Hell House, LLC.

I have to confess: I’m a full‑blown Found Footage Junkie. If there were a 12‑step program for people who willingly watch shaky camcorder chaos at 2 a.m., I’d probably film the meeting and call it “authentic.” When found footage is done right, it doesn’t just pull me into the world—it drags me in like I’m being yanked down a dark hallway by an unseen demon with a flair for dramatic lighting.

And among the many glorious entries in the genre, Steven Cognetti’s Hell House LLC franchise sits at the top of my personal “Yes, I will absolutely lose sleep over this” list. The first movie kicks off with a group of friends who decide to open a haunted attraction inside a real haunted hotel—because apparently OSHA regulations don’t apply when you’re chasing clout and cheap thrills. As the story unfolds, you quickly realize the Abaddon Hotel isn’t just haunted… it’s basically the Airbnb of the damned.

One of the best parts is how quickly you get attached to the characters. You root for them, you want them to succeed, you want them to NOT walk into the basement—but let’s be honest, this is found footage. If you see a basement, someone’s going in it, and they’re not coming back out with a Yelp‑friendly review.

The first film gives you just a nibble of the madness to come. Cognetti hides so many little Easter eggs throughout the movie that rewatching it feels like a paranormal scavenger hunt. For example:

• The clown mannequin—yes, that clown—wasn’t originally meant to be the star of the show, but it became so unsettling that it basically demanded its own agent.

• The Abaddon Hotel is based on a real abandoned hotel in Rockland County, NY, which is somehow less terrifying than the fictional one.

• Cognetti intentionally kept some scares unexplained so fans would obsess over them later… which we absolutely did.

• The franchise has a whole mythology involving cults, portals, and a demon named Tibylius, who sounds like he should be running a cursed law firm.

Honestly, the best way to experience the series is to binge all the films back‑to‑back, let your brain marinate in the lore, and then circle back to the first movie. Suddenly all those weird background details, blink‑and‑you‑miss‑them shadows, and suspiciously mobile mannequins hit way harder.

Hell House LLC isn’t just a found footage movie—it’s a full‑on haunted puzzle box. And if you’re anything like me, you’ll happily keep opening it even though you know something inside is going to scream at you.