Hell House LLC II: The Abaddon Hotel

Last updated
Hell House LLC II: The Abaddon Hotel
Hell-house-llc-ii-the-abaddon-hotel-movie-poster-md.jpg
Official release poster
Directed byStephen Cognetti
Written byStephen Cognetti
Produced byJoe Bandelli
Starring
  • Vasile Flutur
  • Jillian Geurts
  • Joy Shatz
  • Dustin Austen
  • Brian David Tracey
CinematographyJoe Schufreider
Edited byJon Shearburn
Production
companies
  • Terror Films
  • Cognetti Films
Distributed by Shudder
Release date
  • September 20, 2018 (2018-09-20)
Running time
89 Minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Hell House LLC II: The Abaddon Hotel is a 2018 American direct-to-streaming found-footage horror mystery film written and directed by Stephen Cognetti and produced by Joe Bandelli. A sequel to the 2015 film Hell House LLC and a second installment to the Hell House LLC franchise . Its plot centers around a group of journalists who have gathered to explore the Abaddon Hotel, which has once again been abandoned following the events of the prior film.

Contents

The film was released on Shudder on September 20, 2018 [1] and it received mixed reviews from critics. [2] [3]

Plot

The film begins with Wendy Mallet recounting her tragedy when her son, Jackson Mallet, broke into the abandoned Abaddon Hotel and never came out more than a year ago. A video is shown in which Jackson runs frantically around the hotel begging for help before having a mental breakdown. A cult follower is seen slowly approaching him.

On October 6, 2017, Suzy McCombs is presenting a Hell House LLC special program, with Arnold Tasselman, Mitchell Cavanaugh (Diane Graves' coworker from the first film) and Brock Davies as guests. They start discussing the veracity of the Hell House documentary. Arnold points out that he tried to take down Mitchell's documentary, arguing that it is a hoax that is causing damage to the town's reputation, while Mitchell reiterates that Diane and her cameraman died inside the hotel, and it is not a safe place to go. A journalism team from an online blog is watching the program. Its presenter, Jessica Fox, claims that with the help of Mitchell they can break into the Abaddon in hopes of a spike of popularity for their website.

They meet with Mitchell outside the Abaddon hotel, who says that breaking in will not be easy as the police is patrolling around the hotel to prevent any more disappearances, such as the one of a teenager who broke into the hotel and disappeared while livestreaming his adventure. On another video, a couple picks up a strange woman asking to be dropped off at the hotel, only to be revealed as the ghost of one of the tour-goers that died in the haunted attraction back in 2009.

Four days after their break-in, a distressed Jessica Fox is questioned by the Rockland County police. She cannot remember what happened and has a panic attack.

Mitchell, Jessica, Molly and David intend to break in, joined by Brock Davies and his cameraman Malcolm to investigate the hotel in a paranormal style. However, Molly cannot bring herself to enter and stays outside. Mitchell, Jessica and David head for the basement, while Brock and his cameraman go into the dining room where Andrew Tully, the hotel owner, committed suicide along with several cult followers of his satanic cult. When they try to communicate with Tully via a Ouija board, they see the ghost of a woman.

Molly enters the hotel at David's request. The group finds out that Alex from the original Hell House team went to the Abaddon in April 2009, way before the Hell House disaster. He is seen making a deal with an unseen man. When the group reunites with Molly and find out that David never asked her for help, they try to leave, only to be trapped inside. They begin to experience paranormal events including the ghost of Melissa, a Hell House actress that died in 2009, and the hanged bodies of Brock and his cameraman. They are then captured and sent to the dining room.

Back at the Morning Mysteries show, Mitchell claims that the hotel lures people inside in order to kill them and trap their souls there. Once the show ends, a crew member tells Suzy that Arnold Tasselman called to apologize as he could not make it to the interview. Suzy is shocked as "Tasselman" has just left after the show.

