Hell House LLC is a 2015 American found-footage supernatural horror film written and directed by Stephen Cognetti and produced by Joe Bandelli.
Tragedy strikes on opening night when an unknown "malfunction" causes the death of 15 tour-goers and staff.
[3] The film is presented as a documentary investigating the unexplained 2009 tragedy at Hell House in which fifteen people, including nearly all the staff, died in what authorities declared a "severe malfunction".
The documentary crew, led by producer Diane Graves, interview people familiar with the case and find rumors of something supernatural behind the tragedy.
Sara's tapes document the company's arrival at the dilapidated Hotel Abaddon in Rockland County, New York as they set it up for Halloween.
CEO Alex plans the layout of the attraction to culminating in a scene in the basement of an actress chained up about to be sacrificed to a cult.
They hire several local scare actors including Melissa, who shares with Alex and cameraman Paul that the hotel is rumored to be haunted.
In the basement scene, Melissa is suddenly and brutally killed by a shadowy ghost cultist causing a stampede of guests.
In mid-June, filming was complete, and the movie went to post-production, where it would be edited for the next five months, before the first private screening of a rough cut would be seen in the Rose Studio at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.
After a few more rounds of re-cuts, the film was locked just before its first public screening at the Telluride Horror Show in October 2015.
The worldwide distribution rights for Hell House LLC were acquired by Terror Films, with a North American VOD release date of November 1, 2016. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gives Hell House LLC a 73% positive rating based on eleven critic reviews, with an average rating of 6.50/10.
[7] SlashFilm also gave the film a positive review writing that "Stephen Cognetti's Halloween chiller marries found footage with haunted attractions, channeling a popular and rational fear.
The film is styled as a documentary following Russell Wynn, a wealthy and mysterious entrepreneur who wants the Abaddon Hotel to serve as the location for an immersive theater experience called "Insomnia" based on Faust.
Although aware of the location's history, he is keen to proceed with the venture despite others warning him of ongoing and frightening supernatural events.
The following day one of the documentary crew muses that Russell was likely an angel sent back to defeat Tully and bring an end to his evil plans.
Film School Rejects was critical of the movie, stating that it was "an ambitious stab at closing out a horror trilogy, but as much as that’s an accomplishment worth celebrating the end result is an unfortunate disappointment.