When it comes to horror movies, I am somewhat desensitized to the usual tricks of the trade I'm not interested in jump scares, I'm a gore hound, and I'm not interested in mundane possession So while most of them are still interesting, they rarely bore me with their methods I often crave horror that gets under my skin and leaves a lasting impression That's why I was so surprised by the 2015 found footage film “Hell House LLC,” now available for free on Tubi

From beginning to end, the film is dedicated to being as unflinchingly realistic as possible Because of this, “Hell House LLC” is believable and feels like it could have happened It's super hard to get the found footage format right, and in fact, I find myself frustrated when I see it employed without any regard for what could have happened in real life

However, “Hell House LLC” shook me up one night when I saw it on a whim Just in time for Halloween, here's why you should watch this movie on Tubi, one of the best free streaming services you can find right now, if you haven't already

The setting is original in its simplicity: a group of up-and-comers in the “haunt” industry set up a haunted house in an abandoned hotel with a horribly tragic past The fact that it goes horribly wrong means the worst

Fifteen deaths were the result of a “malfunction” that occurred in the midst of the haunt's first real run-through After the tragedy, producer Diane Graves (Alice Bahlke) spends time interviewing each survivor and the people involved in making the haunted house attraction a reality But as she learns more about what really happened, the truth becomes even more improbable as the assumed answers raise more questions What happened and why? And what are the creators of the haunted house not telling us?

By portraying all of this as a real-life documentary, Hell House LLC instantly feels like it could have actually happened It's easy to imagine coming across something like this in a copy-pasta-subredit or true crime series and, as I did, be initially enthralled

To enjoy horror films the way they are meant to be enjoyed requires a certain amount of immersion For me, a large part of the illusion is natural and believable acting: although Ryan Jennifer Jones, Danny Bellini, Gore Abrams, and others are not celebrities, I sometimes wondered if I was watching a real argument between friends or business partners, or if I was watching acting

As they plan and build their haunts, their relationships and personalities feel like people you might encounter in real life, from the way they interact to the way secret feelings and resentments surface over time This makes it more impactful when things start to fray

The behind-the-scenes details of the haunted house attraction production are also accurate I have visited real-life haunted houses (and know people who have worked there and married there), and everything in this film felt real, from the cheesy props to the stressed-out staff to the arguments and squabbles

“Hell House LLC” creates all this fear and anxiety without resorting to terrible CGI or incredibly silly ghoul and ghost designs The scares are subtle, in the background and out of focus, and are frightening through restraint and suggestion rather than the over-the-top silliness we often see in this genre

If you want a more unique and believable found footage horror, “Hell House LLC” will fit right in And if you get absolute terror from this film, you can watch the sequel

“Hell House LLC” is available for free streaming on Tubi right now No subscription fee is required, but you will need to watch some ads; Tubi is available on several different devices, so you will most likely be able to watch it on the streaming device you use to watch your favorite shows and movies

Stream “Hell House LLC” on Tubi now