Finding a horror movie that actually feels like a documentary is a rare win. When Hell House LLC dropped in 2015, most of us weren't looking at a IMDB page; we were staring at the screen wondering if that "clown in the basement" was a hired actor or something much worse. It felt gritty. It felt unpolished in the best way possible. A huge part of that magic came down to the Hell House LLC cast, a group of mostly unknown actors who managed to sell the "found footage" trope without the typical overacting that usually kills the vibe.
They weren't stars. Not then. Honestly, that's why it worked.
The Abaddon Hotel Crew: Meet the Original Hell House LLC Cast
If you’ve seen the movie, you know the drill. Five friends head to rural Pennsylvania to set up a haunt in an abandoned hotel. It’s a classic setup, but the chemistry between the leads makes the inevitable tragedy actually hurt.
Ryan Jennifer Jones played Sara Havel. She’s essentially the heart of the group, and her performance is grounded in a way that makes the later scares feel earned. Unlike many horror protagonists who scream at every shadow, Jones played Sara with a skeptical but increasingly terrified edge. Then you have Danny Bellini as Alex Taylor. Alex is the driven, somewhat stubborn leader of the group. Bellini’s performance is pivotal because his character’s refusal to leave the Abaddon Hotel is the engine that drives the plot toward its disastrous end.
The rest of the core team included Gore Abrams as Paul, the guy behind the camera for much of the film, Adam Schneider as Tony, and Kristin Michelle Taylor as Trudy.
What’s wild about this ensemble is how they handled the "camera-talk." Most found footage movies feel scripted. This felt like five people who had actually been working in a basement for three weeks and were sick of each other's jokes. It’s that mundane friction that makes the supernatural stuff pop.
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Why Theodore Bouloukos Stole the Show
You can't talk about the Hell House LLC cast without mentioning the man who brought a strange, corporate chilling energy to the franchise: Theodore Bouloukos. He played Martin Lansing.
Bouloukos wasn't in the hotel during the "incident." He was the survivor being interviewed years later. His performance provided the framing device for the entire story. There’s a specific scene where he’s showing the documentary crew the footage, and the look of sheer, vacant trauma on his face does more heavy lifting than any jump scare could. He returned for the sequels, becoming a connective tissue for the lore. He has this way of speaking—clipped, precise, and deeply unsettled—that makes you feel like he knows something the audience really doesn't want to find out.
The Faces Behind the Clowns and Ghouls
It’s easy to forget that the monsters in this movie were often played by people, even when they looked like static props. One of the most terrifying elements of the Abaddon Hotel is the "Man in the Cone Mask" and the various clowns. While the film relied heavily on practical effects and actual mannequins to create an atmosphere where you never knew what was alive, the physical presence of actors in those suits during the "staged" haunt scenes was what created that claustrophobic panic.
Director Stephen Cognetti has often talked about how they used the physical space of the Waldorf Estate of Fear in Lehighton, Pennsylvania, to their advantage. The cast wasn't just on a set; they were in a real, functional haunted house attraction. That environment likely bled into the performances. When you see the Hell House LLC cast looking genuinely creeped out by a dark corner, it’s probably because that corner was actually creepy.
The Evolution of the Ensemble Across the Sequels
As the franchise expanded into The Abaddon Hotel, Lake of Fire, and the recent The Carmichael Manor, the cast list grew significantly.
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- Vasile Flutur joined the fray as Mitchell Cavanaugh in the second film. His role was to dig deeper into the mystery, playing a character who was perhaps a bit too obsessed with the tragedy of the first film.
- Jillian Geurts took the lead in the second installment as Diane Graves. Her performance was a stark contrast to the first film's cast, bringing a more professional, journalistic skepticism that slowly disintegrated.
- Elizabeth Vermilyea appeared in the third film, Lake of Fire, which attempted to wrap up the original trilogy's complex mythology.
The shift in the Hell House LLC cast over time reflected the shift in the movies themselves. The first was a raw, low-budget indie. The sequels became more "produced" and lore-heavy. Some fans missed the simplicity of the original five, but the newcomers like Bridger Antonio and Destiny Leilani Brown in The Carmichael Manor (2023) managed to bring back that feeling of "real people in a bad situation."
Authenticity Over Star Power
Why does this specific cast matter more than, say, the cast of a big-budget Blumhouse flick?
It’s about the "E-E-A-T" of acting—Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. In horror, you "trust" an actor if they don't look like they're waiting for their trailer. The Hell House LLC cast consisted of actors who were hungry. Many of them haven't gone on to become household names, and in a weird way, that preserves the "truth" of the movie. When you watch Ryan Jennifer Jones, you don't see a celebrity; you see Sara.
This anonymity is a tool. Cognetti used it brilliantly. If he had cast a recognizable face from a CW show, the illusion of the "recovered tapes" would have shattered instantly.
What Happened to the Original Five?
People always ask: where are they now?
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- Danny Bellini has stayed active in the indie scene and has even done some producing.
- Ryan Jennifer Jones continues to work in film and television, though horror fans will always see her as the girl who just wanted to open a successful haunt.
- Gore Abrams has a few credits to his name but has largely stayed out of the mainstream spotlight, which only adds to the "what happened to Paul?" mystery for hardcore fans.
Practical Insights for Horror Fans and Creators
If you're looking at the Hell House LLC cast as a case study for why found footage works, there are a few takeaways. First, chemistry isn't optional. The actors spent time together before filming to ensure they felt like a cohesive unit. Second, the "less is more" approach to acting—where characters underreact to small things—makes the big reactions believable.
If you’re planning a rewatch or diving into the series for the first time, keep an eye on the background actors. The "extras" playing the patrons of the haunt during the opening night disaster were local volunteers and haunt enthusiasts. Their genuine confusion and the chaotic blocking of that scene are what make the "staircase incident" one of the most discussed moments in modern indie horror.
Next Steps for Fans:
- Watch the Director’s Cut: There is a director's cut of the original film that features more interaction between the cast members, giving more depth to their relationships before the chaos starts.
- Check out The Carmichael Manor: This 2023 entry features a new cast but bridges the gap back to the original hotel, proving that the "Hell House" universe is bigger than just one building.
- Follow the Waldorf Estate of Fear: If you want to see where the cast actually filmed, this real-life haunt in Pennsylvania is still open and offers tours that lean into the movie's fame.
The legacy of the Hell House LLC cast isn't found in awards or box office records. It’s found in the fact that, nearly a decade later, people are still pausing the frame to see if that person in the background was an actor or a ghost. That is the highest compliment you can give a horror ensemble. They made us believe the haunt was real.