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★★★★
Directed by: Stephen Cognetti
Written by: Stephen Cognetti
Starring: Joy Shatz, Danny Bellini, Adam Schneider and Vasile Flutur
Film Review by: Rachel Pullen
Hell House: Part 2 Movie Review
Curiosity killed the cat, right? We all know that and yet we still tend to make stupid choices based on curiosity alone and then lament on our choices when they go wrong...so what's the answer? Perhaps, don't be dumb, don't make the same mistake again and again...yeah none of that is applicable to the people who are visiting Hell House in this decent sequel.
Here we are again, group of young red-blooded Americans, ready to try and make a quick buck of the Hell House legacy, a hotel full of demons and evil, of reported ghosts and murders...sure let’s go in, what a great idea.
These young guns are ready to try and uncover the story behind all of the disappearances that have taken places within the hotel’s walls, and after watching a televised segment on the hotel’s history, they track down one of the survivors from the first instalment in order to help them uncover and document their trip.
But of course, nothing goes to plan, it never does when you enter a hotel supposedly full of evil and clowns, and it’s not long before the hotel is up to its old tricks...hey what's that, a shadow? Oh no just a cloaked hell beast, no biggie, let’s go in that basement where everyone died, classic times.
Yet, this time there is a new chum to play with, for amongst all the clowns and ghouls, there is the spirit of a former owner, one who is hell-bent on getting people into the hotel so he can build his army of souls for some fun ''lake of fire'' party he wants to throw.
Hell House: Part 2 builds a bigger picture; we learn a lot more about how the hotel came to be so god damn evil, and amongst all the spooky goings-on, we are invited into a deep history surrounding not just the hotel but why so many people are drawn to it.
This may sound like a simple factor but when you think about it...no it’s not, not a lot of films, especially horror movies, give us an explanation as to why characters make stupid mistakes based on curiosity, we just kind of accept that horror flicks have stupidity sewn into the characters in order to create a platform for them to be killed. But Hell House teaches us that the place is going out of its way to draw people in, it teases the curiosity out of its so-called guests, toying with them from outside its perimeter, almost twisting their arm to give in and go against their sensible instincts to just stay away.
Hell House: Part 2 offers up less in the way of scares but more in the way of character development for the building itself, not unlike The Shining, the main star of the movie is the hotel, and everyone else in the film is simply there to help it grow.
And before you all start screaming at me, yes the clown is still there, being super sexy as always, and although he did have some screen time, I personally needed more, I mean I barely felt any need to buy his Avon products this week, I'm deeply hoping that it will change in Hell House: Part 3 (coming soon to UK Film Review), in fact I hope the whole film is just about the clown trying to make sales to all the demons by applying moisturisers on his pale skin.
So what can we take away from the Hell House franchise this week?
Hotels are people
Curiosity is for losers
And clowns have exceptionally soft well-moisturised skin...
Bon viewing.
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