Found footage is perhaps the most unfairly maligned subgenre of horror out there. It is a divisive form of storytelling that some appreciate for its realism, and others can’t stand for its visual unsteadiness and sometimes contrived explanations for why, in the world of the movie, at least one character is actively choosing to film what is going on around them. But I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, found footage is the Dolly Parton of the film world: “it costs a lot of money to look this cheap.” The behind-the-scenes featurettes for the Vicious Brothers’ Grave Encounters movies give you a good idea of how much thought and careful planning go into making a first-person perspective look natural and spontaneous on film. It is not an easy format to pull off, but when it works, it really delivers. Stephen Cognetti’s Hell House LLC was a fantastic example of found footage done right. It made great use of its space, light, and shadow, and the features of the found footage format to its advantage, resulting in an unnerving horror movie that felt immersive. The several sequels that followed had their moments, but generally couldn’t live up to the feel of the original. They also took a Saw-like approach in building, perhaps too heavily, on the established lore, taking things to pretty convoluted levels that did the story no favors. And now we arrive at the fifth installment in this beloved little franchise, with Hell House LLC: Lineage, and it signals a turn for the franchise that will probably be more to the director’s advantage than the story’s.
‘Hell House LLC: Lineage’ Continues the Lore of the Horror Franchise

The Hell House movies have quite a bit of narrative crossover, with some starting brand new plotlines and others picking up on what previous installments delivered. There are a few combinations you could watch some or all of the series in that would make narrative sense, and with Lineage, you ideally need to have seen at least the third and fourth Hell House movies to understand what’s going on. The second movie follows quite neatly from the first, and while the third ties into its predecessors, it more or less tells a new story. The fourth functions as more of a standalone with plenty of its own lore to back up its action, tying only loosely back to the first. Hell House LLC: Lineage is a continuation of both the third movie and elements of the fourth. In Hell House LLC III: Lake of Fire, a television journalist named Vanessa (Elizabeth Vermilyea) returns to the Abaddon Hotel, the site of a number of tragedies and spooky happenings, to document the staging of a new immersive scare experience. All hell breaks loose, as it always does in these movies, but she manages to escape with her life, something almost nobody else has done. Lineage picks up several years later with Vanessa, who has left her journalism career behind to run a wine bar, and remains traumatized by what happened at the Abaddon, struggling to deal with the haunting visions she is left with. Meanwhile, the ramifications of the Carmichael haunting explored in the fourth movie are felt by people around her, and you can bet that that pesky black-and-white clown (who feels like he should have a name by now, if only for the satisfaction of the fans) keeps showing up where he is least welcome. A woman investigating all of this unwisely worms her way into the center of the action and ropes a local priest into the mix as well. Suffice it to say that there is a lot going on in Lineage. Too much. It gives us elements of The Amityville Horror, The Exorcist, and even seems to take hints from the Final Destination and Saw franchises when it comes to expanding its world and keeping this gravy train running. What worked so well about the original Hell House LLC was how self-contained it was. It was just a half-dozen people in a small abandoned hotel, and that was all we needed to have the bejeezus scared out of us. Lineage is ambitious to a fault, and risks bringing the series to the same overwrought position that Saw found itself in years ago.
‘Hell House LLC: Lineage’ Confirms That This Franchise Needs to End

After four consecutive found footage movies that also made use of the faux-documentary format, it is quite the shock to the system to see Lineage take on the conventions of standard cinema. It is all the more jarring in that some previously established characters return for this movie, and we are now watching them through the eye of an invisible camera. It would indeed be difficult to tell this story in found footage and justify such a format, given that the story is now largely free of documentaries, podcasts, news programs, or any other context that would lend an actual camera to the mix. If nothing else, the movie seems to function as Cognetti’s toe-dip into the world of conventional movie-making, and it’s probably a clever choice for him to do so with an already established and admired series. Sure enough, he does prove himself a competent director of traditional horror. It’s nothing spectacular yet, but there are some flourishes hinting at better movies to come. But it feels like he’s probably wrung as much juice from the Hell House series as he’s going to get by this point. This is why the way he concludes this fifth installment is so damn frustrating. It may even anger some fans with its abruptness. Lineage seems like a sure sign of the series having run its course, what with the errant handfuls of clichés it borrows from other, better horror movies, so it is supremely annoying for it to end not only on a cliffhanger, but one that demands continuation. This isn’t a rug-pull, gotcha type of ending. It is how you would wrap up an episode of television. It puts all its eggs into the basket of being picked up at a later date, and the reveal it hinges on is nowhere near interesting enough to warrant it. The entire third act lacks momentum, switching lazily between two narrative threads, edited in a way that doesn’t inspire any tension or expectation, so when the movie just stops, it’s just annoying. I wasn’t invested up to this point, so I’m certainly not champing at the bit to find out what happens next, and given that it has been reported as the final film in the series, it seems like a very odd note to end the movie on. Hell House LLC: Lineage has its moments of quality, with a few sequences and visuals that work well and deliver that same gut punch of dread that the first one is so fondly remembered for. But it seems to signal that Cognetti is ready for something new, and has spent too many years doing what all good writers do: poring over their previous works and thinking up ways that they’d improve them if they had their chance again. Truth is, his first film was a great little horror movie. He’s got it in him to make enjoyable movies that gain audience attention, so he needs to put Hell House to bed, take some time to birth a brand-new idea, and see what else he can achieve. He could end up being the next Wes Craven if he diversifies and doesn’t hitch his wagon to this one, now exhausted, idea. Hell House LLC: Lineage hits theaters on August 20, before premiering on Shudder in October.

Hell House LLC: Lineage

The fifth installment of a beloved modern horror franchise proves that it’s losing steam.

Release Date

August 22, 2025

Director

Stephen Cognetti

Writers

Stephen Cognetti

Producers

Joe Dain

Elizabeth Vermilyea

Vanessa Shepherd

Searra Sawka

Alicia Cavalini

Pros & Cons

A new conventional format proves Stephen Cognetti can transition outside of the found footage genre.
Some sequences hit the right notes and deliver scares.
The standard of acting has improved over the course of the series.

Too many characters and plotlines make it a convoluted viewing experience.
An incredibly unsatisfying ending sours the whole movie.
The movie lets itself down by being too ambitious.