Margot Bentley is psyched to be staying in the Carmichael Manor, the scene of a notorious family killing in the late 1980s. Rebecca Vickers, her more responsible partner in life and true-crime, is less excited. Vickers also has her trepidations regarding Bentley’s fresh-out-of-rehab brother Chase, who will be her cameraman, but she will find him to be much reasonably cautious than his gung-ho sister, especially when things get weird, which they will.
Of course, Bentley immediately opens the storeroom the management agent told them should always remained locked, where they find two spectacularly creepy life-size clown mannequins—or were there three of them? Then they visit the local antique shop, where they discover some sinister memorabilia and documents that on closer inspection link the Carmichael Manor to the Abaddon Hotel, the site of the infamous mass murder and subsequent mysterious deaths, before it finally burned to the ground in the previous Hell House LLC.
The connection between the Carmichaels and Abaddon is new to this film. However, what really freaks out some of the talking heads offering commentary in the “documentary” framing the “found footage” is the previously unknown connection between objects at the Carmichael Manor and the late Margot Bentley.
It should be further noted Origins requires no previous familiarity with prior films in the series. It stands alone quite effectively. Arguably, this is the best Shudder exclusive film since Satan’s Slave: Communion. Highly recommended for fans of the franchise and found footage in general, Hell House LLC, Origins: The Carmichael Manor starts streaming today (10/30) on Shudder.
