SPEAKER_04 0:04

Alexis, are you gonna have a a weird ass room in your house one day? Yes, she is. I'm gonna have multiple weird ass rooms. Greetings and salutations, and welcome to Hack or Slash. If you're joining us again for this Halloween celebration, welcome back. Be our guest. If this is your first time listening, welcome to the party. We are a horror movie review podcast dedicated to telling you whether a movie is a hack, a total joke, a waste of time, or a slash.

SPEAKER_00 0:31

Totally killer, pun intended.

SPEAKER_04 0:32

We believe horror is for everyone, and as such, we're rating these movies with the perspectives we've gained from our varying walks of life and the flavors of fear we fancy most. My name is Chris, and I'm your friendly neighborhood slasher enthusiast. This week I'm joined by the Superfly Space Guy Mac. Hola, muchachos, the gore lover Alexis, everyone, the cowardly creeper Ryan, Happy Halloween, and the Scream Queen Paris.

SPEAKER_01 0:54

Hey sweets.

SPEAKER_04 0:55

We have a spooky sequel lined up for you this week, folks. This time a follow-up to a 2015 film that earned a universal slash when we checked it out a couple years ago. Before we get down to business, though, we have our own follow-up to attend to.

SPEAKER_01 1:07

We do have some follow-up. Uh we recently reviewed a film called Antebellum, a new release, uh, and we asked our friends on social media how they felt about it. Now, it should be noted that this movie currently has a 29% rating on Rotten Tomatoes for what that's worth. Um, and our team was actually split down the middle. Now, I wasn't here for that episode, but I will say I would have given that movie a slash, and I'm disappointed in every one of you for going an entire episode without mentioning the excellence that is Gabri Sidibe in that film.

SPEAKER_03 1:36

She was okay, but Janelle Monet was just so good. Mm-hmm. It's hard to live up, you know?

SPEAKER_01 1:40

But the scene where she just like drags that man that's hitting on her, I was just like, mmm, chef's kiss.

SPEAKER_04 1:45

Well, we left the space open for you.

SPEAKER_01 1:47

I appreciate that. Now we have uh some results from our polls, and it was actually pretty close as well. Uh, 54% of our listeners gave it a slash, and 46% gave it a hack. But it is worth noting that Instagram seemed to like this movie a lot more than Twitter, who was actually pretty harsh on it. Now we do have some comments from our friends. We have a Facebook comment from Anna who said, This movie is for sure harrowing, but so relevant. This movie is a different feel for sure because it's brutality that has happened and continues to happen. Whether people want to see this type of movie or not, I think it is so important people watch it and educate themselves. I loved when Chris described why empathy is so important. I'm going to go back and quote it because it was fucking on point.

SPEAKER_04 2:28

Oh shucks.

SPEAKER_01 2:29

Yeah, Chris, you did make some great points in that episode.

SPEAKER_04 2:31

Empathy is important.

SPEAKER_01 2:32

Yeah, it really is, especially in that movie. We also have a comment from Jimmy on Instagram who said, it needed to be just 20 minutes longer and it would have been an incredible film. Still really good. And I'm not sure I could have handled 20 more minutes of that movie, to be honest.

SPEAKER_03 2:45

Only if there were like 20 more minutes of happiness and bliss after the freedom at the end. Yeah, I needed 20 minutes on the end.

SPEAKER_04 2:51

That's what I imagined when reading that, but you know what, Paris, that's a good point. It could have been 20 minutes added anywhere else, and I would have been like, oh, this is so much for my heart.

SPEAKER_01 3:00

Yeah. Anyway, that's our follow-up.

SPEAKER_04 3:02

Awesome. I also just actually wanted to send a special thanks to one of our new listeners, Kyle, who recently sent us an email with a pretty cool request. And I wanted to take some time to address this because I think it's a feature that we've had built into the show for a little while, and I realize that not many people may know it exists. So Kyle suggested having an indicator early on in the episode of where the spoiler section starts for those of you who have seen the movie already. Thanks for that suggestion, Kyle. That is awesome. Now, we considered this around episode 60, and we actually introduced chapter markers. If your podcast app supports chapters, you can actually skip through sections of our episodes. And this is a feature of several podcast apps, like Apple Podcasts, Overcast, et cetera. We'll drop some links in the show notes for other app recommendations. Now, what Kyle has helped me realize though is that our Spotify listeners don't get the benefit from those chapters because Spotify sadly doesn't support it. So what we're going to do moving forward is actually throw the time step in the show notes. So if you're not using Spotify, feel free to take a moment, explore those chapters. And if you are a Spotify listener, then check the show notes. We'll let you know what time the spoiler section starts. Now, for this week, we're breaking down a found footage sequel that takes the form of a documentary. A documentary exposing spooky events at a haunt attraction two years after the first film. This week, we're talking about Hellhouse LLC 2, the Abaddon Hotel. Now we covered the first Hellhouse LLC movie a couple years ago, and we had a very different team at the time. That episode has actually recently made it to the archives. We wanted to get fresh takes on it from everyone with this now though, so we made a little present for our patrons.

SPEAKER_03 4:31

Yeah, we're introducing a special episode available to our patrons called The Rewind. And the Rewind is an opportunity for us to revisit some old movies that have been archived based on how long ago they were recorded. And they give us a chance to get the perspective from our current team instead of having to listen to an old episode that we maybe want to disappear one day. That would be dope. So if you want to hear our takes on the first entry in the Hellhouse LLC franchise, we'll drop a link to the episode down in our show notes. We just dropped it today as this episode releases. Um this and future editions to the rewind will be available to all of our patrons for only one dollar a month.

SPEAKER_04 5:07

Awesome. Thank you so much, Ryan. Now, I've already seen the movie we're covering tonight. The sequel, Hellhouse LLC 2, Electric Boogaloo, but you folks haven't. Now, during that rewind episode, you folks made your predictions for what would happen in this sequel. So let's take a moment to recap.

SPEAKER_00 5:22

I predicted that we would see deep history or details brought out relating to all the characters, perhaps something they did, something that had happened, something they have to pay for.

SPEAKER_06 5:32

Yeah, mine was pretty similar. I said it was another documentary style, maybe, that had sort of like not as much of a massacre and more of a history sort of sense. But I did say someone stupid would probably go back in, which would make more history. So yeah.

SPEAKER_03 5:47

As always. I think for me, my biggest prediction was the like portal to hell thing that we got like a sense of in the in the first one. Um, and then I expected a lot more found footage, much to my dismay.

SPEAKER_01 6:00

I was expecting there to be some sort of reveal about Alex and his connection to the Mr. Tully character, because that character is like sort of shout shrouded in mystery. Um, I also was expecting this to have a lot more backstory of like the town itself surrounding the hotel and like why there's so much like mystery and shadow surrounding that storyline.

SPEAKER_04 6:18

Excellent. Now I didn't make a prediction since that wouldn't be fair as I watched this film well before than the first time we covered the first movie. I was actually anxiously awaiting this movie based on how much I loved the first film when it came out. My feelings this time around were much like the ones I had the first time, and I think they can be summarized in one word, which is underwhelming. Oh.

SPEAKER_00 6:40

Chris, I'm gonna jump on that train.

SPEAKER_04 6:42

Of course you are.

SPEAKER_00 6:43

Say I was a bit, quite a bit, a lot of bit underwhelmed.

SPEAKER_03 6:47

I was scared. You were scared? Yeah. Surprised in the night. That was like my my main feeling aside from uh some feelings regarding acting levels. I was I was so scared, but I mean it it's I'm the cowardly creeper. This is what I do.

SPEAKER_04 7:05

Uh okay. I just want to clarify that wasn't like you were scared of how bad the acting was. You were actually a little bit frightened of the movie at some times.

SPEAKER_03 7:14

I felt scared that I I to the point that I took a break for a minute and watched something else and then came back to it.

SPEAKER_06 7:22

Wow. Okay. So interesting. I too was a bit underwhelmed, I think, because I wanted a lot more from this movie. I don't know. I was just expecting a different sort of tea than I got here. You got a green tea with no sugar. Yes. A hot bland green tea. When I wanted my non-fat chai with pumpkin cold foam. Because I'm just saying it's the best. Oh, I needed to get that. Yes.

SPEAKER_04 7:48

We're back at it again. There's something about Hell House in this franchise that makes us draw comparisons to tea.

SPEAKER_01 7:54

Hell House L L T.

SPEAKER_04 7:56

There you go.

