Hell House LLC Origins: The Carmichael Manor Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.0

Hell House LLC Origins: The Carmichael Manor Blu-ray Movie Review

Hell House LLC Origins: The Carmichael Manor is the fourth feature-film in the popular found footage horror franchise. Produced by Joe Bandelli, Hell House LLC Origins: The Carmichael Manor serves as a prequel to the original Hell House LLC film while also acting as a sequel to both Hell House LLC II: The Abaddon Hotel and Hell House LLC III: Lake of Fire. Executive produced by Joe Dain and Jim Klock, Hell House LLC Origins: The Carmichael Manor stars Bridget Rose Perrotta, Destiny Leilani Brown, James Liddell, Gideon Berger, Cayla Berejikian, Victoria Andrunik, Darin F. Earl II, Searra Sawka, Michael Caprioli, and Marlene Williams. As part of the Hell House film series, Hell House LLC Origins: The Carmichael Manor premiered on the streaming video service Shudder.

Margot Bentley (Bridget Rose Perrotta) is an investigator who has gained access to the long unavailable Carmichael Manor. Carmichael Manor is one town away from the original Hell House – the legendary Abaddon Hotel. Carmichael Manor was home to a series of grisly murders in 1989. Longstanding rumors cited the Carmichael Manor as being potentially haunted.

Numerous internet detectives – sleuthing to find out more about the Carmichael Manor and its history of violent murders – have looked into the history of the manor previously. Now Margot is joined by her girlfriend Rebecca Vickers (Destiny Leilani Brown) and her brother Chase Bentley (James Liddell) in visiting the manor. The manor doors are at last open to be investigated in person.

As a documentary production is assembled, Margot sets forth on her most daring investigation to date while looking into the history of the grisly Carmichael family murders at the site of the crimes. Now Margot, Rebecca, and Chase have a lot to inspect on location and eerie circumstances and occurrences keep happening to the trio at the manor over the course of four nightmarish days at Carmichael Manor. With terror unfolding at the manor, the trio find themselves doing whatever they can to stay alive and make it out of the manor.

The lead performances in Hell House LLC Origins: The Carmichael Manor are impressive and highlight the range of the actors. Bridget Rose Perrotta is charming as Margot and adds a lot of heart to Hell House LLC Origins: The Carmichael Manor. Destiny Leilani Brown is similarly impressive as Margot’s girlfriend Rebecca and she provides a lot of whimsy to the film.

The two lead actresses have undeniable chemistry together and play well off of each other in Hell House LLC Origins: The Carmichael Manor. Both of the Hell House LLC Origins: The Carmichael Manor actresses provide ample tension for the horror filmmaking. The actresses provide some light comedic flourishes that are appreciable, too. James Liddell adds some

The supporting cast of characters in Hell House LLC Origins: The Carmichael Manor includes Patrick Carmichael (Gideon Berger), Catherine Carmichael (Cayla Berejikian), Margaret Carmichael (Victoria Andrunik), Bradley Moynahan (Darin F. Earl II), Alice Harper (Searra Sawka), Donald (Michael Caprioli), and Eleanor Carmichael (Marlene Williams). The supporting cast does good work with the production. The Carmichael characters add to the eeriness and unsettling qualities of the film. The terror of the filmmaking and sense of dread is amplified by the supporting cast of characters.

The production design and costumes are by Sophie S. Schneider. Schneider does an excellent job with both of these production roles. The production design is enormously impressive and there are many layers of the production worth appreciating.

The amount of detail given to showcasing the intricacies of the Carmichael Manor is well-done in Hell House LLC Origins: The Carmichael Manor. The Carmichael Manor looks quite eerie and the location creates dread with production elements highlighting the subtle terror of the haunted manor. Carmichael Manor is super creepy and disturbing as a haunted house. Schneider’s costumes work well for the entire cast of characters and the design aspects for the clown-mask figures contribute to creating a palpable sense of terror, too.

