Premise: A mocumentary investigating a mysterious accident that happened on opening night of a haunted house attraction.
Oh man, oh man, oh man. I loooooooved this movie. I had a good run of horror movies this year. My research and recommendations really paid off. I saw at least a half-dozen horror movies that I'd like to see again. It was a rousing success. The only thing it was missing was a movie that I immediately thought about buying because I didn't want to be caught without it when the mood struck me. Well, I found it now.
Hell House LLC is one of the best found footage horror movies I've seen, and I've seen many of them. It's my favorite horror sub-genre. I love the reliance on atmosphere. The lo-fi production methods levels the playing field so a greater variety of filmmakers can make this kind of movie. The verisimilitude makes the scares feel more authentic.
This movie uses the structure the right way. The mocumentary presentation explains why it's all so well edited. I was really impressed with how well the movie establishes the geography of the hotel. By the end, I could tell exactly where people were going despite the maze-like setup. I started recognizing where manikins should and shouldn't be. That made the whole thing feel more interactive. I could tell when something didn't look right.
The story set up works really well. This group is setting up a haunted house, so the film doesn't have to come up with an elaborate excuse for why things look so creepy. That's a struggle the Paranormal Activity series often had to overcome. A house is just a house. A haunted house has a good excuse for scary clowns, dusty rooms, and labyrinthian floor plans.
If I was going to nit-pick, I guess the very end doesn't make a ton of sense. How do we have the footage of the "documentarian" at the very end? Was the camera retrieved later or something? If so, by whom and how were they able to retrieve it? And there's the common structural stuff about found footage you just have to go with, like why specific scares happen at certain times? Like, why does the piano keep making noise or why do the manikin heads all turn? The answer is "because it's scary" and that's about it. I've never minded that, but I know it bothers some people.
This was a greatly fun movie to watch at home in the dark by myself right before going to bed. And, by that, I mean it left me massively on edge, nervous, and too unsettled to sleep. I know that does nothing to convince non-horror fans to watch it, but for everyone else, it's a ringing endorsement. Now, my next big question is do I watch any of the sequels and risk them dispelling the charm of this first one?
Verdict: Strongly Recommend
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