Review: ‘Hell House LLC Origins: The Carmichael Manor’ makes for a frightening time

This much is true: Hell House LLC is a cult classic. While the second and third entries in the ongoing saga fail to scare in the same way, it hasn’t stopped the popularity of the 2015 film from growing. It comes at the perfect time, too, as the fourth and newest addition finds the franchise returning to form. In fact, it outpaces the original in every department. It’s so packed with chills that I had to turn on every single light in my apartment, and it was broad daylight! Hell House LLC Origins: The Carmichael Manor centers its story largely on those creepy clown mannequins — a genius move that allows filmmaker Stephen Cognetti to blanket the entire film in suffocating dread. He distills what works so well in the first film and pressurizes it to make sure you don’t sleep ever again.

The setup is quite simple. Margot (Bridget Rose Perrotta), a self-proclaimed internet sleuth into the dark and macabre, ventures out to the Carmichael Manor, a secluded estate in the middle of the woods. She drags along her girlfriend Rebecca (Destiny Brown) and lures in her brother Chase (James Liddell) to help in investigating the Carmichael murders. Margot doesn’t really believe any of the places she’s visited are actually haunted, but she has a hunch that’s all about to change. When Rebecca and Margot arrive, there’s already an overwhelming sense that someone is watching them from the shadows. According to the caretaker, no one has spent more than a few nights on the property. And Margot plans to stay for five. Honey, you’ve got a big storm coming…

Early on, Margot makes the grave mistake of unlocking the door to a storage room, where she discovers an old carnival game, some boxes of junk, and three clown mannequins. Once Chase arrives, strange occurrences begin happening around the estate, from the appearance of a young woman wearing a mask to eerie singing in the dead of night. These subtle cues lead up to what we’ve all been waiting for: those damn clowns moving on their own. If they freaked you out in Hell House LLC, well, you’re just not prepared for what Cognetti has in store. There are three specific jump scares that nearly knocked me out of my chair, proving the director knows that less is more when it comes to those sorts of scares.

Hell House LLC Origins: The Carmichael Manor (featuring the usual talking heads interspersed throughout) lives within the same universe as its predecessors while filling in some backstory and further context surrounding the clowns. It’s less a prequel than it is a straight sequel — even though it does include found footage from the Carmichael family leading up to their gruesome murders.

The fourth entry in the franchise demonstrates that there is still more story to be told. Considering the director has plans for more spin-off sequels, the final act twist opens up the story for an exciting new direction. Hell House LLC Origins excels in playing upon found footage expectations, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. A film doesn’t need to reinvent the wheel. It just needs to be good. And boy, does Stephen Cognetti’s latest get the heart racing from your chest. It’s a downright horrifying time.

Hell House LLC Origins: The Carmichael Manor hits Shudder on October 30, just in time for Halloween.

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