SPEAKER_01 7:57

Um, going into this, normally I would have been like, okay, this is the sequel, it's gonna be worse than the original. But actually, after the conversation that we had in the rewind episode about the first film, I was optimistic that we would get more in this one that might make me appreciate the original. Uh, however, I did book myself a ticket for the underwhelmed train.

SPEAKER_04 8:15

Hmm. It's like we're uh riding nice and tight on that train. I don't know what train Ryan is on though, but we'll see.

SPEAKER_03 8:22

Honestly, I don't either. And I just have to be I had to be clear here. I'm not sure if it has to do with the headspace that I was in when I watched this movie, because as I was watching it, I was thinking, is anyone else as as afraid as I am right now?

SPEAKER_04 8:34

I I think it's funny, Ryan, because sometimes you say things that create the illusion that maybe you're a bit of a stoner when you're referring to like headspace or like how how into weird things you are, but then you don't actually smoke ever. Very true. So it's kind of hilarious to me.

SPEAKER_06 8:48

No, I was definitely a little bit scared. I mean, I didn't sound like you guys think I'm crazy. No. I don't think scared's the right word. I think it was tense, very tense. Were you stressed? Yeah, a little bit stressed from other things too. I'm just stressed in life. So uh I hear you.

SPEAKER_04 9:05

I was a little bit stressed too, uh, but mostly stressed by how disappointed I was. And I was really disappointed again because I thought I couldn't possibly be disappointed more. And I when I went into this for the second viewing, I thought, look, I already know how I feel about the first time I saw this. I know what's gonna happen. It can't possibly hit me so badly two times in a row. But I will say that I was still bummed out in in quite a few places. Um the amount of exposition we're given and the manner in which it unfolds, those two things together were a bummer for me. I was disappointed in the performances even more. And I felt like we had some gems of talent in the first movie, and then this one was just stifled by overacting. How about you folks?

SPEAKER_01 9:49

I I feel that, Chris, pretty strongly. Um, it felt like a lot of these actors were in completely different movies. Uh, some of these movies I think I might watch, but ultimately it was it was surprising that while I didn't really appreciate the characters that we had in the first one, we weren't given as much insight into most of the characters in this one, so I actually was somehow even less invested.

SPEAKER_00 10:10

This was like a pizza, and you get that pizza, and then someone put cheddar all across that pizza because it was so cheesy. Gotcha. It did not seem like a horror movie to me. I was so disappointed in how oddly it felt like a comedy that wasn't trying to be funny.

SPEAKER_03 10:27

But don't you think it was supposed to be cheesy to a degree?

SPEAKER_06 10:30

No, I think the first one's cheesy in general, like what it is.

SPEAKER_01 10:34

I think some of the segments were.

SPEAKER_06 10:35

And this one overly, and I think had they like certain scenes, in my opinion, had not been so cheesy. I feel like I probably would have like felt a different way about this, possibly.

SPEAKER_04 10:47

So I just want to like take a moment to defend the the term cheesy. I love cheese. I have had plenty of charcuterie board dinners, uh, lots of Brie, lots of Havarde, lots of Dubliner. Cheese is great. Uh however, Mac, it was interesting that you chose cheddar specifically. I think we can all agree that cheddar is probably the one of the more inferior cheeses. It's not in itself a bad cheese, but it ranks pretty low on the cheese hierarchy. I love cheddar.

SPEAKER_00 11:13

Cheddar is great with ketchup and mustard on a hamburger. It's not great on my pizza.

SPEAKER_03 11:16

Yeah. I hate cheddar, but I feel that you're gonna get hate in our inbox for saying that cheddar is inferior.

SPEAKER_01 11:23

Cheddar's a top five cheese.

SPEAKER_04 11:24

It's still a good cheese. It's an edible cheese, don't get me wrong. However, this is a pizza, Mac, like you perfect analogy. Cheddar does not belong on this pizza. And when you take a bite of this movie, it's just the wrong flavor.

SPEAKER_00 11:39

Definitely the wrong flavor. And I was not expecting that. I actually had a little bit higher of a hope for it coming, you know, from the original. And I was thinking going into this, I mean, I was hoping my expectations were going to be true, and then I was like just so put off by some of the acting and some of how mixed up the the the scenes are, like time-wise, and how things just didn't like match up. I just it just felt like someone was wearing like a bright blue t-shirt and teal pants.

SPEAKER_03 12:10

But so was anyone else scared with me? That's the question here.

SPEAKER_01 12:14

No, of course not.

SPEAKER_03 12:15

I mean, I know you weren't.

SPEAKER_01 12:16

There's one moment that I was scared, so I'll give it that.

SPEAKER_06 12:19

One moment?

SPEAKER_01 12:20

Just the one.

SPEAKER_06 12:21

I think they did a lot of extra in this compared to the first one. Um, I think I was way more tense in the first one because you're expecting a lot of things to happen. You're expecting these clowns to start running at you, you're expecting like someone to chase, you know, but it's just like never happens. And then in this one, there isn't much more. I mean, not that I'm going into spoilers, but it's a different sort of environment, I think, than the first one is a little bit. So I think I was a little less scared, but I still it definitely still has those tense moments for me for sure.

SPEAKER_04 12:54

This is a fascinating example of how we can all watch the same movie and still have slightly different takes because I mean, there's nothing about this movie that I found particularly frightening. There are some things that maybe scratch like a two or a three on the vaguely creepy scale, and that's like a weird scale to begin with. But they're mostly redundancies from the first movie. So it's not even like a unique scare. I think we talked a lot in the rewind episode about how uh it's a lot of build-up and no payoff with a new term coined by Paris. And I think Alexis, you felt similarly. But I will say that at least for this movie, I'll give it credit for being a wild ass story for sure. Uh, I think there's quite a bit of unfulfilled potential in its originality, but it is fairly unique from other spooky things I've seen. Yeah, I agree.

SPEAKER_03 13:42

I mean, like I'm gonna be honest here, it's just like a ball full of jump scares, and uh, you know, it is you you definitely have a point, it's a lot more what the things that are scary, it's a lot more the same from the first one that we even get like some of the like almost exact same shots, um, maybe just in a different part of the house or something like that or the hotel. But I I don't know what it is, and like I said, I'm willing to take it all on myself, but like I watched this during the day in the in a sunshiny room. I was alone in a house that makes a lot of noise, but I just don't know what it was that just got me so much. And I guess it I I it's just if you're vulnerable to jump scares and uh you know, a lot of them did miss, but this I think could get you. Or maybe I'm just a cowardly creeper.

SPEAKER_04 14:32

Did it scare you more because it had it tried more times? So it's not that in itself it's a scarier movie, but it definitely took more punches, so some of them happened to land a little bit more.

SPEAKER_03 14:41

Yeah, well, we didn't take 30 minutes to get to know these people from New York that I didn't care about. You know, I mean, don't don't get me wrong, there's some things I didn't care about that we did get to know, but it wasn't it wasn't this like found footage that I just was hating. Um, the found footage was a lot more impactful in this one. Interesting.

SPEAKER_01 15:01

I feel like the story here has a lot of, like you said, Chris, potential. There's a lot of originality to be had within like the the core story, but it again it felt like they were they were holding back too much. I feel like the story is one of this film's greatest strengths, and it's like I want to know more about that. Focus more on that. Don't give me like the the spooky haunted house jump scares because that doesn't feel original. The thing that you have that is original is what you should lean on. And I feel like this film didn't do that enough.

SPEAKER_00 15:28

It definitely felt like a rehashing of the first movie to me, which was unfortunate.

SPEAKER_03 15:31

I agree. I feel like this and the first could have easily just been one movie, and I could have spent less time getting to know these people.

SPEAKER_00 15:38

I haven't seen the third one, so I don't know how things wrap up, but I was optimistic looking towards the this one, and I kind of feel like I probably shouldn't be looking towards the third one in terms of getting a very different feel from these two movies. But I feel like uh give it 20 years, give them a steady cam and a lot of money, and maybe there's something that would be more in my genre.

SPEAKER_06 16:00

Interesting. Yeah, I've just felt like um it was just the same stuff I had watched in the first one. So I think the originality of this one's you know based on the first one. So I don't know. I I still thought it was cool and it did some different things, but in general, it was pretty much watching the same movie.

SPEAKER_04 16:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 16:21

Just in continuation, I guess.

SPEAKER_04 16:23

For sure. So much the same. In fact, that I felt like the ending ended up feeling pretty bland. Uh, it felt very rinse and repeat without any of the thrilling payoff you get in the first film. Did anyone actually like the ending this time around? I was confused.

