installment, guests both past and present will be forced to battle for their souls in Hell House LLC III: Lake of Fire, as all is revealed about the infamous Abaddon Hotel and the evil that dwells there. Set one year after the events of Hell House LLC II: The Abaddon Hotel, the hotel is on the verge of being torn down when it is purchased by billionaire Russell Wynn (Gabriel T. Chytry) as the new home for his popular interactive show, “Insomnia.” He invites journalist Venessa Sheppard (Elizabeth Vermilyea) and her crew to record everything happening inside the hotel leading up to the performance, but they soon encounter a more nefarious plot, one that threatens to unleash a veritable hell on earth.
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