Hell House LLC (2015)

October 24, 2022 8:59 AM

Five years after an unexplained malfunction causes the death of 15 tour-goers and staff on the opening night of a Halloween haunted house tour, a documentary crew travels back to the scene of the tragedy to find out what really happened.

Written & directed by Stephen Cognetti.

75% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.

Streaming free on Amazon Prime, Shudder, Roku Channel, Tubi, Screambox, Plex, and Vudu. JustWatch listing.

posted by DirtyOldTown (7 comments total)

I really like this movie, and in fact it's one I can't watch too often because it does tend to keep me up at night, certain there's a clown mannequin shambling about in the shadows. The found footage is good, even if the end is a bit predictable. I'm not sure why this one is so much more effective on me than other, similar horror movies, but it definitely stays with me.

Too bad the sequels are pretty terrible.
posted by kittensyay at 1:24 PM on October 24, 2022 [1 favorite]

I love found footage and this one's just creepy creepy creepy. They do a great job of ramping up the activity as the film proceeds, know when to hold the tension and when to release it, and it's just so thoroughly effective.
posted by Pope Guilty at 3:36 PM on October 24, 2022 [1 favorite]

Took me a while to get into it - these found footage films can grow repetitive - but the second half is neat-o.
posted by Jessica Savitch's Coke Spoon at 3:38 PM on October 24, 2022

I also enjoyed it. The clowns were creepy as all get out. What got me was at the end, when the woman goes to the hotel, and you can barely make out the cast members sitting around in the rooms. I found that really disturbing, because you couldn't quite be sure that someone was sitting there.
My only complaint is that it wasn't obvious to me why they were sticking around. The second film beats you over the head that the reason they're sticking around is money issues. So, I guess other people had the same complaint.
I'm told that the 3rd movie retroactively makes the second one better. I wouldn't know, because apparently the way to distribute film series these days is to put each one on a separate platform.
posted by Spike Glee at 7:22 PM on October 24, 2022

Five years after an unexplained malfunction causes the death of 15 tour-goers and staff on the opening night of a Halloween haunted house tour, a documentary crew travels back to the scene of the tragedy to find out what really happened.

Oh, that's never a good idea.
posted by Naberius at 9:26 AM on October 25, 2022 [3 favorites]

I'm told that the 3rd movie retroactively makes the second one better.

Personally, I think the 3rd movie retroactively makes both the first two worse. I'm not optimistic about the upcoming prequel either.

It's a shame because the first one is really effective.
posted by tomorrowromance at 12:26 PM on October 25, 2022

My only complaint is that it wasn't obvious to me why they were sticking around.

I got curious about that too and looked it up. It turns out they filmed a scene where it's explained that the lead guy has put all of his money into the haunted house, and if they pull out he and the company are ruined. They cut it, though, which seems like a big oversight.
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 1:15 PM on October 25, 2022