I used to try and justify my love of found footage horror but I’m going to be honest, I kind of love it. Are there duds? Of course, but that can be said about any genre. For every Ghoulies making horror comedies look like a joke unto itself, there is a Beetlejuice, something that has fun and ideas and elevates the genre as a whole. Hell House LLC falls into the latter category; a brilliant use of the found footage genre that really does something new.
The story is framed as a documentary, focusing on the company Hell House, LLC and a disastrous haunted house they put on five years prior at the Abaddon Hotel that resulted in the deaths of multiple scare actors and patrons looking to just have a night of cheap thrills. While no one knows what happened that night, rumors swirl as the Abaddon is reportedly haunted by the former owner. In the hopes of finding answers, the documentarians are thrilled when Sarah, an initial member of the company, agrees to be interviewed. Sarah has been missing since the night of the incident, and is the sole surviving member of Hell House, LLC.
The structure of the film is brilliant — a documentary is a wonderful framing device for found footage. They perfectly weave in “authentic footage” that is not only from the original crew leading up to the fateful night, but also from random visitors on the night of the incident. We have jumpy footage that cuts in the in the middle of the chaos, adding to the authenticity of the footage. There is something so very real about the atmosphere that audiences cannot help but to immediately get immersed on style alone.
The acting is where things elevate — everything feels real, from the interactions the characters have to the way events play out. The acting in this film is sublime and understated which adds to the very real feeling found footage should have. Gore Abrams in particular is a standout as Paul. Clearly written to be the comedic relief in the friend group, Paul is the main camera man and could easily be one of the more annoying or obnoxious. Yet Abrams performance is subtle and reserved. Paul is funny but in a gently sarcastic way. As the main camera man, he sees a lot of things before anyone else, yet he doesn’t overreact. In fact, he handles the information as responsibly as anyone else would in that situation, so much so that the ghosts target him first.
It’s a brilliant narrative choice, but one of many. No one is frustratingly stupid in this film, and by that I mean no one makes a decision that just seems completely out of the realm of possibility. The people in Hell House, LLC are creatives and have been friends for years and when things get scary, it’s their friendship and years of memories that convince them to stay. This love for each other raises the stakes as the audience really is just witnessing good people going through a horrible tragedy.
Hell House LLC is good found footage; it does something new with the genre by having a grounded mystery, good use of found footage, and stellar performances. While Hell House II is lackluster and the acting is worse, and Hell House III gets so ridiculous it becomes completely unbelievable, this first film is such a masterful entry into the found footage category. It focuses on characters as opposed to scares, which make the atmosphere much more tense and frightening as a result. Hell House LLC is a horror classic, and a good reference point for anyone, like me, who wants to defend found footage from the haters.
Watch Hell House LLC on Tubi.