E's Reviews: Hell House LLC. 2: The Abaddon Hotel

Back in 2015, we were subjected to a found footage film about a crew opening a haunt in a small town in New York, the fictional Abaddon. The crew filmed the entire thing and experienced true evil at this really messed up hotel. I reviewed it earlier this year, calling it one of the few hidden gems in the found footage horror genre (you can read it in the Notes section of this page). Well, they’re back with a new entry in this story, and I for one was very excited to see it get made. Here we go....

Hell House LLC. 2: The Abaddon Hotel was written and directed by Stephen Cognetti and stars Vasile Flutur and Jillian Geurts and it's been eight years since the opening night tragedy of Hell House, LLC and still many unanswered questions remain. Thanks to an anonymous tip, investigative journalist Jessica Fox is convinced that key evidence is hidden inside the abandoned Abaddon Hotel-evidence that will shed light on the hotel's mysteries. She assembles a team equally hungry for answers with one goal: break into the hotel and discover the truth.

Now, if you’re a fan of the found footage genre, you’ll probably really like this movie. It’s got everything you’re expecting: a paper thin plot, cheesy dialogue, little to no character development, a screenplay that at times seems amateurish, and a ton of shaky cam that will make anyone a little nauseous. Let’s not forget, the acting is pretty bad compared to the first film. In the first movie, you had a cast that actually tried to sound convincing, they were actually pretty decent. This time around, however, they sounded like students in high school working on a play. I didn’t find them convincing at all. These are all weaknesses that this film had, albeit I am nitpicking, if I’m being honest.

The good part of this movie, and it’s predecessor, is the scares and the location. The house itself is a terrifying beast, built like a giant maze inside that will confuse and creep out anyone inside (and anyone watching the footage). The scares aren’t just stupid jumps meant to bring about a loud noise and nothing else. The filmmakers truly understand how to terrify by showing you things and lingering just enough to be effective and build tension. It’s something I loved about some other movies this year that had way bigger budgets (Hereditary). It’s a breath of fresh air to see someone making movies that doesn’t rely on the cheap jump scare. I do think that jumps are good, but if overdone or are used as cop outs, they really don’t do the film justice. In this case, the lack of jump scares really put me on the edge of my seat. The practical effects were great, just like in the first one, which is something that I really love seeing. The more CGI used, the more fake a film seems, and these are obviously the strengths this movie had.

In the end, if you like found footage horror or really enjoyed the first movie, you’ll definitely like this one. It’s got great scares and a great location which totally make up for the bad acting and bad script. It’s exclusively on SHUDDER right now, and I highly recommend subscribing to that service. Check it out now!

Final Score: 7/10

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