SPEAKER_01 16:36

I actually liked this ending more than I liked the original ending, probably because it was so story-driven. I felt like that is when the film kind of peaked. Uh, and I thought there was a lot of potential in that specific ending scene in particular. And here I'm talking about like the climax end, not the end end. It did trail off at the end end though for me.

SPEAKER_04 16:55

So the pre-end was a good, but the end end was a nah.

SPEAKER_01 16:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 16:58

Sounds like my sex life. I don't know.

SPEAKER_03 17:01

I would like to know. I'm actually on Alexis's side in in that I don't know what the pre-end and the end end were. Because this ending was uh just to go back, such a plain, lukewarm glass of green tea with no sugar that it it was nothing is more bland than this.

SPEAKER_06 17:19

That twist at the end, I mean, I I enjoyed it, but I also was like, WTF, what's the point? Also, I didn't get the ending in the first one, so like I'm definitely not gonna get the ending of the second one, most likely not getting the ending of the third one either. There were a lot of moving parts. There is, there is. I'm like not paying attention because I'm figuring out where all these clowns are still at in this movie. You're worried about the real danger.

SPEAKER_03 17:41

Yes. There's just there's something that came to the came up in the end, and I was just like, yeah, I mean, I could see that from literally the beginning of the movie. Scene one. Interesting. I can't wait to hear what that is.

SPEAKER_00 17:52

Yeah, for sure. There was a climax in action though, and how much was being shown, like just visually, like how much we were allowed to see this time versus strobe lights and shadows. And like when we hit that climax, I was actually kind of happy with that, with a little bit more action going on, with a little bit more graphical stuff happening, seeing some characters finally represented on screen, even if it was for literally like half a second, I was okay, like show me more of that. But there's part of the ending where we have that extended exposition, Chris, that you were talking about, that I just thought was pointless. I I know you you kind of mentioned a little bit, Alexis, but like there's some of the stuff like we just don't need to know, and we or we don't need to be told in the way that we're told.

SPEAKER_06 18:33

Oh, yeah. One whole scene. Right.

SPEAKER_04 18:36

Yeah, for sure. And it's interesting because Paris, I I feel like the thing that I dislike about the ending is the moment that you feel you like more.

SPEAKER_01 18:45

That sounds right.

SPEAKER_04 18:47

It's pretty par for the course with us, I suppose. Now, if you've seen the first and you've listened to either one of those episodes, if you listen to the rewind episode, if you listen to our original one, this movie has a wild ass body count. There's like a total number of people who died in the original, but then there's like a number of bodies that you definitely do see, and there's some other kills that you don't see that it was insane. So for this time, Alexis, I believe you're revising it to the got got count.

SPEAKER_06 19:13

Yes, because they got got. And if you've seen the first movie, you kind of know what happens when you've got got. When you get got, yeah. You gone. You gone, you ain't coming back. You might be coming back in a different way. So um hard to count. Also, like the first one, you know, Chris and I go back and forth with a lot. And I think this one we're like, yep, cool. We're gonna go with that. The body count is 11 for this, pretty high. And we're counting all of like this, the extra got gots that you got, not the you know, the got gots that you got.

SPEAKER_00 19:43

Sounds like a kid's toy.

SPEAKER_04 19:44

But the real question is how many animals got got in this movie?

SPEAKER_03 19:48

I don't even know how to answer that question. Uh, no animals got got in this god dang movie.

SPEAKER_04 19:55

Excellent. Well, at least there's that. Let's go ahead and get down to business then with the scoring of this movie. Hellhouse LLC2, the Avaddon Hotel from 2018. Was it a hack or a slash?

SPEAKER_03 20:08

I'm gonna go ahead and go first here because I I am a bit torn on what to say about this movie. Uh I feel like my my feelings about it today would be different from my feelings if I watched it tomorrow, I think. And I don't know why that is, but it's it's it's October. Um, so so we're appreciating the spooky vibes. And there are definitely some flaws with this movie. There are a lot of white contacts in this movie that that stand out particularly, and and if you see it, you'll know what I mean and and why I'm saying that.

SPEAKER_04 20:41

Oh, for sure. Party city contacts all the way. Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 20:44

Yeah. But be very careful, my friends. The ending to this movie is truly uh the flattest note um for me. So it's hard. Um, I am actually giving this a slash based on the fun of watching this series. And to me, the found footage was more bearable in this than the first. And I think the first that's where it really like lost me was with the found footage. It's definitely not an amazing movie. But if you want something spooky and you just, you know, want to have some fun, maybe get scared, or maybe it's just me. I don't know. Everyone's gonna probably disagree with me here, and I'm okay. I will be the only slash here today. It's a gentle slash, though, let's be honest. It's funny, we probably should have watched this together. Um, but here's the problem. I would have had to drive home by myself in the dark, and I was not okay. All right. This movie makes you see things in corners, okay? You will see shadows, and maybe it's just me, but I've been looking around all the all the corners of my house lately. Like, what's in there? Who is that?

SPEAKER_04 21:46

Do I see something? I did see that on Reddit. Someone talked about watching this movie and then couldn't sleep at night. So you're not alone. There's at least two of you.

unknown 21:54

Yes.

SPEAKER_06 21:54

That's my point. There's been there are some faces, one in particular, and I think it was so scary to me. Is because it was the only face in this movie I hadn't seen in the first one.

SPEAKER_02 22:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 22:06

Which I think that's why it was terrifying. It was terrifying. And then I had saw this other stuff, so I didn't get scared too much. But I really thought I was just watching the same movie with a um super cheddar cheesy. Is that what we're going for? Yeah. And you have this morning mysteries that I think is the is the cheesy part for me. The background reminds me of the back of an 80s, like can drink, fountain drink. And I don't know, I just found, and I think that just went with some of the characters, um, especially in that panel. And I was just like, what am I watching? What is this circus? And usually I'm all about that. But I think because I was just like, oh my gosh, the first movie is so intense and this. And I think it's funny because I think they did too much for the found footage that it seemed like it wasn't found footage anymore. It was, hey, let's show you the rest of the movie and make it found footage, which I think is usually garbage. So uh I don't think this is garbage, but um let's put it this way I had already seen this movie before and I've totally forgot. So I watched the entire movie, got to the part, I was like, man, I swear I've actually seen this, and I freaking had. So it was quite unrememberable. So I am giving this a hack, sadly. Not surprised.

SPEAKER_03 23:22

It's so weird. This is normally how we would be flipped here. Usually I would be like, This is so dumb. This TV show was ridiculous. It is, it's crazy. It was, but I don't know why I didn't hate it.

SPEAKER_01 23:31

I was actually pretty worried coming into this episode because looking at my notes, I didn't have much nice to say about this movie, and I was like, ugh, I'm gonna go into this episode, I'm just gonna shit on this movie again, I'm gonna feel bad about it. So I'm glad to hear that like I wasn't alone in a lot of my feelings. Without spoiling too much, there's a character in this that's like a cheesy TV psychic, and almost everything that this character says and does, you're meant to just be like, ugh, and like roll your eyes. And I found myself feeling that way about every other character, so much so that I was like, well, the psychic's really the only one that's kind of like hitting the tone, right? So it just it was a movie that had really a lot of potential, and it did not meet it in its execution, partially because of the bad acting, partially because of the really cringy dialogue at sometimes. And there was actually a point where because I was watching this with AirPods in, and I took one out and it showed me how much left how much was left in the movie, and I saw there was like a full hour left when I thought we were almost done, and I was like, oh. But in the end, there is a reveal. Uh, like Ryan said, you can kind of see it coming from a mile away, uh, that I thought it did some some things for me that the original did not. And you get more story, which I think is one of this movie's strengths, uh, but it it was not enough to to save this film, uh, and it's definitely getting a hack from me.

SPEAKER_00 24:46

You were just hacking those bodies up tonight, and I am not gonna do my review with as much fire as you guys, because honestly, uh while watching this, uh I started to fall asleep. And I watched this in the middle of the afternoon, and I started to fall asleep, and then woke up, rewound, and then hit play and try it again. So I feel like when you get a movie, like a mainstream movie, and then they make a straight to DVD sequel, this is like the straight to DVD version following the straight to DVD version of a movie. So it's like, how did the original makers go from the first one to this one? But I'm not surprised because again, that first one was not my cup of tea at all. And and I I did, you know, I hacked it. I'm not a fan of found footage, I'm not a fan of whenever the camera moves in a way that makes me dizzy. That's a me thing, that's not a you thing. You may love this, and and I can respect that, but it's it's a hack for me.

