Hell House LLC: Lineage made me sad

2025 has disappointed me on a lot of different fronts, and unfortunately, the fifth entry in the Hell House LLC series, Hell House: Lineage, is no different.

I’m a huge fan of the original Hell House LLC. It’s my go-to October movie, and I consistently recommend it to anyone looking for a solid film during the spooky season. It’s a mockumentary that tells the story of a group of friends running a haunted house attraction in an old hotel, and find that the building has frights of its own. It’s low-budget but effective and original, and a fun ride all the way through.

Hell House II: The Abaddon Hotel follows a new investigation into the Abaddon and the events of the original Hell House, expanding upon the hotel’s secrets. Despite some unfortunate poor acting and a meandering storyline, it ultimately maintains good scares and is engaging.

Hell House III: The Lake of Fire is uh, well, it’s a film. A journalist follows a mysterious and insanely wealthy theater producer who purchases the Abaddon for an interactive play. It starts off questionable and turns into “what the fuck is this” before giving a mildly satisfying, if bamboozling, finale.

The first spinoff, not specifically attached to the now burnt-down Abaddon Hotel, Carmichael Manor is a return to form of sorts. It explains the backstory of the series’ main clown antagonist through a paranormal investigator researching the Carmichael family murders and disappearances with her girlfriend and her brother. Although it includes Margot, one of the most annoying and infuriating characters in film history [citation needed] and a combined sense of self preservation between the protagonists as a plate of baked ziti, the scares, acting, pacing, and overall experience of the film places it a close second in my rankings of the series.

And now we have Lineage. This film aims to dive deeper into the lore of the Carmichaels and the events surrounding them. It’s the series’ first departure from the mockumentary/found footage style, but that’s not where the issue is.

To start with the good first, Lineage is visually stunning, and the cinematographer (Brian Keenan) deserves special recognition. The sound design works well, as opposed to Carmichael Manor which had a cheesy jumpscare stinger that got old fast. The music fits into the scenes well without being overpowering or gimmicky. There are also some incredible makeup effects that were almost jarring with how unexpectedly good they were, especially coming from the previous shoestring-budget films. I will note that most of the deaths are offscreen.

Unfortunately, that’s about it for the good.

The main character, Vanessa, is the (former) journalist returning from Lake of Fire. Her inclusion and relevance to the story felt ham-fisted, as even in that entry she certainly wasn’t a memorable or standout character. She’s apparently given up journalism to run a bar in Abaddon despite escaping the hotel. She is divorcing her husband and is battling alcoholism because of the trauma from her experience.

Alicia or Alice the true crime writer in Carmichael Manor, takes over as the required journalist/investigator in Lineage. I’m not sure if the name change was intentional or a continuity error. Alicia’s role in the movie is to dump lore on Vanessa and the audience. She starts off with her chest puffed out and a wealth of confidence and knowledge, but folds quicker than overcooked pasta the second she enters the Manor with a local priest, Father David.

The return to the Carmichael Manor to perform an exorcism provides most of the film’s scares with reappearances from Margot and Rebecca. (Margot’s brother Chase is absent, whether lore-based or because of actor availability, it’s unclear.) However, Alicia and Father David are so underdeveloped that I felt completely apathetic about them. They’re not given any more characterization than to serve as a catalyst to return to the Manor. There are some interesting shots and concepts, but it feels empty and pointless.

The dialogue leaves a lot to be desired. There were three or four times when I audibly gasped out loud from how bad the lines were. Hell House movies have always suffered from some clunky dialogue, but it’s a lot easier to forgive in a found footage setting. This is a traditional film, and there’s less to distract you from flaws because of the format. It’s jarring when you hear something so ludicrous being delivered well and with gorgeous framing.

One of the first lines of the film is regarding a funeral, and the deceased’s siblings are discussing the eulogy. One character assures the other, “The hardest part will be her body lowering into the ground,” which is a wild fucking thing to say, especially as a sibling. Another character tries to convince himself that the clown that has become the series’ mascot is a hallucination, and whispers to himself, “It’s just Abaddon Eyes.” Vanessa later appears flummoxed by a character’s categorization of himself as an “Abaddon lifer,” which should be self-explanatory even if she hadn’t been in this town for a few years.

There’s a lot of little head-scratching moments, like the therapist who violates HIPAA laws while delivering an insane exposition dump, multiple “this meeting and/or suicide could have been an email” scenes, and a lot of padding just to lead up to an open-ended ending. Yes, without spoiling too much, this film has a complete non-ending after a lot of meandering, space-time continuum busting, and unnecessary deaths.

It really feels like Stephen Cognetti had a barebones idea for the series past the first movie, but didn’t flesh it out or hit the story beats well. Characters are introduced just to be fodder and don’t add to the overall story. Some people are brought back, but more intriguing characters are never seen again. Vanessa never fully unpacks what happened to her in Lake of Fire and instead meanders through vibes, alcoholism and information told to her by someone she just met.

Speaking of Lake of Fire, this movie essentially retcons the entire plot of the third film. I can’t say too much without going into deep spoiler territory, but yes, the entire events of the third film are essentially rendered pointless, which is incomprehensible considering how that one plays out. Going back and rewatching Lake of Fire after Lineage made me even angrier. It’s bad enough that it’s probably the worst of the first four films, but then its whole story arc is subverted.

Putting that aside, I think Stephen Cognetti is suffering from the same issue as a lot of filmmakers and studios are going through — stretching out films or making simple ideas into complex series’ when they just need to get to the point and leave it there. Indie horror in particular seems to suffer from this, likely for funding, but if your works are a slog to sit through that will affect funding, too. You still have to tell the story in a cohesive, satisfying way.

Lineage also serves as the last Hell House movie Cognetti will direct, which shocked me when I found out. Whether there will be other spinoffs seems up in the air and leaning toward “unlikely” now, making the non-ending even more unsatisfying. There are dozens unanswered questions and unresolved plot lines that are due to linger in the aether forever. There’s no resolution for the clowns, the carnival, whatever was going on at the Abaddon before it was destroyed, and Vanessa and her ties to the hotel.

It seems worth it to mention that the producer at Terror Films caused a bit of a stir online, crashing out over the negative opinions on the film and begging for good reviews.

So, to summarize, it’s bad because there’s no payoff. We’ve had ten years of a growing, twisting storyline that ultimately culminates in nothing. That’s not enjoyable. There’s nothing to grasp onto as a fan, a viewer, or a person who likes resolution. It feels as though there were solid ideas at one point, but the plot got so convoluted that everyone in production just said “fuck it” and decided to leave it up to the viewers’ interpretation. In order to do that, however, you have to give us enough to gnaw on, and we were only provided crumbs.