‘Evil never dies…’
The Hell House LLC franchise is one of those that helps to identify real horror fans. Sure, everyone knows about your Freddys and your Jasons, but Stephen Cognetti’s found footage series is for the true enthusiasts. These are nasty films. Terrifying too. And while the franchise felt a little out of ideas after the third entry, a move away from the Abbadon Hotel suggested a new lease of life…
Now that the infamous Abbadon Hotel has burned down, the story lurches to the next town over and Carmichael Manor – a secluded mansion on the outskirts of New York belonging to an eccentric family beset with bad luck. After the murder of two of the family members and the disappearance of another two, online sleuth Margot (Bridget Rose Perotta) and her girlfriend Rebecca (Destiny Leilani Brown) arrange to spend five nights at Carmichael Manor in an attempt to figure out what actually happened.
Set in the present day but also harking back to 1989 when the original murders took place, this fourth sequel sees Cognetti add to the lore of the Abbadon Hotel but in a brand new location. We still have the hideous clowns from the previous movies but the geography of this space is very different to that of the other films in the franchise. Personally, I think the labyrinthine shadowy corridors of the Abbadon suit this franchise better but a fourth film at that location would have been scraping the barrel. Changing it up does give Origins a more innovative feel whilst still remaining true to what came before.
After the iffy third film, Cognetti’s latest feels like a return to form for the franchise but it also feels like a natural endpoint. Now is the time to branch out from the world of the Abbadon and Carmichael Manor and try something new.