“What happens when a haunted attraction goes wrong and the fear is real?!”

Ahhhh found footage horror.  This is a genre known all too well by horror fans as of late.  Over the past decade or so it has pretty much become a staple in the community ever since the flood gates were opened with the release of Paranormal Activity.  It could even go back further to the iconic film The Blair Witch Project.  Or, for the purists, we could trace it back to the Godfather of the genre with the cult classic Cannibal Holocaust!  The problem with found footage films is that since the release of these classics, pretty much everyone who can operate a camera thought they could make a horror movie.  However, true fans know that it’s not as easy as it looks.

Well, once in a while a true gem comes along that breathes new life back into this hit or miss trend.  In 2016, a little known film popped up on VOD formats that got everyone talking….. Hell House LLC!  Written and directed by Stephen Cognetti, this is found footage done the way it’s supposed to be! Winner of Best Paranormal Film at the Fear Fete Film Festival in October of 2015, it’s sure to send a chill down your spine.

THE PLOT

The film follows a traveling haunted attraction company called Hell House as they gear up for another Halloween season by setting up in an abandoned hotel just outside of New York.  Led by Alex (Danny Bellini), who is strongly business-minded and won’t settle for anything less than perfect execution.  The rest of the crew include his loyal and supportive girlfriend Sara (Ryan Jennifer Jones), jokester Paul (Gore Abrams), and his two technical prop guys Tony (Jared Hacker) and Andrew (Adam Schneider).

The film is a bit Tarantino-ish starting out 5 years after an apparent “malfunction” of the attraction, which resulted in tragedy.  A documentary crew led by Diane Graves (Alice Bahlke) tries to piece everything together and get down to the bottom of what happened that October night.  As she interviews local authorities and witnesses, it starts to become clear that more went on at that hotel than what has been revealed to the public.  Surprisingly, one of the survivors is Sara herself who agrees to let the documentary crew review all the footage taken from inside the hotel where Hell House was set up.  It’s here that all the questions are answered, and the truth about what happened is shockingly revealed!

SHOULD YOU SEE IT?

I can confidently say that this is one of the BEST found footage movies I’ve seen in a long time!  To say that it’s flawless may be a stretch, but it’s done expertly.  What makes it work so well is the setup.  We are immediately thrown into the chaos that transpired, and then we get to see how it all came to be.  This was perfect for keeping me engaged throughout.  The local interviews kept it interesting and made everything seem that much more real.  At times, I felt like I was actually watching a REAL documentary!

The entire cast was spot on with their performances, and being relatively unknown made their character development more effective.  The best part of this movie was the cinematography.  Many people complain about found footage films being too chaotic with the shaky camera technique, but in this instance it worked brilliantly!  The tension build up with that whole “what’s gonna pop up around the corner” approach was genius and because of the great acting and camera work, we only catch glimpses of the horror.  This movie is legitimately scary and never lets up all the way to the shocking conclusion! I can’t recommend this one enough, because it’s THAT good!  So, the next time you go through a haunted attraction during the Halloween season, this movie might make you think twice about whether or not you are a spectator or have become part of the haunt itself!