I’ve been missing Halloween lately, and with my new subscription to Screambox on Amazon, I have access to a million more horror movies, including the legendary Hell House LLC.
As most of you probably know, Hell House LLC is the found footage documentary of the ill-fated “Hell House” haunt on its opening night. Set in Abaddon, New York, the 5-member crew set up their haunt in an abandoned hotel that has its own history of death and satanic rituals. As construction presses on, the crew have various instances of increasingly frightening occurrences until chaos ensues on its grand opening. A documentary film crew takes the footage and investigates the tragedy to find answers on what actually happened there.
Man. I think I first saw Hell House LLC a year or two after it came out and it has left an impression on me ever since. Found footage has its own personality and can be either really awesome or really dumb. I think Hell House LLC came in at the right time, using the right scares, right techniques, and right story to be an instant classic. There’s different kinds of footage used — from home videos from the haunt patrons to footage the crew took themselves, news snippets and footage from the documentary crew. There are a lot of views we’re getting a glimpse from here and it makes the story of the haunt tragedy all the more appealing.
It would be remiss of me not to mention the scares. Along with kitschy haunt decor like giant fuzzy spiders and zombie mannequins, there is a series of evil clowns. One in particular haunts the Hell House crew in the most disturbing way I have ever seen, moving from one hallway to another, turning its head when the camera isn’t looking at it — stuff like that. I can only imagine being on set with those clowns and having to act with it, not knowing if someone was going to play a prank on me and move it or not. There are scenes of practice runs through the haunt that are also very unsettling with strobe lights and monster props moving in the background.
The ending has a little twist that some people may easily pick up on. It’s rather so-so but not terrible by any means. Hell House LLC also has scenes of what really happened in the basement during the tragedy that I could take or leave. Those certainly don’t take away from the atmosphere of the rest of the movie though.
Overall, it’s clear why Hell House LLC is so revered today. It is frightening. It is interesting. It is exciting and fun. Hell House LLC is the template for how a lot of these found footage films should be. There are currently two sequels that are a little less loved, but even that doesn’t detract from the first film. Hell House LLC is a movie that will stay with me forever, always giving me goosebumps and making me pull the blanket up a little closer (y’know, in order to protect myself from that one evil clown). If you ever have the chance to see it, do. But be warned — you won’t forget it.
What did you think of Hell House LLC? Let us know in the comments!
