Hell House LLC Trilogy - Movie Review
Hell House LLC is a film series that I should have hated. It’s low budget, found footage horror movie that is an obvious riff on the original Blair Witch project. The film quality is dark, murky, and the effects are basic tricks you learn in your first year of film school. So, why did I end up loving this trilogy so much?
Let’s start at the beginning.
Hell House LLC.
Premiering in 2015, Hell House LLC was written and directed by Stephen Cognetti and stars a who’s who of nobodies. That’s not to say they aren’t a talented bunch, some more than others of course, but there isn’t a recognizable face amongst the group. On the flip side, I don’t think this film would have worked with a cast of stars. For a movie where horrible ends are implied, having big stars in the roles can actually lead to major backlash from audiences. It also helps that the people in the film seem like blue collar norms, because the audiences’ suspension of disbelief is buffeted by the fact that they don’t recognize the performers as celebrities or stars. Special shout-out to Theodore Bouloukos as the conspiracy theorist / historian of the Abandon Hotel. He is the absolute MVP of the documentary portions of the film.
Oh yeah the film…
Hell House LLC is staged as a documentary telling of the events of October 8th, 2009. That is the night that Hell House LLC opened the doors to its first haunt outside of New York City in the small town of Abaddon, New York. What happened on that night isn’t clear, but the consequences were evident. Fifteen people died within the Abaddon Hotel that night and the few that survived are forever changed by what they experienced. This documentary explores the events using footage recovered from the cast and crew of the haunt as well as from cell phone videos from customers. Together with subject experts, you the viewer get to come to your own conclusion… with the help of the director of course.
This film works because the filmmakers took it seriously. There aren’t any fourth wall breaks by the cast. There aren’t any attempts are major CGI. This film plays on the “did you see that?” and “It’s what you don’t see that’s scary” techniques. Things happen on the edge of periphery, in shadows, and just out of frame. Not all of the scares land, but I was surprised that a few of them actually got me to jump. There’s an atmosphere of malice in the Abaddon Hotel that is palpable. That’s a credit to the filmmakers. This is by far the strongest entry in the series. I know that’s normally how this goes, but not always. There are outliers like the Malevolence series, where film II is head and shoulders the best of the bunch. However, Hell House LLC is a master class in making the most of what you have. The acting is believable for found footage. The interview segments are just as engrossing as the found footage, which is not an easy thing to accomplish. Many times, sequences like these come off as hammy, but with the use of sharp camera technique and perfectly timed musical queues they work.
Definitely check this one out.
Hell House LLC. II: The Abaddon Hotel
The second film in the series picks up three years after the first. Since the tragedy occurred at the end of the first film, the Abaddon Hotel’s reputation online has grown. More and more residents from the town and surrounding areas report missing persons including small children. More people break into the hotel and film themselves for Facebook and Instagram only to never be seen again. This is the introduction given by television host Suzy McCombs, played by Amanda K. Morales. I just have to call her out, because she is stunning. Her face is so unique and they way they did her makeup and hair, she looks like a woman Fox News would recruit asap. She is hosting a special retrospective on the Abaddon hotel on the anniversary of the tragedy. The guests on her show include Mitchell Cavanaugh, played by Vasile Flutur, a friend and co-worker of Diane Graves from the first film. The other two guests of the show are Arnold Tasselman, an Abaddon councilman and Brock Davies, a fake psychic who has a show like John Edward. Vasile as Mitchell is fantastic. He’s the voice of the audience. At every step he calls out the bullshit of these stupid people wanting to get back into the hell.
Unfortunately, he’s seduced into returning by podcast host Jessica Fox, played by the entrancing Jillian Geurts. The chemistry between these two is beyond anything in the first film. You believe these two care about each other. It’s their relationship that really carries this film, because the TV show segments really start to fall flat. The performances feel a bit stilted in these segments and they lack the gravitas of the documentary interviews in the first film. That’s why I believe this film is the weakest in the series. The sophomore effort definitely has some great scares, specifically with the clowns, but overall it feels thin in vision and execution. This would explain why this is the only film in the series that is exclusive to a single streaming service. Shudder owns the rights to part II.
It’s not a bad film, but it’s below the bar set by the 1st.
Hell House LLC. III: Lake of Fire
The final entry into the Hell House LLC. series is hard to explain. I would love to see a behind the scenes explanation on what the plan was. The script in this addition to the franchise is sharp and biting. It channels actor’s frustrations working in theater. It also tries to expand the mythology of the Abaddon Hotel to be even grander and more terrifying than the last two films. It is mostly unsuccessful in its attempts as can be seen by its abysmal review scores across the board, but I think this film is derided more for its haphazard ending than anything else.
In this iteration, Billionaire Russell Wynn has purchased the Abaddon Hotel in order to stage his interactive stage play Insomnia in its atmospheric confines. Wynn has no fear of the hotel’s insidious reputation. It has been nine years since the events of the first film. We find through criminally subtle environmental storytelling that the events of the second film and the tapes of said events, were kept secret. The public is not aware of the second major event or the fate of the characters from that film. It’s blink and you’ll miss it stuff and if you do miss it, like I did on my first viewing, you’ll be lost until the latter stages of the film. Russell Wynn operates by his own rules. He seems to know things the others don’t. He has a smoldering confidence in his plans. What those may or may not be is left up to conjecture until the closing moments. The part of Russell Wynn is played by Gabriel Chytry. He is one of the bright spots of this film. He’s not given a whole lot to work with, but his delivery and his non-verbal performance is top notch.
Gone is the TV show set-up from the second film. (Thank the Fates) The documentary is back as is the scenery chomping star of the first film, Theodore Bouloukos as the talking head Robert Lyons. This might be why I like the third film better than the second. The documentary interviews are just better than the talkshow. It isn’t even close. The atmosphere that the documentary portions provide amps up the tension, whereas the talk show felt like a hollow attempt to change the formula.
In this film the found footage belongs to reporter Vanessa Shepherd, played by Elizabeth Vermilyea. Russell grants her unprecedented access to his mysterious show Insomnia which has thrilled audiences nationwide. Insomnia has been staged at off the wall locations for years, but this year is different. Vanessa can’t pass up this opportunity, even if she’s terrified of the hotel’s history. The production of Insomnia itself is another major letdown of the film. Little effort was put into the writing of these segments or even the idea of what Insomnia would be. It’s hyped for the entire opening of the film and then what we get is a poorly staged version of Faust in a cheaply assembled set dressing. The actors do the best with what they’re given, but you can’t make a steak dinner out of bread crusts.
There are some standout moments in the film and some great scares, but it just can’t recover from the lapses in logic and the poor presentation of this groundbreaking show and then of course, the bummer of an ending.
It’s not a bummer because it’s sad. It’s a bummer because it feels like they ran out of money and just had to end it. Poorly rendered CGI is used to wrap up the story of the Abaddon Hotel. Despite the best efforts of the cast, they can’t save this sinking ship. The first 2/3 of this film had me hooked. I loved the added mystery that Russell Wynn provided, which is among the reasons why I prefer this film to the second.
If you made it through the second film okay, check this one out.
Special Shoutout to Jordan Kaplan! His performance as Max was fantastic. From being the class clown character in the production to his performance in Insomnia where he provides a hammy take on Mephistopheles, it’s a beyond entertaining performance. It’s too bad it was wasted in this film.
