One year before the Abaddon Hotel was set to be demolished following the disappearance of an investigative team,[a] it was purchased by Russell Wynn, a wealthy playwright who planned to stage his play, Insomnia, at the hotel.
An investigative documentary recounts the events experienced at the hotel by the Morning Mysteries crew, a television program led by Vanessa Shephard, having been invited by Russell to record the production process. The crew is given a tour by Jeff Stone, Russell's head of operations. Russell greets and introduces Vanessa to Gregory, Max, Jane, Isabel, and Harvey.
Father Paulis, a local priest hired by Russell, gifts Russell an undisclosed item. Jane is dared to go into the basement alone and witnesses one of the clown mannequins moving. In an interview, Max tells Vanessa that Russell was involved in a near-fatal car accident years ago that led him to leave New York City. Isabel encounters the ghost of Sara Havel, a Hell House staff member, and quits. Harvey tells Russell about his safety concerns, which are rebuffed. Vanessa sees the ghost of Jessica Fox, a member of the missing journalist team. Despite Louie's insistence on leaving, Vanessa chooses to stay.
The crew goes to a bar before the opening night of Insomnia. Russell tells Vanessa that she and Louie shouldn't come, but refuses to tell her why before leaving. Vanessa chases him down, and Russell whispers to her. Vanessa tells Louie that they need to see Father Paulis. Paulis tells Vanessa that Russell plans to liquidate his assets for charity after the performance. Insomnia's crew is shocked upon learning the news, and Jeff confronts Russell. Footage reveals that Russell has followed and observed the original Hell House team and subsequent investigative journalists.
Andrew Tully interrupts a scene between Max and Gregory. The lights momentarily shut off and return to Tully killing Gregory. The cast, crew, and attendees panic and evacuate. Cult members invade the hotel and massacre everyone inside. Vanessa is dragged to the basement by a cult member before a glowing red hole and is knocked out. Before she can be sacrificed by Tully, he is interrupted and fought by Russell, causing the roof to collapse.
A news report the next day states that all audience and staff members survived unharmed but Russell remains missing. Vanessa and Jeff attribute their survival to Russell's interference. An interview reveals that Russell had legally died for 2 minutes before being revived. The original Hell House team suddenly returns, stuck in the empty hotel. They are greeted by Russell, who tells them that he is the one who closed the gateway, and that they are the ones who opened it. Russell tells them that it's time to move on before disappearing. The team, resigned to their fate, comfort each other.
The production was started on May 1, 2019, with Stephen Cognetti returning as writer and director and Joe Bandelli returning to produce the film. Ryan Jennifer Jones (Sara), Danny Bellini (Alex), Gore Abrams (Paul), Adam Schneider (Mac), Theodore Bouloukos (Robert) and Jared Hacker (Tony) of the first film also return to reprise their respective roles. They were joined by Joy Shatz (Molly), Jillian Geurts (Jessica) and Brian David Tracy from Hell House LLC II to reprise their roles for the third film.[5]
"the Hell House LLC franchise on Shudder has been hugely popular, and our worldwide premiere of Hell House LLC 2 last year was one of our most watched films ever."
Engler also said of the film's debut:
"we couldn't be more thrilled to premiere the final chapter of this epically terrifying series exclusively on Shudder!"[5]
Terror Film's president Joe Dain talked about the third film and said:
"Hell House III will be taking a cue from the original Hell House LLC, returning to its roots to capture the same intensity and fear that fans and critics alike fell in love with."
Dain also said of the partnership with the filmmakers:
"we're thrilled to be continuing our distribution partnership with Stephen and Joe, and I couldn't think of a better way to premiere the film than on Shudder. It's our hope that this third and final installment will not only satisfy the multitude of questions from fans from all over the world, but also act as an exciting precursor for The Abaddon Tapes—a limited series currently in development, which will expand on the history of the Abaddon Hotel, the now infamous setting of the franchise."[5]
Release
The film was exclusively released on Shudder on September 19, 2019.[6][7]
Writing for Flickering Myth, Matt Donato rated the film 2 out of 5 and wrote "Hard to fault a filmmaker and franchise dying to evolve, but it's also hard not to feel let down by how Cognetti ends this Hell House LCC trilogy."[9]
Film School Rejects gave the film a poor review, stating the film 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."[10]
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