Hell House LLC Origins: A group of cold case investigators stay at the Carmichael Manor. After four nights, the group was never heard from again. What is discovered on their footage is even more disturbing than anything found on the Hell House tapes.

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Introduction

Hell House LLC Origins: The Carmichael Manor (2023), directed by Stephen Cognetti, is a found-footage horror movie that both builds on and looks back at the Hell House LLC series. Told in a documentary-style format, the film mixes current-day footage with old recordings to uncover the creepy backstory of the Carmichael Manor—and how it’s tied to the notorious Abaddon Hotel.

The first Hell House was great, the second and third was so-so, but I love that the story continues. The Carmichael Manor was it’s redemption/reset film. They went back to how they made the first film, a good-paced storytelling; and its good that they didn’t use much footage from the first three.

Hell House LLC Origins was refreshing and didn’t feel like it needed to lean on to the first three to be known, it’s very well done that it could stand on his own, well aside from the history tie-ins and mentions of the whole franchise.

Characters

The decision to lessen the main cast to just three people was a very good move, it made them more memorable, as opposed to the previous ones where they had more, it felt scrambled and some of them were forgettable because of that.

Location

The location, Carmichael Manor was filmed at The Fern Hall Estate. The place was huge, the tour they did at first was nice, gives you the feel of the things that happened there. I like how, throughout the whole film, they didn’t use much of the whole place, just some certain spots of the house where events would occur, and it helped audience to not get lost and ask questions like “wait, where did that happen again?” It lets us follow the story more; makes it more precise.

The reveal (clown) of how the story ties in with the rest was very well done, though it was slow, they delivered it straight and not in a cryptic manner, just bits and pieces and you put them all together. I’d say this is the best reveal in the franchise.

Conclusion

The first Hell House LLC was the best among the franchise, when they released the 2nd and 3rd installment, it slowly dwindled down to a bad b-horror at best. Hell House LLC Origins as a prequel installment revived it from the ashes and the success of this one made me look forward to “Hell House: Lineage” more, and I can’t wait!