Stephen Cognetti helms the found footage horror movie “Hell House LLC.” An entertaining tale of a documentary film crew's quest to uncover the horrifying past of the notorious “Hell House.”
The picture is captivating, tense, subtle, and unjustly undervalued; it transports the viewer to a diabolical dungeon where lifelike dolls come to life and the walking dead crawl out of the walls.
Using a found-footage storytelling style, the film creates the illusion of realism, but how grounded in fact is the story? Is there any way to locate the abandoned settlement of Abaddon in the United States?
If you find yourself wondering similar things while watching the video, don't worry; we might have the answers. Let's see if ‘Hell House, LLC' is one of those extremely unusual true-life horror movies. This paragraph contains spoilers.
Is Hell House LLC Based on a True Story?
‘Hell House, LLC' is not based on any true events. Paranormal events claim the lives of 15 people in the film, and the film's plot revolves around the terrifying location known as “Hell House.”
Located in the made-up city of Abaddon, New York, the eerie mansion was once a hotel run by one Andrew Tully, who allegedly killed himself after the disappearance of one or more families who had been staying there.
In 2009, a group of five people buys the house with the intention of turning it into a haunted house for Halloween. The present-day story begins five years after the mysterious deaths of fifteen people on the Hell House's opening night and retraces the steps that lead up to that fateful night.
Once the film crew gets a hold of Sara Havel, the owner's girlfriend, she offers some films that may expose further secrets and we watch several interviews with others who give impressionistic accounts of the atrocity.
It seems likely that Stephen Cognetti is responsible for this as well. As was previously said, there is no such place as Abaddon in the Empire State. The Hebrew word for “bottomless pit,” which refers to the realm of the dead, is a translation of the demon's name, Abaddon.
The choice of the moniker in the film undoubtedly serves to set the tone for the film's ominous story. Similarly, there is no such place as the Hell House, albeit the scenes depicting it were filmed at the Waldorf Hotel in Lehighton, Pennsylvania, which features a local haunted house attraction called “The Haunting.”
Just like in the movie, the site used to be a rundown motel that has now been refurbished.
Is the Footage in Hell House LLC Real?
If you've been wondering whether or not the footage in “Hell House LLC” depicts actual, true paranormal occurrences, the short answer is no. In spite of this, the film's flawless use of the found-footage style creates the impression that what we're watching is actually happening.
It's a tried and true formula for horror movies when combined with the mockumentary form of narrative. The films in the found-footage subgenre give the impression that what the audience is watching are actual videos of the event depicted in the film.
These films are easily identifiable by their low-budget aesthetic, unsteady camerawork, and authentic performances. Actors are frequently tasked with recording their own scenes in order to increase the story's credibility.
Though Gianfranco Clerici's ‘Cannibal Holocaust' from 1980 is sometimes cited as the first film in the found-footage horror subgenre, ‘The Blair Witch Project' from 1999 is often credited with popularizing the subgenre.
Since then, the device has become firmly established in the horror canon, appearing in numerous blockbuster movies including ‘Cloverfield,' ‘Paranormal Activity,' and ‘Trollhunter.' In retrospect, it seems that horror writers have always pretended their stories were based on actual events.
‘The Castle of Otranto,' Horace Walpole's first supernatural English fiction, was published in 1764. Walpole claimed it was a translation of an ancient Italian manuscript that had been unearthed in the north of England.
However, this was an artfully fabricated fib designed solely to increase the story's dramatic tension. The found-footage horror subgenre revives an ancient preoccupation with realism in fiction.
