Hell House LLC

Directed by Stephen Cognetti, Hell House LLC details the terror and bloodshed that ensues after several friends attempt to transform a haunted hotel into a tourist attraction. Filmmaker Cognetti, working from his own screenplay, delivers a predictably erratic found-footage horror endeavor that fares especially poorly in its disastrous opening stretch, as Hell House LLC kicks off with a tedious, padded-out first act devoted almost entirely to a documentary crew’s efforts at figuring out exactly what happened – with this portion of the proceedings’ uninvolving and downright off-putting bent compounded by an inherently (and aggressively) low-rent vibe. It’s clear, then, that the picture does improve, albeit marginally so, once it progresses into a midsection focused on the protagonists’ exploits within the aforementioned haunted hotel, as Cognetti offers up a comfortably familiar atmosphere that’s heightened by a smattering of admittedly creepy images and sequences (including a fantastic and genuinely frightening interlude involving a spooky young woman). The expected emphasis on found-footage specific elements, especially near ceaseless bickering among the central characters, does ensure that the movie slowly-but-surely runs out of steam, however, while the chaotic and anticlimactic finale prevents the conclusion from packing the memorable punch Cognetti has obviously intended – which cements Hell House LLC‘s place as a hopelessly hit-and-miss piece of work that rarely, if ever, justifies its feature-length running time.

** out of ****