‘Hell House LLC: Lineage’ Review – Exposition Heavy Fifth Entry Forgets to Scare
Evil never truly dies in horror, especially not when sequel potential looms near. Writer/Director Stephen Cognetti previously teased that the fifth entry in his popular found footage franchise would likely act as the final and scariest installment, a tantalizing claim considering what a chilling return to form that previous entry, Carmichael Manor, offered. Hell House […]
Evil never truly dies in horror, especially not when sequel potential looms near. Writer/Director Stephen Cognetti previously teased that the fifth entry in his popular found footage franchise would likely act as the final and scariest installment, a tantalizing claim considering what a chilling return to form that previous entry, Carmichael Manor, offered.
Hell House LLC: Lineage makes its transition into traditional narrative filmmaking, emphasizing and expanding the increasingly dense and convoluted Abaddon lore in a way that’s unwelcoming to newcomers. In the process, it loses its atmospheric edge and ability to scare.
Lineage reintroduces Venessa Sheppard (Elizabeth Vermilyea), the journalist from Hell House LLC III: Lake of Fire, now haunted by eerie visions stemming from her encounter at the Abaddon Hotel. Not helping her residual trauma is the fact that she’s now a bar owner in Abaddon, and she’s far from alone with her ghastly visions; neighbors all across town are plagued by haunting hallucinations and death. People are mysteriously dying, pulling Venessa back into investigative mode as she, along with others, delves into decades of murders tied to Abaddon in search of answers.