At the hotel, when Mitchell wakes up, he finds Jessica and Molly tied up, along with the ghostly figures of Mac and Alex, two of the original Hell House staff. Tully himself shows up, taunting Mitchell about how he lured him into the hotel despite Mitchell saying he would never enter it, revealing that "Tasselman" was Tully all along. Then, he sees the ghost of Diane playing the piano. Tully tells him that, in order for the dominoes to keep falling, he must choose one of them to walk out of the hotel to lure more people into it. Molly gets killed and Mitchell, having a breakdown, gets up. Jessica cries desperately for help.

In the present, Jessica is in the police station. When the officer questioning her turns around, it is revealed that she died inside the Abaddon as well, as we can see her ghost staring at the camera.

Cast

Reception

Bloody Disgusting reviewed the film, criticizing it as a "well-intentioned misstep". [4] On Culture Crypt the film has a review score of 35 out of 100 indicating "unfavorable reviews". [5]

Sequel

Hell House LLC III: Lake of Fire was released as a Shudder exclusive on September 19, 2019. [6] The film is styled as a documentary following Russell Wynn, a wealthy and mysterious entrepreneur who wants the Abaddon Hotel to serve as the location for an immersive theater experience called "Insomnia" based on Faust . Although aware of the location's history, he is keen to proceed with the venture despite others warning him of ongoing and frightening supernatural events. This prompts the documentary team to investigate Russell's past and the prior two events, uncovering new footage that implies Russell was involved with or was monitoring events. When opening night arrives chaos ensues, however Russell manages to wrestle Tully and overcome him before he can kill or take any other innocent lives. The following day one of the documentary crew muses that Russell was likely an angel sent back to defeat Tully and bring an end to his evil plans. Before the film ends, Russell manages to bring back the spirits of the original crew who died in the house, telling them that they are free from the evil but that the house still holds them captive.

Film School Rejects was critical of the movie, stating that it was "an ambitious stab at closing out a horror trilogy, but as much as that's an accomplishment worth celebrating the end result is an unfortunate disappointment. Still, fans of the first two — or even the first one — might find some worthwhile closure in the final swan song of the Abaddon Hotel." [7] The film holds a rating of 14% on Rotten Tomatoes, based on seven reviews. [8]

Related Research Articles

<i>Ghost Dad</i> 1990 American fantasy comedy film

Ghost Dad is a 1990 American fantasy comedy film directed by Sidney Poitier and starring Bill Cosby, in which a widower's spirit is able to communicate with his children after his death. It was a box office disaster.

<i>Ghosts of the Abyss</i> 2003 documentary film directed by James Cameron

Ghosts of the Abyss is a 2003 American documentary film produced by Walden Media. It was directed by James Cameron after his 1997 film Titanic. During August and September 2001, Cameron and a group of scientists staged an expedition to the wreck of the RMS Titanic. They dived in Russian deep submersibles to obtain more detailed images than anyone had before. Using two small, purpose-built remotely operated vehicles, the documentary offers glimpses into the Titanic wreck and, with CGI, superimposes the ship's original appearance on the deep-dive images.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dark Castle Entertainment</span> American media production label

Dark Castle Entertainment is a film, TV, and digital projects production label. It is owned by North American sports and entertainment company, OEG Inc. The firm is led by co-CEOs Hal Sadoff and Norman Golightly.

<i>Rec</i> (film) 2007 film by Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza

Rec is a 2007 Spanish found footage horror film co-written and directed by Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza. The film stars Manuela Velasco as a reporter who, with her cameraman, accompany a group of firefighters on an emergency call to an apartment building to discover an infection spreading inside, with the building being sealed up and all occupants ordered to follow a strict quarantine.

<i>Noroi: The Curse</i> 2005 Japanese film

Noroi: The Curse is a 2005 Japanese horror film directed and co-written by Kōji Shiraishi. It stars Jin Muraki as Masafumi Kobayashi, a paranormal researcher investigating a series of mysterious events for a documentary. The film employs a pseudo-documentary style of storytelling and utilizes found footage conventions, with the majority of the narrative being presented as if it were Kobayashi's documentary, made up of footage recorded by Kobayashi's cameraman. The film's cast also includes actress Marika Matsumoto, who plays a fictionalized version of herself, as well as Rio Kanno, Tomono Kuga, and Satoru Jitsunashi.

