The Hell House LLC franchise will continue to creep-out audiences with Hell House LLC III: Lake of Fire. Shudder and Terror Films have teamed-up to bring audiences the third entry in the spooky found-footage franchise about a Halloween haunt that’s really haunted. Stephen Cognetti, who directed the last two films, has returned to helm the third, which began production this week.

Hell House LLC

The found footage horror concept is often used to create lackluster results. Ever since The Blair Witch Project broke box office records, filmmakers have felt all they needed to create a hit horror film was a video camera and some shaky footage. But there’s a fine art to creating a genuinely effective found footage flick – something Blair Witch understood. Over the years, lame found footage cropped up everywhere. But every now and then, someone found the right way to use the format. One good recent example is Hell House LLC, a 2015 found footage fright film that managed to conjure up genuine scares.

In Hell House LLC we learned of a terrible mishap at a haunted house attraction, and then jumped forward in time with a documentary crew exploring the site of the disaster, trying to figure out what went wrong (spoiler alert: ghosts!). Hell House LLC was followed by the 2018 sequel, Hell House LLC II: The Abaddon Hotel.

Hell House LLC II: The Abaddon Hotel

This sequel had a few creepy moments, but wasn’t nearly as good as the original. Perhaps third time will be the charm, because writer and director Stephen Cognetti and producer Joe Bandelli, the team behind the previous two films, are back at it again with Hell House LLC III: Lake of Fire. Per Bloody Disgusting, production on the third film started this week, with plans to release the third entry on Shudder later this year. Here’s the synopsis:

Guests both past and present will be forced to battle for their souls as all is revealed about the Abaddon Hotel and the evil that dwells there. Set one year after the events of Hell House LLC II, the hotel is on the verge of being torn down when it is purchased by billionaire Russell Wynn (Gabriel T. Chytry) as the new home for his popular interactive show, Insomnia. He invites journalist Venessa Sheppard (Elizabeth Vermilyea) and her crew to record everything happening inside the hotel leading up to the performance, but they soon encounter a more nefarious plot, one that threatens to unleash a veritable hell on earth.

This third film will be the conclusion of the film trilogy, but the makers of the franchise are also planning a limited series to delve further into the story.

“Hell House III will be taking a cue from the original Hell House LLC, returning to its roots to capture the same intensity and fear that fans and critics alike fell in love with,” said Terror Films President Joe Dain. “It’s our hope that this third and final installment will not only satisfy the multitude of questions from fans from all over the world, but also act as an exciting precursor for The Abaddon Tapes — a limited series currently in development, which will expand on the history of the Abaddon Hotel, the now infamous setting of the franchise.”

I may have been a little lukewarm on Hell House LLC II, but I’m excited about this third entry, and hopeful it’ll turn out well. There’s no premiere date yet, but seeing as the previous sequel dropped on Shudder around Halloween time, it’s probably safe to assume this one will too.