SPEAKER_04 25:43

All right, so so far we're at three hacks outnumbering Ryan's slash. And Mac, it's interesting that you bring up the straight to DVD release, right? The sequel. So this is a shudder exclusive, and I got shutter for this movie when it came out in 2018. I was really excited about it. So when I saw that it was a shudder exclusive, it set the bar even higher. And then I watched this movie, and it was a hack then, it's a hack now. This movie is riddled with unimpressive performances. Uh, it takes a concept that could have been cool, and then instead just weighs it down with monologues exposition, and that's the worst way to get exposition. Instead of raising the ante of the first film, it just rips itself off and tries to play the same notes and they end up falling flat. And I will say that this left such a bad taste in my mouth that I was dreading having to cover it one day. And when I heard about host on Shudder, and I heard that it was a Shudder exclusive, I was like, nah, man, fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me. And I was also a little bit apprehensive about Host. Glad that was wrong because Host ended up being my like favorite movie of the year so far. But this movie, uh, it's a rough one. Do not recommend. I probably never want to watch it again.

SPEAKER_03 26:58

I would like to note, I don't necessarily disagree with anything that's been said so far. So take that for what it's worth. But you still enjoy it, and that's what matters. Because people out there like it. Yes, it's Halloween. Scare me. Come on.

SPEAKER_00 27:12

Yeah, but think about all the other stuff you could be enjoying for Halloween, like trick-or-treat or literally Halloween.

SPEAKER_03 27:18

Oh, I'm no no exactly. Listen, I'm I'm talking like uh you should definitely only include this in your October lineup if you've like watched two other scary movies every single day before this, and then this is like the last thing that you could get to.

SPEAKER_00 27:31

Bottom of the barrel.

SPEAKER_03 27:32

It's bottom of the barrel, but it's in the barrel.

SPEAKER_00 27:34

So wait, in terms of like spookiness, right? So let's say Halloween is like your pumpkin spice drink from provider of choice for the Halloween season, right? Let's say you go in for that. This would be like you go to the like off-brand gas station, and they like go in the back and throw some stuff and in a blender and then give it to you as their pumpkin spice thing.

SPEAKER_03 27:55

I mean, I don't even know that this is blended, dude. This is like uh this is like the coffee at 7-Eleven that's been there since yesterday.

SPEAKER_06 28:02

Or it's a protein shake you didn't shake all up and it's still chilling.

SPEAKER_04 28:06

But sometimes you just need coffee, you know? None of this sounds appealing, that's what I've gotta say. But there we have it, folks. Hell Hell's LLC2 in the Aberdon Hotel from 2018 has earned four hacks and one slash. Now, here's the thing. Ryan may be the only one here who was scared by this movie enough to slash it, and that's totally fine. However, I'd still encourage you to remember that sometimes the worst of movies make for the best of times with friends. So check it out. It's a shutter exclusive. Then join us in the second half so we can unpack what we disliked and find out what scared Ryan so much. See you in a bit.

SPEAKER_00 28:42

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SPEAKER_04 29:18

Welcome back, folks. You are now entering the spoiler zone for Hellhouse LLC2, Viabad Hotel. The sequel has earned four hacks and one slash. Now we have a lot to get to here, including how in the world Ryan was so scared by this. But before we get into the specifics, I'm gonna unpack the gore. Alexis, what's the gore score for this movie?

SPEAKER_06 29:36

Pretty lack thereof. Um, just kind of like the first one, you know, a little lackluster for me, but it's all good. Very similar to the first one, you get these streaks of blood where you feel like you're gonna see like you feel like you're really gonna see something going on, but unfortunately, that carries into a second movie. And you do get these, like, you know, dead people that are, you know, spirits or whatever you may want to call them, um, that the house has taken, the Satanist, um, have murdered. And they have this shitty ass makeup, like what I put on and a smoky eye when I was 16. It's what I thought a smoky eye was, and then somehow it ended up all over my face.

SPEAKER_04 30:16

Did you hack this movie because you saw yourself in this movie and didn't like what you saw? Probably.

SPEAKER_06 30:21

Yes. I was like, damn it. I used to be pasty like that and did bronzer, and I just looked like there were black streaks on my face. Yeah, no.

SPEAKER_03 30:29

Did you also play that one song on the piano as a child?

SPEAKER_06 30:33

Yes. And then made a clue from like, you know, 15, 20 years later, like whatever. But no, it's kind of like disappointing for me because I feel like this one could have been a little bit more gory. Um, the only gory thing they really have is, you know, Diane at the end and her eyes. And I thought that was creepy because that was, but that was like the only thing. And you know, they do a close-up at the end, but you know, I really wish some of these corpses or I mean, I'd hate to say like some of these deaths I saw on camera. Like if you're giving me all of this footage to explain how someone got acquired a house or you know, a haunted house, or how this haunted house came to be, and you're gonna focus on that, why don't you just like leave it hanging on a body for a little bit?

SPEAKER_04 31:18

I would say there's about 20% more business meetings that happen in this movie than there are like vicious deaths on screen.

SPEAKER_06 31:24

Yeah. Uh yes, totally agree. Yeah, so I mean, you do see some people stabbed and like hung, but there it isn't like super bloody or anything like that. And I just I I really wish there was more.

SPEAKER_03 31:37

And then at the end we have that like implied suicide from Mitch, but we don't we didn't get anything from that. Yeah, exactly. Which would have been a great time to just get a little gore.

SPEAKER_00 31:46

Wait, you thought that there was a suicide involved? Because I took it as he made his decision to kill the girl.

SPEAKER_03 31:53

Yeah. Uh he didn't kill the girl because she made it out alive.

SPEAKER_00 31:57

She got out.

SPEAKER_03 31:58

No, she's a ghost.

SPEAKER_00 31:59

So when she's giving her interview, I saw that section where she flips to being a ghost is because she's dead.

SPEAKER_03 32:04

No, I think it's because even when you get out, you're not really out.

unknown 32:07

Nah.

SPEAKER_01 32:08

Which is why that part didn't make any sense.

SPEAKER_03 32:10

I mean, there's to be fair, there's a lot of this that didn't make sense.

SPEAKER_04 32:13

Yeah, so we're gonna we're gonna have some some to unpack here because it's just like the original where Sarah died in the house but then had to go lure people in. So Jess actually died. Mitch killed her. He made his choice. He approached her in a trance, he killed her, and then she was just the ghost hitchhiking by the side of the road.

SPEAKER_03 32:31

I have more questions, but we can get into that in a bit.

SPEAKER_01 32:34

Yeah. I feel like this movie's gore was somehow less than the original, and they kept doing the thing where they don't show us what happens when I need you to show me what happens. You don't have to let it linger, but at least let me see it.

SPEAKER_02 32:45

We all sound like monsters. Let me see that death. Dead, dead, death. Give me that blood.

SPEAKER_00 32:51

But that being said, David's death was pretty cool. Like finally getting to see somebody dragged to hell, even though it was for 0.5 seconds. I really enjoyed the fact that it was on screen.

SPEAKER_06 33:01

Yeah, I'm sure Ryan's happy about it because her um, I was gonna say premonition, but it wasn't a premonition. What you thought this movie was gonna be about. Literally, you guys see your portal. Yeah, I mean your cheesy ass portal.

SPEAKER_03 33:13

It was so cheesy. It was like literally a red light with some plastic over it, and like, yeah, I there's so there's a lot to unpack about the story.

SPEAKER_06 33:25

Yeah, although you like that death, uh you know, I'm I'm always one to like pick one. Like, okay, I'm gonna pick one, I'm gonna pick one. Um, there's eleven to choose from. None of them stood out enough for me to say I liked them. None of them did.

SPEAKER_04 33:38

Damn.

SPEAKER_01 33:39

Same.

SPEAKER_06 33:39

Yeah. Maybe YouTube Ghost Hunter, uh, Ghost Hunters International. Uh I don't know because he was annoying.

SPEAKER_04 33:49

Yeah, I felt like Molly had the saddest death. Like she was the only one on there I think like really didn't deserve to die. However, I also felt like Alexis, you would have been Molly in the situation where you don't want to go in and then you assume everyone's fucking with you when you finally make it in.

SPEAKER_06 34:03

Oh, I'm still not going in. I'm sorry. If y'all are calling over me to help, I'm like, they told me not to go in. I'm not going in.

SPEAKER_04 34:09

I'm listening to the first instruction, not the most recent one. I would say my favorite death for sure is definitely Brock Davies, because he's a twerk. So to see him get got by the spooky girl and then to be hanging later, I don't know. I just I you in Paris earlier you mentioned that his character was the only one nailing the tone. I feel like he was one of the early things that brought me out of the movie because I feel like that wasn't the tone they were actually going for, and he just derailed the whole thing.

