The End Is Only the Beginning: Director Stephen Cognetti Reflects on a Decade inside the Abaddon Hotel, the Future of Hell House LLC

Hell House LLC: Lineage. Photo courtesy of Terror Films Team, AMC Networks’ Shudder.

Haunted by recurring nightmares that refuse to let her go, Vanessa Shepard (Elizabeth Vermilyea) finds herself in the town of Abaddon, a place that seems to cling to her with a will of its own. As those around her begin dying under strange and unexplainable circumstances, she starts to uncover the dark threads tying her fate to the Abaddon Hotel, the Carmichael Manor, and a series of gruesome murders that have been occurring for decades, long before the events of Hell House LLC.

It’s here, in the lingering shadow of the Abaddon Hotel, that filmmaker Stephen Cognetti has closed one chapter of his horror legacy and is now opening another. Nearly a decade after the first Hell House LLC terrified audiences with its intimate found-footage style, the writer-director is returning with Hell House LLC: Lineage, a film that offers insight into the origins of his haunted mythology, while also bidding farewell to the world that has been at the core of his career for the past decade.

“The first film in the series was my first feature I’ve ever made, ever written,” Cognetti recalls. “I was just hoping it was going to be seen by anybody… I was just hoping that the scares would work, and I didn’t know if they would or not.” It was a gamble. He’d just gotten married and poured his savings into the project, encouraged by his wife’s belief that it would pay off. “She was cool with it. She’s like, no, I think this is gonna work, so go ahead and do it. I was like, all right, but I’m gonna quote you on that one if it doesn’t.”

Hell House LLC: Lineage poster.

That gamble indeed paid off. The original Hell House LLC became a word-of-mouth hit among horror fans, with its eerie realism and killer clowns bringing a new interest into the found footage genre. But unlike most horror franchises, Cognetti never handed the reins to anyone else. Across five films, the series has stayed with him. For Cognetti, the appeal of continuing the saga was both practical and personal. “It has never changed for five films, it has always been a microbudget, almost like a mom-and-pop, make-it-out-of-your-garage kind of film,” he says. “For me, making the next one and the next one has always been, why not? There’s an audience there that wants to see more Hell House. They were intrigued by the story, and I had more stories.”

Now, with the latest addition, the narrative feature Hell House LLC: Lineage, the films have grown from the singular micro-budget found footage hit, to a fully-fledged franchise. But despite the success of the series, Cognetti says he plans to take a step back.

His finale with the franchise has created some confusion among fans. While Lineage is the fifth and final Hell House film Cognetti will direct, it’s far from a conclusion to the story. “A lot of people took it as a finale because the actual ending of Lineage is, there is no conclusion,” he explains. “It was never meant to be the conclusion of the story. It was actually originally written as the second movie of a trilogy,” he laughs. “What I’d only say is this is the last one I’m making, but there's more story to tell out there. The Hell House story will never truly be concluded.”

After four entries built on the jittery authenticity of found footage, Hell House LLC: Lineage takes a step away from the genre that defined it. The latest film outgrows the handheld camera in favour of a more traditional cinematic approach, a shift Cognetti describes as both exciting and nerve-wracking. “Changing the format… I guess it wasn’t pressure,” he says. “It was kind of just nervous about how it would be received. The last thing I want to do is disappoint Hell House fans.”

But the change in format allowed Cognetti to find new ways to terrify viewers. “When you’re locked into found footage, there’s this kind of scare you can tell, it’s very specific,” he explains. “A lot of the storylines I wanted to go down in Lineage would have been impossible to tell through found footage. When you’re in that perspective, everything’s like, ‘turn the camera on myself and there’s something in the background.’ You can only do that so many times. But when you’re a fly on the wall, there’s more you can do.”

One of his favourite sequences to finally realize was the Rockland County Fair opening scene, a sequence he’s been excited about “since the beginning, like ten years ago,” and the high-intensity third act. “Everyone was really excited to shoot that sequence,” he says. “It was two days of very intense shooting because we had so much to cover and only two days to do it… Everyone just worked their asses off and I think what came out is exactly how I was hoping it would.”

Despite Lineage being the final Hell House film directed by Cognetti, the filmmaker insists it’s not meant as a definitive ending. “People thought it was a finale because I said it was my last,” he says. “But the story doesn’t end here — it’s actually the second part of a planned trilogy. There’s about a hundred pages of script left that haven’t been told yet. Lineage ends on a cliffhanger, but it’s not a conclusion.”

As Lineage makes its way to Shudder after a limited theatrical release, fan reactions have been predictably passionate. “Some people came out dressed as a clown,” Cognetti laughs. “Which, good on them, and good on the theatre for allowing that. That’s terrifying.” He admits the ending of the film has been controversial. “It made people gasp, it made people mad… That’s fine. I don’t mind that at all. I like everyone having their opinions. That’s what it was meant for… I’ve just been engaging with fans ever since and having fun conversations online. I love talking to people about Hell House.”

Now, Cognetti’s gaze is shifting toward what’s next. “I’m excited to move on to something original,” he says. “I’ve come to know that the sequel business is tough, because with sequels come expectations. I’d like to get into something original where nobody knows what to expect.”

That project is A Body in the Wood, which he describes as “by far the scariest thing I’ve ever written.” He jokes that “nobody has to do any homework going into it or have to watch previous movies to understand what's going on. It's just going to be sit down, get into  a chair, and just be scared.”

He pauses, reflecting on how the original Hell House began. “I feel like Hell House, the original, was well received because it was original,” he says. “And sequels to these are always tough. I feel I would hope that anyone who likes the scares in Hell House would be excited for what I'm working on next… because my only goal is to scare people.”

After ten years inside the mythos of the Abaddon Hotel, Cognetti sounds ready to check out, but not before leaving one last message for the fans: the story isn’t over. Somewhere in the shadows, the lights are still flickering.

Hell House LLC: Lineage is now streaming on Shudder as part of the streamer’s Season of Screams lineup.

Hell House LLC: Lineage is now available to stream on Shudder.