<i>Lake Mungo</i> (film) 2008 Australian horror film

Lake Mungo is a 2008 Australian psychological horror film written and directed by Joel Anderson. Presented in the pseudo-documentary format with elements of found footage and docufiction, it is Anderson's only film. It follows a family trying to come to terms with the loss of their daughter Alice after she drowns and the potentially supernatural events they experience after it.

<i>V/H/S</i> 2012 horror anthology film

V/H/S is a 2012 American found footage horror anthology film and the first installment in the V/H/S franchise created by Brad Miska and Bloody Disgusting, and produced by Miska and Roxanne Benjamin. It features a series of six found footage shorts written and directed by Adam Wingard, David Bruckner, Ti West, Glenn McQuaid, Joe Swanberg, and the filmmaking collective Radio Silence.

<i>Beverly Hills Vamp</i> 1989 American film

Beverly Hills Vamp is a 1989 direct to video comedy horror film directed by Fred Olen Ray and starring Eddie Deezen and Britt Ekland.

<i>A Christmas Horror Story</i> 2015 Canadian film

A Christmas Horror Story is a 2015 Canadian anthology horror film directed by Grant Harvey, Steven Hoban, and Brett Sullivan. It premiered on July 20, 2015, at the Fantasia International Film Festival and had a limited theatrical release on October 2, 2015, along with a VOD release. The film is a series of interwoven stories tied together by a framework story featuring William Shatner as a radio DJ.

<i>Hells Outpost</i> 1954 film by Joseph Kane

Hell's Outpost is a 1954 American Western film directed by Joseph Kane and starring Rod Cameron, Joan Leslie, Chill Wills, John Russell.

<i>The Veil</i> (2016 film) American supernatural horror film

The Veil is a 2016 American supernatural horror film directed by Phil Joanou and written by Robert Ben Garant, and starring Jessica Alba, Lily Rabe, Aleksa Palladino, Reid Scott, and Thomas Jane. Jason Blum served as a producer through his production company Blumhouse Productions. The film was released on January 19, 2016, through video on demand prior to being released through home media formats on February 2, 2016, by Universal Pictures.

<i>Hell House LLC</i> 2015 film by Stephen Cognetti

Hell House LLC is a 2015 American found-footage supernatural horror film written and directed by Stephen Cognetti and produced by Joe Bandelli. It is the first installment in the Hell House LLC franchise. The film, shot as a documentary, follows a group of Halloween haunted house creators as they prepare for the 2009 opening of their popular haunted attraction, Hell House. Tragedy strikes on opening night when an unknown "malfunction" causes the death of 15 tour-goers and staff. The film reveals the lead-up to the tragedy and what really went wrong that night, the details of which have remained a mystery to the public. The film was released on a number of video on-demand platforms, including Amazon Video, Shudder, YouTube, Vudu, and iTunes, on November 1, 2016.

<i>Deadtectives</i> 2018 American film

Deadtectives is a 2018 comedy horror film that was directed by Tony West, who co-wrote the film's script with David Clayton Rogers. The film had its world premiere on October 5, 2018 at the Sitges Film Festival and was released in the United States and Russia in 2019 on Shudder and Planeta Inform, respectively.

<i>V/H/S/94</i> 2021 horror anthology film

V/H/S/94 is a 2021 American found footage horror anthology film written by David Bruckner, and Brad Miska. The sequel to V/H/S: Viral (2014), it is the fourth installment in the V/H/S franchise. Set in 1994, the film acts both as a soft reboot and a prequel to the first three installments and comprises four found footage segments linked together by a fifth frame narrative directed by franchise returnees Simon Barrett and Timo Tjahjanto, in addition to newcomers Jennifer Reeder, Ryan Prows and Chloe Okuno. It is the first film in the franchise not to be distributed by Magnolia Pictures' Magnet Releasing label.