SPEAKER_01 34:39

Oh see, for me, I meant that the tone was bad and he was the only one that was really nailing that.

SPEAKER_03 34:43

I yeah, Chris, I agree. If I had to pick something, I guess I picked that just because I hated that character the most. But it was uh it was quite over the top. Um, the the acting that he was doing was just like very cringy, very cringy.

SPEAKER_01 35:00

See, now I feel bad though, because my favorite death was Molly. Uh, I hated her the most. Her acting was the first performance where I was like, oh god, yeah, they really got some D-listers in this movie. Um, she kind of started to do a little bit better, like once she got inside the house, but I was ultimately just like, just kill this woman, please.

SPEAKER_06 35:19

Damn.

SPEAKER_01 35:20

And it was one of the only deaths that you actually get to see. And you like only kind of get to see it.

SPEAKER_06 35:24

The D-List, is that what it is?

SPEAKER_01 35:25

Or Z.

SPEAKER_04 35:27

Or Z. It's occurring to me now, and I don't know why this is like just now jumping out to me. Because Paris, when you initially said that, I was like, fuck yes, like she her and Jess interacting the first time we see them. I'm like, what the hell is this? Like you're dragging down the caliber from the first movie. But then I'm remembering that later on she has to pretend this is her first time on camera, and she's like, Oh, what how do you know what's in the basement? And now I'm realizing maybe she was really good at acting like she was being bad, like she was bad on camera. You know what I mean? Like in a really weird, twisted kind of way.

SPEAKER_01 36:01

I could see that, like a meta performance.

SPEAKER_04 36:03

Mm-mm. It was truly high school improv. That's fair. I'm not gonna fight it. I don't feel that passionately about it.

SPEAKER_03 36:10

She would she would ask a question and then answer the question, and I was just like, What would it what is this? And I have to assume that some amount of this movie was improv because of the way the characters were interacting with each other. I was just like, I'm uncomfortable and I can feel how garbage this is, says the girl that slashed the movie.

SPEAKER_00 36:28

There was definitely a lot of hard garbage, and I feel bad because, like I said, I did kind of fall asleep and then have to wake up and and resume. And maybe that's because I'm working too hard in life and I need some more me days. I don't know. Everyone needs more me time, but I actually had a hard time picking out like a scene that really stood out to me. And I I don't know if I've come across one yet. I think there were moments like the first time that we go back to the basement, like I liked that moment. Or the moment where we see the clown's arm actually move and the door slams shut. I liked that. That was great. So I don't know if I could pick a whole scene, but those like little those little seconds that we get, like, yeah, give me more of that stuff. That those those kind of moments I actually really did enjoy.

SPEAKER_06 37:13

So they were kind of like what you saw in the first one, but then they added another emotion that the clown did.

SPEAKER_00 37:18

Well, right, but they kind of give you a glimpse into like we could do more with these characters that we exposed you to in the first movie. Like they could be more dangerous now. Uh, but you know, we didn't really they didn't play out until like a full scene.

SPEAKER_04 37:33

There's one moment I really enjoyed, and that was when Mitchell was walking down the hall towards the end, and he runs into Melissa from the first film. She's like allegedly on the phone with her mom, and then her voice changes, and she's like, I'm going to hell, and Mitchell's coming with us. I feel like that was one of the only ones that I actually really enjoyed.

SPEAKER_06 37:51

Yeah, I kind of like that terror that starts happening at the end. I just wish there it was um not just like you know, in the last few frames. I wish I carried out further into the middle of the movie and then throughout the end. Mine was the Brock scene. So I think you're I'm brought back to a scene, you know, they're in whatever a dining room. It looks like a restaurant, you know, and I'm in the same scene I was in the first movie, and I'm expecting one of these people to be real. I'm expecting one of these people to like move or this or that, and they don't in the first movie that I recall. Um, but this one, you know, Brock's there and he's talking, and then literally the head turns, and that's when I was like, oh shit, this is what I've been waiting for from the first movie, and I finally got it. So it finally felt like a payoff for that scene, and that was like one of my favorite scenes.

SPEAKER_00 38:43

What a missed opportunity though, with the whole yes no thing, because we see later that the ghost writes yes all over the desk, but it would have been so cool if if he had asked that question, like, do you plan on harming somebody? And then like yes was just being written all over, and then that's when he realized they needed to get out. That would have been fantastic.

SPEAKER_04 39:00

I've never seen so many yeses from a ghost. There's like copious amounts of consent in here.

SPEAKER_03 39:04

Ghosts are definitely usually no people, so uh the yeses were surprising. I think uh if I have to pick something, I kind of feel similar to Mac where it's like it's kind of hard to pick a scene for me specifically. There's those little moments. Um, but I uh now I have some bones to pick with this scene, like story-wise, but the Andrew Tully uh monologue, I guess, at the end where he's got Alex and Mac sitting across from each other, like entranced. Um again, story-wise, there are some things to say, but like that was a cool scene, and you have like the two girls in the back, you know, struggling, not knowing what's going on. I I thought that that was good, and I thought that he played a good evil demon guy with a bald head. Yeah. The thing is, I just could see that the whole time. He was clearly a demon from the beginning. He's a creepy, creepy man.

SPEAKER_00 40:02

Is it because he works for the government?

SPEAKER_03 40:04

Uh possibly. Also, his skin was disgusting.

SPEAKER_01 40:06

Thank you, Ryan. That's exactly how I knew who that character was from the first scene. I was like, the texture of that man's skin tells me one that he's dead, and two that he's probably Tully.

SPEAKER_03 40:15

Yeah, he's obviously a creepy dead man. Come on.

SPEAKER_04 40:18

And I will say that uh one of my least favorite elements of this movie is the fact that he just fucking clerk kents everyone by putting on glasses. That's literally all he did was put on glasses. And yet somehow when he shows up at the end, Mitchell turns, sees him, and says, No, you you're dead. You were sitting next to him the whole time.

SPEAKER_03 40:38

That made me so angry. That was like a big thing that I wrote in my notes. This doesn't make any sense that he sat next to this man and talked to him for however many hours or whatever, it just seemed like forever. And then he just walks in the room and Mitch is like, Oh, Andrew Tully. Like, how you doing? Like, what are you talking about? You didn't know who this man was yesterday? Like, that was the goofiest thing, and that's kind of where, like, that's where the ending where I was just like, Oh, okay, we're just gonna let things go here.

SPEAKER_01 41:11

I totally feel that, Ryan. I I also have really mixed feelings about that ending, specifically because it was it was very this is an exposition scene, and I'm gonna give a monologue. And it was like, okay, we get it. But I did think that the actor did some some good things, and I like the staging of it as well. Um, but I have two kind of half-favorite scenes that I'll combine into one. Uh, the first is when the gates of hell burst open in the basement, because that's that is what would have brought me to my fear gasm in the original, and we finally got it, and I was like, okay, the gates of hell burst open. This is what we've been waiting for this whole time. Now we're gonna get something. And then we just ran away from it and didn't go back to it whatsoever. So I was like, ugh, come on. And then the part of the film that actually did scare me was when they're finding, they're trying to find an exit of the hotel and they see the clown at the end of the hallway with the door wide open. And I was like, that is chilling. Because one, I would probably run past that clown and try to get to the exit. Uh, but two, you know that clown's gonna grab you. And in a movie where like the biggest letdown is that none of these ghosts actually move on camera, finally seeing that ghost move and do something was like, ugh, give me that at least.

SPEAKER_04 42:23

Do you think that the survivability odds would have increased had they all kind of like tuckered down, went shoulders first, and then all moved as a group through the clown? Totally.

SPEAKER_01 42:34

I like the strategy.

SPEAKER_03 42:35

I would like to note that this is where I feel the movie deserves a little more credit than maybe you guys are giving it because this is like a a classic um haunted house moment where the way out is by a guy you can clearly see. And like, sure, he's not supposed to kill you, but like, is he gonna? You know? And you have to make that decision. Like, do we go for the door? And and of course, you're if you're in a haunted house, don't usually have a decision to go back, and you gotta you gotta decide to give front or back to this clown guy standing on the wall just to get out the door. So it's it that's something that I think you guys gotta appreciate a little more.

SPEAKER_04 43:10

Yeah, for sure. I think Paris likes it. I it definitely would be a nope for me. Like, I wouldn't fucking go by the clown. However, I do wonder if we were to find ourselves in that situation. I think Mac has strong shoulders and we just, you know, all support him going through it.

