Hell House LLC Origins: The Carmichael Manor (2023)

Hell House LLC Origins: The Carmichael Manor

• You know, I’m pretty surprised about how consistent the Hell House series is. The third one absolutely sucked, but the second and fourth one are fairly decent. Not always the best made, but still pretty enjoyable. This one has the highest critic score and audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, technically making it the best one, review wise. I still think the first is the best, and it’s not a question. But anyways, let’s talk about this one. In many ways, it’s kind of a prequel, while still being set in the present day. It adds on to the lore of Andrew Tully and the Abaddon Hotel. What’s really cool is how this movie connects to the Hell House events, without having to rely on that part of the storyline to make this one good. It brings in some new….guests. Of course, the infamous Hell House clown (who I call Chucklehead) returns, and his origin is explained, which kind of brings the series full circle. The lore is written well, but the dialogue wasn’t great, and the characters sucked. I think the only decent person was Chase, and even then, he didn’t have a lot of screen time. And Margot was the absolute worst. She was just a typical dumb horror movie girl, the kind of one who runs into a closet rather than the open front door. The acting wasn’t great, either. Very forced at times, but certainly not the worst in the series. The scare factor was good, with some great moments that had me on edge. Almost all of them involved the clowns. The found footage style was also good, although sometimes I think it felt a little too modern in terms of quality. The charm of the original Hell House is how grainy and homemade it felt. Overall, this movie was decently made, but it does lack a couple key components (mostly character stuff, and the filming style was slightly off, but not by much). I don’t know if this one I’d watch just to watch, but it was good for a first time viewing. I’d probably recommend it if you like found footage horror films, or (obviously) and big fan of Hell House.