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Across four films, the Hell House LLC series has used found footage to investigate the diabolical goings-on in Abaddon, New York, where you’ll find a creepy old hotel, a murder mansion, vicious cultists, and an unholy number of camera-toting journalists. The fifth film in Stephen Cognetti’s series, Hell House LLC: Lineage, returns to that hellish town for more exploration, but with a big difference this time around: Lineage is not a found-footage film.
It’s a risk, but it makes a lot of sense, allowing Cognetti the freedom to explore Abaddon’s mysteries without framing the movie as a documentary or featuring the shaky, dimly lit footage that’s inextricable from the found-footage aesthetic. Instead, Lineage can make style choices that no other Hell House LLC movie could, including the dream sequences and waking nightmares that plague its main character.
It’s helpful to have a narrative structure anchoring Lineage, which goes much deeper into the uneasy history of Abaddon that’s established in the previous films. The earlier Hell House LLC movies tended to rely on talking heads to contextualize the unhinged events glimpsed in the recovered footage. Here, it’s happening in real time, and while there are still some moments that feel like exposition dumps, they flow more organically into the story.
However, though it’s the most technically accomplished of all the Hell House LLC movies, Lineage is not an ideal entry point for newcomers. The first film, which was released in 2015 and is a cautionary tale about hosting a haunted house attraction inside a hotel that’s actually haunted, is the only series entry that works as a standalone.
Hell House LLC II: The Abaddon Hotel (2018) and Hell House LLC III: Lake of Fire (2019) are very much intertwined with that first film. Part two follows an investigative team dead-set on finding out the truth about the Halloween haunt tragedy (it doesn’t end well), while part three imagines the hotel—now a destination for thrill-seeking trespassers—will soon be home to Insomnia, an immersive theater production paying homage to Faust (it doesn’t end well).
Part four, Hell House Origins LLC: The Carmichael Manor (2023), shifted locations out of necessity, both because it was getting ridiculous to assume any sane human would enter the Abaddon Hotel after so much mayhem… and also because the hotel burned down at the end of Lake of Fire.
The main character in Origins—which, as the name implies, is as much prequel as it is sequel—is Margot (Bridget Rose Perrotta), a web sleuth fascinated with the Carmichaels, the former occupants of a mansion just outside Abaddon that has seen its own array of tragedies. It also has deep ties to the Abaddon Hotel and its cultish mysteries, and Margot, her girlfriend Rebecca (Destiny Leilani Brown), and Margot’s brother Chase (James Liddell) move into the house for a short period to do some hands-on research (it doesn’t end well).
There was a certain grimy charm to the Abaddon Hotel, whose claustrophobic hallways, hellmouth-encasing basement, and maddening lack of exits proved dangerously alluring to anyone with dreams of viral fame. As one character in Lake of Fire jokes, sort of, “Everyone who enters with a camera barely seems to make it.”
The place had an almost sentient energy that exerted a pull on curiosity seekers despite its dangerous track record and a way of playing mind games that another Lake of Fire character dubs “Abaddon eyes.” Characters think they see something, but on closer inspection can’t tell if it was real or not. And viewers can relate. The Hell House LLC films make great use of almost subliminal glimpses of ghosts (or clowns, even worse) popping up unexpectedly in dark corners.
But the Carmichael Manor, with its elegant wood accents and floral wallpaper, has a colder, more elegantly sinister vibe. The fourth Hell House LLC film poked into the Carmichael family—in the world of the films, they’re a true crime cause célèbre—but Cognetti also took advantage of the mansion setting to stage a more traditional, if still found footage, haunted-house tale.
Origins was the scariest Hell House LLC film, at least until Lineage came along.
At last, a Hell House LLC movie that does not contain a scene where either a character or the viewer is moved to wonder, “How is someone still filming this?” Lineage picks up with Vanessa Shepard (Elizabeth Vermilyea); in Lake of Fire, she was the Morning Mysteries host given behind-the-scenes access to Insomnia‘s pre-production process.
As already mentioned, that doesn’t end well—though Vanessa survives, barely, and reflects on her experiences in the documentary that frames Lake of Fire‘s found footage. In that film, Vanessa stands in for the audience, half in disbelief about the things she’s seeing and hearing and half determined to find out what’s really going on. She’s also the only character to come right out and say, “You’d think at some point the town would just stop having events here”—an absolutely logical question, albeit one that would mean the end of any more Hell House LLC movies.
In Lineage, at least, we get a more well-rounded look at Abaddon as a community. There’s a town council that’s seemingly trying to move the town in a positive direction, despite its body count. There’s a drive-in theater. People hang Halloween decorations. And many, many residents are in therapy—including Vanessa, who’s understandably still shaken up about her recent brush with death.
But Vanessa’s not the only troubled soul in town. As Legacy explores, “Abaddon eyes” have infested the general population, as locals start believing they’re being chased by malevolent spirits. Vanessa’s doctor attributes it to lingering trauma after the deaths of Margot and company in The Carmichael Manor, but we soon learn the ill wind that’s blowing originates even farther in the past.
Similar to The Carmichael Manor, Legacy functions as both a prequel and a sequel. Vanessa is struggling to find her way; she’s separated from her husband (no great loss, from what little we see of him) and is nursing a not-so-secret drinking problem, an issue especially since she’s become a bar owner after leaving journalism behind.
So she’s decidedly unenthused to meet Alicia (Searra Sawka), an investigator who’s researching Abaddon’s past. Alicia arrives armed with the trove of vintage photos and notes Margot and Rebecca discovered in part four. Soon, Vanessa begins to realize her distressing dreams—which center on the Carmichael Manor, a place she’s presumably never been—hint there’s something more significant and cosmic going on than just PTSD.
Hell House LLC: Legacy is not without its flaws. Alicia’s storyline feels underbaked. She’s got a lot of potential, but we never get a sense of who she is or what’s motivating her, especially considering the risks she ends up taking.
But probably the biggest drawback, at least for a more general audience, is that to understand Legacy’s nuances, you must watch all of the previous films and have a keen memory of their details. You must be a fan already.
The reveals in Legacy won’t feel as stunning if you don’t remember what the Carmichael family went through (from part four, the series entry that also explains why there are so many damn clowns around), or Vanessa’s time at the Abaddon Hotel (in part three), or the nuggets of information about the series’ main antagonist, cult leader Andrew Tully, going all the way back to part one. Often, there are brief flashbacks to help you remember, which is useful. But to get the full impact, you must be familiar with the series.
That can be frustrating, though it’s impressive to realize how carefully Cognetti has been seeding this story over the years. But again: you won’t be as impressed if you don’t recognize what’s being referenced.
You will also need to be excited about the idea of watching more Hell House LLC movies after Lineage, because the door is left wide open for more. (Cognetti confirmed to io9 that Lineage will be his final film in the series, though he’s hopeful the story will continue on with another creator.) If you were hoping for a solid conclusion to this saga, you won’t find it here.
But if you are a diehard fan—and Hell House LLC definitely has a dedicated following, otherwise Shudder wouldn’t keep ordering up new ones—you won’t be disappointed. This movie was made for you. Lineage answers lingering questions, poses new ones, and widens the mystery in ways that feel completely earned, rather than retconned. Also, just to make sure this is clear: it’s got some excellent scares.
Hell House LLC: Legacy hits Shudder October 30.
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Cheryl Eddy
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