V/H/S is an American horror anthology franchise that includes seven found footage films, two spin-off films, and one miniseries. Created from an original story idea by Brad Miska, the plot centers around a number of disturbing VHS tapes that are discovered by innocent viewers and the possessive influence of the videos over those who see them. Realized by a collaboration of various filmmakers and different casts, the installments are mostly standalone in nature, though recurring elements indicate the same fictional villain as the source for all of its videos.

<i>V/H/S/99</i> 2022 horror anthology film

V/H/S/99 is a 2022 American found footage horror anthology film produced by Studio71 and Bloody Disgusting. The sequel to V/H/S/94 (2021), it is the fifth installment in the V/H/S franchise. Set in 1999, the film features five found footage segments written and directed by Maggie Levin, Johannes Roberts, Flying Lotus, Tyler MacIntyre, and Vanessa & Joseph Winter.

<i>V/H/S/85</i> 2023 horror anthology film

V/H/S/85 is a 2023 found footage horror anthology film, and the sixth installment in the V/H/S franchise. The film features segments from Mike P. Nelson, Gigi Saul Guerrero, Natasha Kermani, Scott Derrickson, and David Bruckner.

<i>Hell House LLC Origins: The Carmichael Manor</i> 2023 film by Stephen Cognetti

Hell House LLC Origins: The Carmichael Manor is a 2023 American direct-to-streaming found footage horror film written and directed by Stephen Cognetti and produced by Joe Bandelli. It simultaneously serves as a prequel to Hell House LLC (2015), and sequel to both Hell House LLC II: The Abaddon Hotel (2018) and Hell House LLC III: Lake of Fire (2019), and is the fourth installment overall in the Hell House LLC franchise. It stars Bridget Rose Perrotta, Destiny Leilani Brown, James Liddell, Gideon Berger.

Hell House LLC is an American found footage horror film series created by Stephen Cognetti and produced by Joe Bandelli. The series consists of four films and a fifth film scheduled to release in October 2025. The story of the first three films revolve around the fictitious and abandoned haunted house attraction Hell House LLC, originally known as the Abbadon Hotel. The series details the backstory of the hotel's history along with Hell House LLC's staff.

<i>Hell House LLC III: Lake of Fire</i> 2019 film by Stephen Cognetti

Hell House LLC III: Lake of Fire is a 2019 American direct-to-streaming found footage horror film written and directed by Stephen Cognetti and produced by Joe Bandelli. The film serves as a sequel to Hell House LLC (2015) and Hell House LLC II: The Abaddon Hotel (2018) and as the third installment of the Hell House LLC film series. It stars Gabriel Chytry, Elizabeth Vermilyea, Sam Kazzi, Theodore Bouloukos and Brian David Tracy.

References

  1. ↑ "Hell House LLC II: The Abaddon Hotel".
  2. ↑ "[Review] "Hell House LLC 2: The Abaddon Hotel" is a creepy trek through a house of horror tropes". www.Killerhorrorcritic.com. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
  3. ↑ "Hell House LLC 2: The Abaddon Hotel - REVIEW!". Horrorbound. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
  4. ↑ C, Luiz H. (2018-10-04). "[Review] 'Hell House LLC II: The Abaddon Hotel' is a Well-Intentioned Misstep". Bloody Disgusting!. Retrieved 2020-05-02.
  5. ↑ "HELL HOUSE LLC II: THE ABADDON HOTEL (2018) reviews". Culture Crypt. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
  6. ↑ Squires, John (2019-08-28). "[Teaser] Shudder's 'Hell House LLC III: Lake of Fire' Brings the Franchise to an End This September". Bloody Disgusting!. Retrieved 2020-06-16.
  7. ↑ "'Hell House LLC III: Lake of Fire' Review: Hell's Final Days Are Its Least Interesting". Film School Rejects. 2019-09-19. Retrieved 2020-06-16.
  8. ↑ "Hell House LLC III: Lake of Fire". Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango . Retrieved October 30, 2021.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.