SPEAKER_00 43:23

Wait, what? No, I would Molotov that clown. That's step one is burn this thing to the ground. I'm sorry. Like, why did nobody think to just absolutely burn everything to the ground?

SPEAKER_03 43:33

Because they were locked inside. Because you burned the evidence.

SPEAKER_00 43:37

Sure, but if they think they're going out, if they're pretty sure they're not going to make it out of there, like take this thing with you, like close that gate. You're not getting back to hell, it's done.

SPEAKER_03 43:45

Let me tell you, let me tell you my beef. There are so many windows in this house, and not one person even glanced at a window.

SPEAKER_01 43:54

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 43:54

At a few points you could see out the windows.

SPEAKER_01 43:57

Oh, fully. And it was like daylight.

SPEAKER_04 43:58

We all know that doesn't work. And horror movies. They just seen a few.

SPEAKER_00 44:02

My girlfriend caught that. And I was watching. I was like, no, you're so right. It like actually looks like a great day outside. There's so much light shining in.

SPEAKER_03 44:08

And they were like large windows, not like creepy tiny windows from back in the day that you couldn't really get in or out of and that like maybe don't open all the way. They're like, you know, big old windows.

SPEAKER_00 44:17

But that's why they have the curtains. Because imagine if somebody was just like, you know what? I'm not, I'm not dealing with this, and just like hopped out of a window, I'll deal with a broken leg. And the ghost would probably be like, ah, dude, they found our one weakness, windows.

SPEAKER_01 44:30

I will say that those windows did add to one of my favorite visual elements of the movie, which was the lighting in the final exposition scene with Tully. Because there was a very large window with some natural light coming in. And they they used fog in that scene, but they didn't overdo it. And they did it in such a way that, like, I imagine when you're filming with fog, everybody has to like not move, otherwise the fog's gonna be moving like wildly around. And like the way the fog was just like swirling, I was like, okay, they were very thoughtful and careful with the way that they used this fog so as to make it seem like this is a very still, very trapped, like contained moment. And I thought that looked really nice.

SPEAKER_06 45:05

My favorite scene visually, and I think it was because I've seen the same um clowns in the first movie, I've seen the same, mostly the same people. Um, they were actors from the first one that got got and now are ghosts in the uh second one. But um there's a scene, and it's the same scene um from the first movie where the guy who's filming, um, he's filming on his bed where you actually like see him, and then remember the first one you see the shadow. Yeah. Well, this one, it's when they're all in the room, and it's still kind of that like that same like shot, but like clearly a different a different sort of a different setting, and everyone's talking and everything like that. And I'm not sure what's going on, but I'm just focused in the background because the door starts to creep open, and then next thing you know, there's this freaking face, and I literally still to this day cannot get it out of my face, like get it get out of my head. It's like the creepiest thing.

SPEAKER_04 45:59

Yeah, there's that moment when the lights like they have the dresser blocking the door, the lights go out all of a sudden, and then Molly's gone when the lights come back on, and then there's just B movie plastic Linda Blair from the Exorcist like poking her head in, like, hey.

SPEAKER_06 46:15

See, I couldn't see all those details, so I think I was just like curious on what it was, and it like took me by surprise.

SPEAKER_04 46:22

It was a good moment, like I'm like laughing about the quality of like this this ghoul in the background, but cardboard cut out. Yeah, that was that was a cool moment for sure. And I think the set design again, like just like the first movie, was a highlight. Just like you're saying, Alexis, like these little touches in the background and the subtle tricks to changing the rooms while the actors are in them, and they're effective, but I I think my issue is that it's still like I'm I'm getting excited top thinking about it, and then I'm remembering that I didn't feel this excited watching the movie because it still doesn't like make me feel enough in the moment.

SPEAKER_03 46:57

So, Chris, I agree with you, except that I did feel it in the moment, and I that's where I I don't know why, but for me, this haunted house was so lovely, like every bit of it, especially this one, because it even was like more aged, less of the like staged Halloween stuff, and it was just like leftover, spooky rooms, and like um you get you get this trapped feeling in this house where you know it kind of is this thing that they continue to talk about in the last one and this one. Like, how do you get from these different places? How do you get from the dining room to the basement? Um, and it and it seems like a trap, and they bring it up that it was intentional in this movie. Um, but like I do feel stuck in this house, and I do feel lost and like you walk past these rooms, and of course there's like fake skeletons on the ground, and then and then there's a lot of real stuff as well.

SPEAKER_06 47:47

Yeah, I know. I really like that, and especially they talk about like H.H. Holmes and how like he kind of did that, and I I think I've seen a lot of like either documentaries or like movies where they reference that, and I feel like it's so interesting that like that he built this hotel with all these secret compartments, so like people can get killed and got, and then like I don't know, I just think that's it's just interesting. I like houses like that, not with secret trap drawers, but like like my parents' house where it's two staircases. But sometimes I've been to houses that have like a staircase in the back of the house, and I was like, Whoa, is this another house back here? Alexis, are you gonna have a a weird ass room in your house one day? Yes, she is. I'm gonna have multiple weird ass rooms.

SPEAKER_03 48:26

I like a simple, I like a simple, wide open house. Okay. I need free space. I don't need it, I don't need I don't want a map to get around a house. I just want in and out.

SPEAKER_00 48:36

My favorite visual thing was once again a moment, and that was towards the end there when our undead demon dude pushes the camera across the table. That moment where they were like playing with the fact that we are are using found footage and using some kind of like small handheld camera, supposedly, I thought was fantastic, and I I it kind of made me realize, like, oh man, there's so much more that they could have done with the medium in this case, had they like really played upon the fact that this was all being recorded with handheld cameras. Now you don't want to play too heavy into it because then it gets like it just becomes a shtick and and it's and it's boring or comedy, but like that like singular moment where it's like you know, pick up the camera and it slides across the table and ends up picking it up at the end. I was like, that was that was brilliant.

SPEAKER_04 49:22

I can appreciate that. It didn't stand out to me in the moment, but I would be curious to see if the ghosts do more of that in the third movie. Haven't seen the third movie, not going to until I absolutely have to. But I I do have a question because one of the complaints that we had in the rewind episode for the first film was that it didn't feel like a modern documentary. It didn't look that good. And you guys have been spoiled by Netflix. The documentary footage we get of the interview of Jackson's mom in the beginning was a little bit more cinematic, a little bit more aesthetically pleasing. How did you guys feel about that visually?

SPEAKER_00 49:55

That was the best part. That was the most documentary feeling thing of both films was her performance and the and the way that they filmed it.

SPEAKER_06 50:03

Yeah, I totally agree. I just wish it carried over in some and in into some of the other documentary style like scenes.

SPEAKER_03 50:09

Agreed. I feel like we have the the corny TV show, I feel like is the weak part of the the documentary feeling in this one. Um, but it is way better again, aside from certain characters and and the acting quality.

SPEAKER_04 50:22

Yeah, I feel like it kind of lost its way there. I feel like it uh was mismatched, but I will say that I think it was the first sign to me that separated it from being a good fake documentary because at least the first film was consistent in its style all the way through. But in this one, they had that gorgeous footage of Jackson's mom. And then there was a jump cut in the interview footage of his mom. And jump cuts is something that has become so socially acceptable because it's more of like a anybody can edit now, anybody can shoot, anybody can edit. But if you're a professional, you don't do that. You cover it with B-roll, or you do an L cut where you let the audio continue while you let that clip linger a little bit with that feeling. And that was the first thing I was like, oh man, I feel like they're teasing me with good quality and just letting me down the rest of the way.

SPEAKER_01 51:13

See, I noticed that too, Chris. Um, but I had been conditioned from the first one with the way that they used jump cuts in those interviews, that I was kind of just like, okay, so this is another bad documentary. And I actually didn't realize that that specific scene was like higher quality until you guys pointed it out. But it definitely was, or at least it was trying to be.

SPEAKER_03 51:30

Bringing up the the part with Jackson and that whole bit of the story, for me, even though I've given this a slash, the worst part of this movie is trying to keep track of the stories. And it was kind of the same at the end of the original one, but like even at the end, I'm like, like, like I said, I'm not really sure who was killed or what exactly happened to who. I don't understand what Jackson had to do with anything. I guess the point was just that he was one of the disappearances that happened afterwards, but we just got like so much detail. Like, like the the video from his childhood playing the piano, like what what was the point of that? Has he been possessed his whole life? Is he real? What's life? What is anything? What is that song besides like three keys on a piano? Um, there's just a it was just some things where we got a lot of detail, and and then we got like this random deep detail from Andrew Tully about how he's already sending videos to the next person to come to the house. And like, I get the point, but like we also got the point when he was like, people need to come back. Like, okay, cool, we got it. Thank you. Um, so for me, the like story elements, which I can't believe I'm even saying this and that I slashed it because it doesn't sound like me at all. But the story elements were sometimes so complicated for no payoff. And and then again, the things that we wanted more of, like if you want more of that portal, we didn't get that. It they were just like, uh, it's a red light.

