HELL HOUSE LLC: An Absurdly Ambitious Found Footage Trilogy

ABOUT THE SHOW:
This show celebrates Ryan's love for film, games, art and entertainment through personal retrospective analysis that aims to explore what made them so good.

MUSIC:
Leoforos Alexandras by Dan Bodan
Icelandic Arpeggios by DivKid
Heartbeat of the Hood by Doug Maxwell/Media Right Productions
Frost by HOVATOFF
Aurora Currents by Asher Fulero

[wstine]

Whose ready to enter the HOYEVER HOUSE?

[_The_Archive_]

Fun Fact: In the first movie, after one of the scares Paul runs out of the strobe light room and throws up. That was not scripted and the actor threw up for real on camera.

[HeisenbergFam]

Found footage horror has a special charm where cameraman is actually vulnerable

[JMD]

The first one was filmed like 5 minutes from my house. It's a great movie, that is actually creepy. It proves that a little bit of subtlety goes a long way.

[VilePrincessLollipop]

My boyfriend was in the 3rd Hell House movie. He plays the waiter that appears 54:00 minutes into it. He says that his direction was to be sort of a super fan of the main guy, lol.

[JakeBrannan]

the first Hell House LLC film is one of the scariest movies I've seen. The entire build-up the basement is incredibly anxiety-inducing, the scenes with the clown, and the bedroom scene with the woman appearing sitting against the wall and staring at us, that's one of the scariest moments I've ever seen in a film and one of the only times I have had to shield my eyes and peek through my fingers while watching a horror movie.

[Southside]

The clown at the top of the steps moving it’s head might be up there with one of my favourite horror film moments ever

[thealchemist]

Fun fact time!
In the strobe lighting, seen the actor who was screaming his head off, then ran out of the room and threw up. That was actually a real reaction.
Well, the guy knew what was happening. The whole thing freaked him out so much that he genuinely got scared and puke.

[nicholasdanner]

The performances are really what make these films for me, the first one especially, whether or not things feel tense and grounded or goofy and scripted I almost never stop believing that I’m watching real people with genuine relationships to one another and goals driving them forward, it’s honestly refreshing to see that kind of authenticity in a subgenre where trying to seem authentic can matter more to the filmmakers than telling a solid story

[chaosbeam]

Whatever you think about the movie, you gotta give the guy some props. He went in with a story to tell, and he saw it through

[HDFSpeedNuva]

The directors cut has a scene in it where while they're trying to hang a noose on the ceiling, there's an open door to blackness in the background where you can see a set of eyes in the dark.
Then as the cameraman moves back to the camera to pick it up, his body briefly passes in front of the door and now the doorway is full of eyes.
That scene really stuck with me specifically because that's an invasive fear of mine whenever I sleep with the door open 😂

[MrRoboto]

Honestly, I like that the story was wrapped up and thoroughly explained. Too many found footage films all follow the same tired formula: mysterious disappearance/accident, investigation, mysterious unexplained incidents, jump scare, jump scare, jump scare, frantic shaking camera during the final scenes, character dies, camera drops showing a brief glimpse of…..something, the end.

Hell House bucks that trend by thoroughly explaining the story and giving us a good look at the actual monsters that infest the hotel. And sure, the angel/demon fight at the end of part 3 seemingly comes out of nowhere, but it’s a logical conclusion to where we already knew the story was heading anyway, so why not treat the audience to it?

Overall, I like them. It’s one of the better found footage films and series available right now.

[JohnDoe-guix]

I actually enjoyed the entire trilogy even though it got more campy and bonkers as it progressed. The first film is legitimately terrifying. The clips of others exploring the hotel in part two were unnerving. Part 3 was the first to actually have some laughs (the line “this is the scariest job I’ve ever had and I worked children’s theater in Alabama” is comedy gold). All in all, I had fun with all three and actually left me wanting more of the Abbadon Hotel.

[gurs]

The first Hell House without a doubt has one of the best, most tasteful jumpscares I've ever seen in a found footage horror.

[froonamission]

I freaking love this trilogy. The first one is definitely the strongest, but they really threw their all into the whole story.

[domplayspoorly]

HE DID IT!!!! THANK YOU RYAN!!! I'VE BEEN WAITING YEARS FOR YOU TO COVER THIS!!

[stephaniepalmer]

Despite how convoluted the series became, I really appreciate how much the creators cared about the main cast. I really enjoyed all the callbacks and even that final send off in the aftermath of Russell's battle. Overall a really cool watch.

[eliotmccann]

FRist "hoyevver"drops at 0:56. We are blessed with His munificence.

[Spectra]

Someone has probably already mentioned this, but there are actually two versions of the first Hell House film. One version, I think the Directors Cut but I'm not for sure on that, adds in a few more minor scenes, but more importantly it actually shows what happens in the basement with the girl tied up as a sacrifice. It gives just a little more clarity for those who were left feeling like the payoff wasn't as satisfying as it could've been.

[KwikTripCryptid]

My favorite found footage film to come out in the past few years is Butterfly Kisses. I personally really love how the two stories of the "actual" found footage and the man who found the footage trying to restore it play out in the film and think they mesh really well. It's just such an interesting idea for a found footage film to me.