Found footage films are the backbone of horror these last 15 years or so. Cheap to make, require minimum effects at best, and can usually be 95% filler to set up whatever story or jump scares are there.
With the 5th Hell House LLC film in the series releasing this year I decided to go back and see the series. I remember seeing this film I want to say twice over the years but outside of the clown here, I remembered nothing of it, and seemingly for good reason.
The story here is something on paper that should work, a 5 person crew sets up the “Hell House” haunted house in Abaddon, New York and events start happening. The house has a history of evil and satanic like events and our crew are they progress start to see more and more unnatural events happening.
This is shot as part documentary style mixed with other camera footage and news events with interviews relating to the event that happened here. It helps it come across as a semi real event that was a known deal at the time vs just found footage that magically appears.
As for most found footage though, things here get over complicated and boring. We get reused footage too much, characters are entirely unlikable, and while certain elements try to get some reasoning behind them, others are just left in the clear. Theres a clown that seems to be the focal point here for scares but at no point is ever alluding to why theres an evil clown.
I fail to see how this film or series of so beloved as it is on par with every other low budget found footage film. While edited together better than some it just comes a shell of what it could have been.
Score :
1.5 / 5
