Hell House LLC III: Lake of Fire

They should have left the first movie alone but unfortunately, no one wants to be a one hit wonder. Sooner or later, you are bound to return to your original works and ruin it to the ground in a desperate attempt to monopolize. I guess this is one example but there are better examples (Paranormal Activity) but I will get to that eventually.

After the disastrous event at the premier opening of a Haunted House show called the Hell House that led to the death of fifteen people including the creators of the event and the disappearance of two separate investigation teams years apart. The Abbadon hotel that was used as the staging site for the event has now become an urban legend that frequently draws investigators and other inquisitive minds to try and uncover the dark mystery behind the disappearances.

The latest dimwit to fall prey to this is a Billionaire software mogul enamoured with the concept of after life after surviving a near death experience of his own. Russel Wynne has purchased the property to restart his performance art show and invites a sophomore investigative journalist, Vanessa Shepard, to cover the show as well as get behind the scenes footage. But as the coverage is underway, it becomes apparent that Russel is not just another hapless idiot. It almost seems like he is expecting something to happen and the people are just bait.

If you survived the second film and made it this far you might as give this movie a watch as it concludes the story... for better or for worse. The other reviewers are right in that this particular installment does lack the creeping intensity of the first two movies but it does manage to conclude a budding conspiracy that was layered on pretty thick at the end of the second film. For what it's worth the acting is a step up from the first film and story is cohesive enough to follow through to whats going on. I cannot guarantee that you will love the ending but it is a definite closure to the overall story.

A summation of my reviews for the first two entries in the 'Hell House LLC' trilogy would be that writer/director Stephen Cognetti wasn't getting the regular scenes in his movie right, but that his horror scenes were world class. Interestingly 'Hell House LLC III: Lake of Fire' serves to prove that the opposite of that is a much worse thing. This film has far better acting than the first two and also the dialogue is much better written, and yet it is the weakest of all three by a significant margin. Why? Because he forgot about the horror this time around.

The film has a tremendous amount of over-lapping shots from the first two films, mostly to show what happened in a certain part of the hotel/house or who a certain character was. At first this is helpful, but then it happens far too often from there on out and becomes very annoying and distracting. I think you just have to have faith that the audience has seen the first two films, and if they haven't then the information they are missing out on isn't hugely critical to the enjoyment of this one.

I think Cognetti was so intent on wrapping everything up into a nice little bundle storywise that he forgot what made the first two films so good, which was the epic horror sequences they featured. This one has little moments here and there, but there is never that big payoff that the first two films achieved. 'Hell House LLC III: Lake of Fire' was a little bit of a disappointing way to end an otherwise very good horror trilogy. It's not unwatchable, but it is a big step in the wrong direction.

The second movie definitely wasn't as good as the first, but this? What the hell is this? How does it even have a higher rating than the 2nd atm? It feels like an amateur project in so many ways, especially towards the ending. Story, acting, effects, it's so bad that it makes you laugh, and considering how the first movie kept you on edge and delivered some good horror moments, it's sad to see how this series ended up. Not everything needs sequels and explanations. Don't bother watching this, it's basically recycled content from the first movie but with a lower budget and terrible acting, and it's not like you're gonna miss out on the "story". The story itself is very shallow and unsatisfying in how it ends. Maybe could've given it a 4 if it wasn't connected to the Hell House LLC series, but as a final movie this is terrible. 2/10.

Agreeing to film a documentary, a filmmaker joins an entrepreneur setting up an interactive fear-conquering show at a rumored haunted hotel, but while doing the behind-the-scenes work for the show come to realize that darker secrets are at play within the building and must stop it from happening.

This one wasn't all that bad conclusion to the franchise. When this one works, it's due to the enjoyable atmosphere created here that's quite eerie and creepy. As expected, the location of the hotel is used to fantastic effect with the notion of using the premise of a fear-based haunt opening at the location to bring out some creepy and chilling moments in the various walk-throughs of the darkened corridors. The sharp corners and pitch-black hallways are once again put to good use with several fine jump-scares, especially with the utterly creepy clown props strewn around used as the basis for the scenes, and combined with the slow-moving scenes that build up to something potentially happening before it does. That comes into play with the finale as the chaos of the demons coming free and running wild slaughtering anyone and everyone they come across throughout the building and even outside creates a fun, over-the-top action scene which has a lot to like about it. These here are the films' best aspects that hold it up overall. The film does have some pretty big flaws featured here. The main issue is the complete stupidity featured throughout the film that makes for a pretty jarring and discordant offering. The fact that the previous incidents that took place at the hotel are ignored in favor of bringing an interactive experience designed to take participants into their darkest fears at that location is an utterly lame way of ensuring the hauntings continue there. The stupidity to do that doesn't endear any sympathy to anyone involved here in the proposed show, especially when the film flip-flops between the past experiences both as a warning not to stay there or as motivation to keep the show at the hotel by way of beating the past incidents into the narrative through flashbacks clumsily inserted into the storyline to make the connection. Complete with the usual notion of being completely unwilling to turn the camera off when they're lives are at stake for no real reason, it's all apart of the general stupidity on display in the film. The other problem with this one is that the finale to this one is a completely underwhelming and overall mess that arises here. The attempt to bring together the various plotlines of the previous inhabitants to the hotel grounds in a satisfactory manner keeps this one going through several odd and jarring dialog pieces to try to tie everything together. With the mixture of on-set found-footage shot during the incidents in the past mixed with talking-head interviews of various people attempting to explain what went wrong just like the others at the location, this sets you up to know something's gone wrong even before it happens. The attempted explanations featured here due to that come off so ham-fisted and illogical that despite the use of closing off the storyline the final moments featured here just make no sense whatsoever and have no purpose for being shown, really taking this one down quite heavily.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Language and Violence.

Loved the first Hell House (7/10) and the 2nd was serviceable (5/10). I was expecting more from this one. The story was convoluted and the writing was weak. You've got a location where dozens of people have died or gone missing and everybody just flocks back likes its no big deal, even when similar unexplained things begin to happen again. Sure. Sad way to end the story.