SPEAKER_00 53:00

That whole thing of like needing to bring people back to the hotel. It was like, dude, watch like three Gary Vaynercheck videos and get your social media game on point. And you're not gonna have to do like creepy, weird video things. People will just like show up to your hotel because it's creepy. They're gonna buy into it, they're gonna click on the hashtag and they're gonna see all your posts.

SPEAKER_03 53:19

Yeah, just have one person that pretends to be alive still. Yeah. And let them run the show. Let them run the social. Yeah, exactly. They can wave from the street.

SPEAKER_01 53:27

But also just like, why would you need to when Andrew Tully himself can just go on a local news broadcast and potentially go viral?

SPEAKER_04 53:34

And try to use reverse psychology by saying, Don't come to my hotel, making everyone think, oh, we should definitely break into that hotel. So a question, and it's tangentially related, Ryan, to your point. Did anyone else, when that interview started with Jackson's mom, expect him to be a young child instead of a man, a grown man that's nearly as old as his mother?

SPEAKER_06 53:56

Yes, that was so confusing because I was like, is this the same person? I don't I don't know. I was so confused. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 54:02

Also, we got several videos of people going into the into the place and then disappearing or whatever happens, and they were just all like generic white men. And I was just like, I don't know who's who. I know they're not the same people, but God knows who those names are.

SPEAKER_01 54:16

I actually also had trouble in the beginning. I actually had to text Chris. I was like, hey, who's Mitchell again? Because they're like, he's the sole survivor. And I was like, I don't remember seeing him in the original. It's because we I don't think we did, or if we did, it was for a very brief moment.

SPEAKER_03 54:29

It's because he was never in any danger.

SPEAKER_01 54:31

That part.

SPEAKER_03 54:32

And he was he was only behind the camera.

SPEAKER_01 54:34

But wait, was Jackson not a child? Because they showed him in that clip on that keyboard, and that was definitely a kid.

SPEAKER_04 54:40

So Jackson was a child in the 90s, right? And his mom is there. But when they show Jackson in the house and he's just like crying and shit, he looks like an old ass man who's wearing teenager's clothes. And I'm just like, where why couldn't you have taken any of the other guys who break into the house and just recast them as Jackson?

SPEAKER_01 55:00

I totally forgot about that part, but now it's all coming back to me, and I wish it wasn't.

SPEAKER_00 55:04

They completely messed up the idea of these teens like like broadcasting what they were doing on Facebook Live. I mean, even the other kid literally said yeet, eh? Oh.

SPEAKER_03 55:14

I w I was like, did he I was I was trying to figure out if he said something backwards and that was gonna come up again because whatever he said, I was like, that wasn't English. That's what he said.

SPEAKER_00 55:25

Yeah, no, he lit like he was like talking about like getting things done, like, let's go do it. And he said, he was like, Yeet, eh? I was like, wait, what's what's happening right now? Hello, fellow child.

SPEAKER_04 55:35

Also child every day. I thought he was possessed already and he was like speaking backwards or something. Jackson specifically, Ryan, it's interesting that you feel like that's the worst part because I feel like that was the best part. Again, unfulfilled potential. If they would have explored it more, I think it would have been really, really promising. But that little tie, I really, really appreciated it, and then I was disappointed when it didn't come back around.

SPEAKER_06 55:59

I was also on a list of my best parts that I liked. There were the parts that I I liked about this video.

SPEAKER_03 56:04

No, it was a great part. It's just that it didn't come back around, and I'm just like, why did you show me a video of this person as a child and then never speak of him again?

SPEAKER_00 56:13

I knew that they were trying to show the whole like thing that they're planning people coming to get got, but like poor execution, homie.

SPEAKER_03 56:22

50 years prior?

SPEAKER_00 56:23

Yeah. I mean, he he literally looked like Tony Hawk. I was like, come on, he's not a child, don't play that off. But they they could have honestly they could have scrapped the entire rest of the movie and just focused on that one character in his story, and I probably would have been pretty happy with that because that whole like intro scene with his mom was my favorite part of the movie, and it was over so fast.

SPEAKER_03 56:43

That's also what started me being so scared, and I think that's why things escalated.

SPEAKER_01 56:47

So I'm really scraping the bottom of the barrel here, trying to come up with the best part. Um, so I will say this I did really enjoy seeing our girl Diane on the keys.

SPEAKER_04 56:56

The red light coming in from hell also did wonders for her one eye.

SPEAKER_00 56:59

That makeup was the worst part though. Yeah, her face makeup, and when they like froze the frame on her face for some ridiculous amount of time for no reason, I was like, you guys should feel bad about that.

SPEAKER_03 57:10

There were several really long freeze frames, and I was just like, I okay, I know you guys want me to look at like these scary faces and have them burdened for my skull, but this is not how you enlist elicit fear outside of like MySpace in 2005.

SPEAKER_00 57:22

You know what? You just summed this whole thing up perfectly. This is like completely scary for MySpace in 2005. So speaking of MySpace 2005, though, what's up with Mitch's haircut?

SPEAKER_03 57:32

Ooh, honestly, I feel like uh as a as a whole, his character was like a little, I want to say sus, but not in the way that it means now. I just mean he just had like a weird vibe about his whole existence. Um, but for me it was Molly. Molly was the worst character I've ever had to be a part of for any amount of time. That sounds dirty, but you know what I mean. It was experiencing her on camera was horrible. And then again, like we have this character, all the characters on the panel, and they were just miserable. Like we have Mitch, who has a strange character about him, we have Andrew Tully, who's clearly Andrew Tully, and then the unbearable medium. Um, so just in general, these characters, and I felt the same way about the first one, but different. I would I didn't care about the characters in the first one, and here honestly, I felt like Jessica was the only good character in this movie.

SPEAKER_06 58:27

Yeah, I had Jessica on my list just and I think what really surprised me, um, because in the beginning she seemed just like this bossy girl from on any show, but um when they did the flashbacks from the uh police interviews, I was like, wow, and she's all beaten up and uh she was like very gripping, in my opinion, and you know, really had my attention. And I don't know if that was just because I was like, what is this cutting to? Or but she I I mean I I loved her performance in it.

SPEAKER_03 58:56

That was another thing that made me scared. I was like, I don't want to see what causes this.

SPEAKER_00 59:00

Did you just like her because she was super hot?

SPEAKER_03 59:02

I didn't think she was super hot. What?

SPEAKER_01 59:05

Oh, that's right. Her whole performance in the interview was very much like, if I shake my hands a lot, they'll think I'm acting traumatized. And I was just like, no, girl, it wasn't doing it for me. The girl who was doing it for me, though, was our anchor woman, Susie McCombs. Uh, she from the moment she started talking, and she's like, This is morning mysteries. She really she really gave me like Elizabeth Banks in uh pitch perfect energy. And I feel like that actress has a great career in like camp comedy in her future.

SPEAKER_04 59:33

Dude, that's high praise.

SPEAKER_01 59:34

It really was. I was like, okay, like whatever she's doing, I'm here for it. Um, and it kind of helped to offset what everyone else was doing. But I really I would be remiss if I didn't uh call out those two horrible gay characters who like literally picked up a hitchhiking ghost and then called her sweetie, honey, darling, miss, and ma'am, just back to back to back to back. And I was just like, first of all, no one's picking up that ghost bitch. Look at that ghost bitch, clearly a ghost.

