The found footage film HELL HOUSE LLC was a surprise success upon its release in 2015. Writer/director Stephen Cognetti introduced viewers to the Abaddon Hotel, its bloody history, and the ill-fated expedition to uncover its secrets. Now in HELL HOUSE LLC. II: THE ABADDON HOTEL, he’s taking us back into the hotel.
Since the last film several people have gone missing investigating the hotel; The film opens with footage of the last minutes of one of them. Footage that was sent mysteriously to his parents after he vanished. There’s footage of other missing people worked into the film’s first act.
Now Mitchell Cavanaugh (Vasile Flutur) the only survivor of the first expedition is going back in. He’s investigative reporter Jessica Fox (Jillian Guerts, ABNORMAL ATTRACTION) and her team
HELL HOUSE LLC. II: THE ABADDON HOTEL plays a bit with the found footage idea, being edited together from footage shot in the hotel, interviews, talk show appearances, and police interrogation footage. The bulk of the film, however, is what was edited together from the two cameras taken into the building by the team, complete with “editor’s notes”. Those notes, and external footage edited in just serve to break the mood and pull you out of the plot.
The footage from the house is a reasonably good collection of jump scares leading up to a final reveal. Without the breaks killing the mood and pretty much giving away the big secret it would have been an above-average film. Granted it might not have been that hard to guess after the first half-hour, but it ends up being made much more obvious.
Give Stephen Cognetti credit for trying to expand the found footage format and freshen it up, but it’s a failed experiment. What could have been a solid sequel and jumping-off point for more films is reduced to watchable at best.
HELL HOUSE LLC. II: THE ABADDON HOTEL is out from Terror Films and is available on Shudder and other streaming services