The cinematography by Josh Layton is fantastic. In some respects, Hell House LLC Origins: The Carmichael Manor is the best- looking film in the Hell House franchise. The beautiful cinematography helps to highlight the eerie visuals. The location of the manor is well photographed. Layton’s cinematography is sleek and compelling throughout.

Written and directed by Stephen Cognetti (Hell House LLC, Hell House LLC II: The Abaddon Hotel), Hell House LLC Origins: The Carmichael Manor is one of the best installments in the Hell House film series. Hell House LLC Origins: The Carmichael Manor is eerie and haunting throughout. Cognetti creates an enormous sense of terror with Hell House LLC Origins: The Carmichael Manor.

Cognetti finds a storytelling balance with nice character moments, emotional gravitas, and a good story. The horror scenes are scary and the slow-burn aspect is an achievement. Cognetti creates horror that is reminiscent of Japanese “J-Horror” films and this installment has a somewhat distinct approach to the scares compared to earlier films in the franchise. Hell House LLC Origins: The Carmichael Manor is an impressive accomplishment and well worth seeing for franchise devotees.

Hell House LLC Origins: The Carmichael Manor Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Released on Blu-ray by Umbrella Entertainment, Hell House LLC Origins: The Carmichael Manor is presented in 1080p MPEG-4 AVC encoded high-definition in the original aspect ratio of 1.85:1 widescreen. The high-definition presentation impresses with good detail and overall clarity. The release features excellent color reproduction as well. The transfer showcases the cinematography at its best and looks visually impressive throughout.

One of the nice qualities of physical media is the encoding quality provides a consistency that isn't always the case with streaming. Physical media can provide good encoding with high bit-rates and engaging presentation quality without issues related to internet connection quality, streaming video service quality, number of connected users, and other unexpected variables – such as weather-related disruptions or outages. These aspects provide another example of how physical media is dependable for film lovers.

Hell House LLC Origins: The Carmichael Manor Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The release includes a selection of lossless audio options: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround sound and English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided. The film features sound design work by Danny Knutson. The sound design is well reproduced. Dialogue is remarkably crisp and clear sounding throughout the presentation. The score is well reproduced. Surround sound effects are well-implemented. The soundstage provides a sense of immersion with impressive detail throughout the feature film. The eerie sense of ambiance is terrific and the robust soundstage makes the audio presentation all the better.

One of the strengths of physical media is the lossless audio encoding. Physical media fans have a significant benefit with Blu-ray offering lossless, high-resolution theater quality audio. This is an impressive sound presentation element – especially for home theater enthusiasts and audiophiles. Experiencing the audio with a nice sound system, the lossless encoding allows for more detail and refinement to the soundstage.

Hell House LLC Origins: The Carmichael Manor Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Audio Commentary With Director Stephen Cognetti

Signal Curses: A Video Essay With Kat Ellinger (HD, 10:59)

Behind the Scenes of Hell House Origins (HD, 5:38)

Cast Auditions (HD, 14:59)

Trailer (HD, 2:12)

Umbrella Entertainment offers a nice supplemental package. This is one aspect of the Blu-ray release that also differentiates it from streaming. Streaming usually does not offer behind-the-scenes and other bonus features and only on rare occasions can one find such features on a streaming service. For fans of bonus features, physical media offers a distinct advantage. The package assembled for this release offers some nice extras for fans to delve into for more behind-the-scenes material.

Hell House LLC Origins: The Carmichael Manor Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Hell House LLC Origins: The Carmichael Manor is one of the best feature-films in the horror franchise. The documentary style found- footage horror filmmaking is excellent – the genre showcasing all the splendor the filmmakers have to offer. Writer-director Stephen Cognetti (Hell House LLC) has done something remarkable with this low-fi horror franchise and each installment is entertaining. There certainly is a strong sense of passion with the filmmaking.

The Blu-ray release offers an excellent high-definition presentation, lossless audio, and a selection of supplements. The bonus features include an audio commentary with Stephen Cognetti, a video essay about the film, a behind-the-scenes featurette, cast auditions, and more. Recommended.