31 movies to watch in October: Hell House LLC

For the tenth day of October, I have a true Halloween-related movie to throw into the 31 movies to watch in October challenge. It’s one I have written about before, but it’s so good that it bears repeating.

Hell House LLC is an independent horror flick that made its debut at the Telluride Horror Show in November of 2016. Cast with unknown actors, and written and directed by Stephen Cognetti in his directorial debut, this found footage flick is genuinely frightening, well-acted, and has a compelling story to tell. It is also a perfect October film, and includes what is possibly the scariest clown in horror.

The five staff members of Hell House LLC put up a haunted attraction every year, and in 2009, Hell House was set up outside of New York City for the first time. This time, the setting was the abandoned Abaddon Hotel in Rockland County, the perfect place for a haunted house. On opening night, due to what the police termed an “unknown malfunction”, 15 tour-goers and staff members were killed.

A documentary crew decides to conduct an investigation, and they get a huge break when the one missing member of Hell House LLC, Sara, turns up with some film footage shot by the staff in the days leading up to the tragic opening night. That footage tells a strange and horrifying story.

It seems that the members of Hell House LLC started experiencing some scary events almost immediately upon entering the Abaddon, yet they stayed on due to their loyalty to Alex, who headed up the company. What kind of scary events, you ask? Well, there is that utterly terrifying clown mannequin, who starts popping up unexpectedly.

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There is also a piano that seems to play on its own, and there are frightening human figures that show up in places they shouldn’t be. As the story moves along closer to opening night, the activity becomes stronger, and we finally get a better idea of what happened.

After screening at the Telluride Horror Show, Hell House LLC was picked up by Terror Films and released directly to VOD on November 1, 2016. It was picked up by horror streaming service Shudder, which released its two sequels, Hell House LLC II: The Abaddon Hotel and Hell House LLC III: Lake of Fire as Shudder exclusives.

Hell House LLC can be seen on several streaming platforms, including Amazon Prime, Vudu and Shudder, but the sequels can only be seen on Shudder.

Have you seen Hell House LLC and its sequels? Did you enjoy them? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section.