I blame TikTok, really. Almost every other horror movie recommendation I’ve seen on the platform this year seems to mention Hell House LLC, its two sequels, and the prequel released this year. Normally I’d chalk it up to influencer marketing, but when I discovered the first movie was released in 2015, that theory fell apart for me.

After spending three weeks watching all the films in order, I come away throughly enjoying the mythology Stephen Cognetti has crafted. The only shame is that the entire Hell House LLC series is only available on online horror streaming service Shudder, or via less reputable sources.

While Host, Dashcam, and more recently Deadstream were amazing gonzo attempts at internet streaming horror, it’s been awhile since the original Paranormal Activity that found footage has been this enjoyable.

It’s been some time since I drafted the first version of this post, and looking back at both entries in the series, it’s evident that there’s a lot of ambition on the part of the filmmakers – they’re trying to do something with a genre most horror fans are dismissing as trite, and they’re pulling it off. The third entry felt a bit cheap and rushed, which almost spoiled it for me, but taken as a whole, Hell House LLC is thematically consistent, follows its world building rules seriously, and knows how to end it before it gets tiring.

I only wish we had Shudder officially in Malaysia. It’s definitely worth a sub, compared to some of the options we have here…