Searching for a good haunt movie, because that is the mode I am in to lately. I have been through the Conjuring movies and a couple of the Insidious films. This was all brought on by watching the Netflix series, The Haunting of Hill House. So, last night I was searching Shudder and I saw, Hell House LLC. I grabbed my phone and watched the trailer and said, well shit…”I’ll give it a shot.” Then, I noticed there is a sequel, so…yep watched both, back to back. I did the same thing at some point last year, with a somewhat similar duo, The Houses October Built. Those movies were about Haunted House attractions.
Hell House LLC (2016)
Synopsis (Shudder):
In this found-footage gem, a documentary crew visit the site of a haunted house attraction whose opening night ended with 15 unexplained deaths. Eventually the crew come across a surviving employee who has footage that shines a scary light on what really went down that night. As we watch those ill-fated thrillseekers shuffling through the horror house, the knowledge of what’s about to happen makes for a squirm-and-scream-inducing good time. Dread Central called it “a perfect fright flick for the Halloween season” which features “one of the creepiest clowns to appear in a horror movie in a long time.” Sorry Pennywise!
This movie is mostly about a crew building a haunted house attraction in an old abandon hotel in a town called…Abaddon. In Hebrew is Abaddon, The Angel of Death, so that would give me pause about putting a haunted attraction in a hotel that shares the name. Which, no doubt the owner named it after the demon. The crew worked towards opening night, when things get weird. Then opening night comes and baam!
Eh, it is ok. For the most part you follow a guy around who is behind the camera, slowly things happen. The ending is the part of the movie that should really pay off…it didn’t pay off for me. But, watch it and watch the sequel.
Shudder has a 4 out of 5 skull rating.
IMDB.com has a rating of 6.4
Eh, I wasn’t in to this one as much 5.0
Hell House LLC II: The Abaddon Hotel (2018)
Synopsis (Shudder):
t’s been eight years since the opening night tragedy of HELL HOUSE LLC, and still many unanswered questions remain. Thanks to an anonymous tip, investigative journalist Jessica Fox is convinced that key evidence is hidden inside the abandoned Abaddon Hotel– evidence that she thinks will shed light on the hotel’s mysteries. She assembles a team equally hungry for answers with one goal in mind: break into the hotel and discover the frightening truth. A SHUDDER EXCLUSIVE.
This was way better, spookier than the first movie. It was different and worked better. But, it is the situation, where you need to see the first to get the second. I also like the built more on the legend of Hell House, making the first movie take place 8 years prior to this film. This worked, to add depth the the myth. Not to mention the growth of social media and people doing live feeds and recording themselves going in to the house. Then the footage is discussed with a panel on a television show.
This was better that the first, as well as…scarier, if you can call it scary at all. There are some good scenes of dread and a few jump scares. Overall, I think Shudder was right to taking this series and you know, if could even produce a series. I think this left enough to get a third film. Maybe, depends on how it has been received.
I gave it 4 of 5 Skulls on Shudder, but…that is based on Shudder ratings.
IMDB.com has a score of 5.0
I gave it a rating of 5.6
I bet…I bet the next step is a prequel, and not a sequel. It will tell the events of the hotel and its owner’s demise into madness and hell. They found tapes in the fridge in the basement, so…There is your found footage angle.