SPEAKER_06 1:00:01

And to chase her into that house? Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:04

Yeah, and then following her so deep into that house. Like the moment she goes into that house, you say, like, okay, this woman is not well, and that is not our problem. Uh, so we're gonna keep it pushing. But when they were like talking about the fashion show they went to, it made my skin crawl, and I was just like, There are people out there that are gonna be like, Oh, this is what gay guys are like, and I just made me really upset.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:23

Did you hear one of them almost slipped? Then that's how you know they're like doing ad lib, is like one of them almost said sweetie again. There was I heard it. Oh, it was like the worst ad-libbing. That was that was painful.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:35

Yeah, yeah. I think they only stood out to me in a slightly positive way because I felt like they were the only characters who got swept into this whole mess just by trying to be good people, um, trying to care for a stranger, things like that. Whereas the rest of them, honestly, they all had it coming to them. Uh they all try to break in and trespass, which hey, I'm a fan of trespassing into the occasional spooky place. Uh, but when you live stream on Facebook, I mean you kind of deserve to get stuck in there. I feel like for me, the characters were just lackluster, unspectacular. And it's interesting that Alexis and Ryan, that you both really like Jessica, because I feel like the only one who had a decent performance was Mitchell. Molly was overreacting, so was Jessica. Uh, Jessica wasn't indecent until she got to that police interview at the end. But even then, the only reason I'm saying it's good is because she had to go through those extreme ranges, uh, from either frantic and and allegedly traumatized to perfectly calm and spooky. But even the side characters, right? Jackson's mom, she had this delivery of they found they were coming from inside the hotel, and it felt like it was supposed to be when a stranger calls, the calls are coming from inside the house moment, like it's supposed to be this big build-up, and then it just nothing, just a whole lot of nothing.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:54

Those characters were so darn flat. It was it was really painful. I actually like you know how you watch just like a horror movie, and you're just like that one needs to die, or that one, oh my god, like please escape. I was like, I don't care. Like, whatever you guys want to do. That that's fine with me. It just like I just didn't really care about any of them. I mean, yeah, like Mitch's performance might have been a little bit more relatable than some of them, but he had his bad moments too. So, yeah, I mean, like watching this, like, I don't care if they're ghosts or not, they kind of already seem like they are.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:23

So, can I ask some clarifying story questions here? Please do. Okay, so I'm thinking about it now, right? So I just remembered um at the end in the like interrogation scene with Jessica, she starts at some point when she wasn't she wasn't saying anything, and then she starts saying something about like uh it's not like they described in the Bible or like it's a ring of fire or something. Okay, so so cool. So is the assumption that everyone died, but she's the one that gets to go out and seem alive?

SPEAKER_04 1:02:55

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:56

Okay, but there was only one like kill, even though we didn't see it.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:01

That's because they all got caught.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:02

Yeah. But why not let us know that both got got? That's not the point of this movie.

SPEAKER_04 1:03:07

Okay, I'm asking too many questions. Uh, because it is a shortcoming and a flaw, Ryan. That's why.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:13

Like, is Mitchell alive? She she made mention to a lot of blood, though, at some point.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:17

That's what I'm saying. It seems like I still feel confident that Mitch killed himself and then she was killed. Because it's like one kill that would make you want to think that she's still alive, and then you realize that she's also possessed, or what we're still at the point where we don't even know what to call it.

SPEAKER_04 1:03:34

Tully says to him, You pick Mitchell, you tell me which one's gonna walk out of here. What we're gonna walk out of those front doors. And that's why I think he killed himself. He never at any point says that they're gonna walk out alive. Right. Just like Sarah did in the first movie. It is just her vessel interacting with the with the world to bring people in, just like the 18-year-old girl who uh got got in the original movie, uh, who showed up as the hitchhiker for the couple who was doomed in calling her sweetie unnecessarily.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:04

Yeah. Uh like I I get that she's dead, but I'm just gonna, for no reason at all, just stand here to die on the hill that he killed himself there. They're all dead, so they're all dead, and that's what matters, honestly.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:17

Yes, they're they're all dead, and uh, I guess that's really is all that matters. But is that mystery or are these plot holes enough to keep you from ever watching this again? I don't need to watch this again.

SPEAKER_06 1:04:27

Same. But maybe I'll watch it again and not realize I watched it, so it'll be like the first time. There you go. It's like 50 first watches. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:36

Yeah, I'm good on never watching this again. I'm, you know what? I'm torn. No, I'm not. I'm not gonna watch this again. And you probably shouldn't watch it for the first time. Just saying it was a joke.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:44

Yeah. A resounding hell no, I won't go. I encourage people to watch this with friends if you want to have a good time, but this is not like a good watch this alone with the intensity of wanting to watch a really scary movie, unless you're Ryan, very specifically after waking up from a nap in the middle of the day.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:02

Listen, I'm just saying you can have some fun, okay? Watch the first one, watch this one. Really, because they should have just been one movie altogether.

SPEAKER_04 1:05:09

That's that's fair. Let's give it a shot. Now, Mac, what do you have for our fact or fiction?

SPEAKER_00 1:05:14

You know what? Tonight we're gonna go a little bit fact, a little bit fiction. We're gonna have a little bit of both, and it's all gonna be about the actors from this film. So forgive me when I mispronounce their names. But number one, Joy Schatz, maybe Shats, who plays Molly, had an intense fear of clowns prior to filming this movie. After weeks on set interacting with the producer who was in the clown costume, she stated she found clowns to still be a bit creepy, but mostly ridiculous.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:41

So many facts, I'm going fiction.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:43

I'm gonna say fact because they fucked in the clown costume.

SPEAKER_06 1:05:46

I'm gonna say fact because um she seems pretty real and clowns are real.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:52

Yeah, I'm I'm gonna go fiction only because you gave us too many details about that part, both how she felt before and after, and I feel like something. Wrong, but Alexis, you have a good point.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:01

Ooh, big mistake. If you said facts, because it's all fiction. And it's all fiction uh simply because I just completely made it up. Yep. Let's move on to number two. Jillian, friend of the show here, who plays Jessica Fox. I'm just kidding, she's not a friend of the show, but she's acted in over a dozen films, and she told Reddit that her first role was during an elementary school musical as a tree, during which she threw up from nerves and ran off halfway through.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:25

Fiction. Fact.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:26

I'm gonna say fact. Um, that seems plausible. This is a fiction, but I'm pretty sure this has probably happened to somebody.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:32

Honestly, this is Mac Make Steps Up.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:35

I did tell you there's gonna be some fact and some fiction. So we'll see how you do on number three here. Danny Bellini, good old Alex from number one, has recently been outed as a fan of sensual tickling.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:46

Fiction. A fiction because no one cares about this man.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:49

I know, and somehow his acting got worse in this one. I'm gonna say fiction.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:53

It's a fiction. And dear God, please don't spread this as a rumor or anything like that. Again, it's totally false. I'm not trying to yuck your yum. I'm just saying like this is not true about this person.

SPEAKER_03 1:07:03

You are Reddit right now, just making stuff up and sharing it with the world.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:07

You did originate the rumor, Mac.

SPEAKER_04 1:07:09

What we're really trying to do here is teach our listeners how to discern fact from fiction. That's all.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:15

That's all. I mean, you also accepted me when I said that there would be fact in fiction and said that's on you, because I never told you, you know, that I wasn't lying, I guess. So number four, Dustin Austin, who plays David Morris, has actually directed a film called Grindsploitation.

SPEAKER_03 1:07:31

Fact.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:31

I'm gonna say fact and also call him out for wearing a hair piece in this film.

SPEAKER_03 1:07:36

I'm gonna go fiction just based on the track record here.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:40

No, that's that's actually the only fact of the night, and that was our factor fiction.

SPEAKER_03 1:07:44

If you have too many C's, you gotta go B sometimes, but not always with Mac. He likes to go on a trend sometimes.

SPEAKER_04 1:07:51

Yeah, recalibrate that algorithm. We'll uh we'll we'll try again next week. Well, there you have it, a pack of lies. Hopefully this helps you on your quest to understand the news a little bit more. Remember, folks, to check your sources. There you have a folks Hellhouse LLC2, the Abaddon Hotel from 2018 has earned four hacks and one slash. We've discussed quite a bit here, uh, and even the slash that we have has brought up some pretty negative points against it, and even the hacks among us have some nice things to say. So we want to know what you think. Keep in mind there are a number of ways you can reach out to us, starting with our website, hackerslash.com.

SPEAKER_06 1:08:25

And on our Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:27

And if you understand why sometimes you say that a bad movie is a good movie just because it worked the time that you watched it, but maybe it sucks all the time otherwise, hit us up at our Hackerslash Hotline. Our number is 757-606-0128. You can text us, call asleep is a voicemail, or a spooky audio message.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:44

Or if maybe you fell asleep during this movie like me, and perhaps you think this is all a dream and you're actually still asleep, send us an email to feedback at hackerslash.com.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:52

Would that be a dream Al Mac?

SPEAKER_00 1:08:54

That would be indeed a dream ale.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:55

If you've enjoyed listening to our podcast, consider becoming one of our patrons. You can visit patreon.com slash hacker slash to earn cool perks for as low as one dollar a month. Perks like the rewind, where we revisit films from our archived episodes with the new perspective from our current team.

SPEAKER_04 1:09:09

Well, hot damn. We'll see you next time. Bye.