Maybe “cozy,” isn’t the first word that comes to mind when thinking of the Hell House LLC franchise, but they certainly fit the bill for lots of horror fans. In a take for another piece and another day, Stephen Cognetti’s found footage movies tap into that coziness sweet spot of parallel play and immersive theater (even in a meta way in the third installment). Veering from the found footage style, Cognetti’s latest, 825 Forest Road, holds onto the cozy spooky air of his earlier films. But with that, comes some of the usual missteps.

Similar to the Hell House LLC movies, 825 Forest Lane is location based and involves a haunted menace attached to a particular home. This is the home that Maria (Elizabeth Vermilyea who will be familiar to franchise fans) and Chuck (Joe Falcone) are moving into with Chuck’s struggling sister, Isabelle (Kathryn Miller). Chuck is attempting to swoop in for Isabelle in perhaps an attempt to reconnect with her after she suffered the loss of their parents. Shortly after relocating to the too-good-to-be-true home away from the bustling city, the group starts to notice strange goings on and prying eyes from concerned neighbours. Chuck starts to investigate the story of Helen Foster, a ghost who haunts the area, pushing its residents to suicide. With Isabelle as a risk for self harm, the group works to find the location of Helen Foster’s missing home at 825 Forest Road to break the curse before it comes for their small family. Told in small parts- from each of the main characters’ perspectives- the audience learns more about how they have arrived at the cursed locale and how they are trying to protect themselves and each other.

The multi-perspective structure isn’t quite Rashomon, but it functions well enough to give the audience breadcrumbs about what is happening in each of the characters’ rooms, though it cuts off some story elements for no real narrative reason. It pays off the most for the leading women when the story ends up a bit of a tale of supporting each other. If I were perhaps to give it too much credit, I’d nod to the feminist subversion of the perspective switch in how it tosses out the lead skeptic of the bunch in favour of a new view of the women supporting each other in their difficult experiences. Then there’s the “mental illness horror” of it all, which isn’t completely egregious but probably is tired and potentially objectifies the issue by using it as an easy entry point. It’s ideas about suicide and depression are potentially outdated, but they do tap into similar themes from movies like Smile about suicide as a contagion and depression befalling a generation of young people.

While this is his first feature outside of Hell House LLC, it’s very much a Film by Stephen Cognetti. Yes, there’s the haunted locale, but there’s also a lot of familiar scares including live streaming gags, moving mannequins, and creepy piano tracks. The haunted home locks them in to torment them, and there is the deterministic plot built around the characters’ old art. So, this movie isn’t breaking any molds nor is it a campaign for the creator’s versatility, but it is perhaps more evidence that his movies can adapt a familiar style to make more media for those looking for a comforting fright. It has the same quality of Things Heard & Seen where it perhaps doesn’t all stack up to a flawless narrative, but it allows for the sweater-clad-tea-sipping comfort of someone bopping around a small town thinking about a ghost. The Hell House LLC movies often forecast their own scares with talking heads which allows the audience to comfortably brace for scares that feel like controlled burns. 825 Forest Road is a feature length version of that.

So, will this latest Shudder haunted house have you begging your friends to fall in love with the newest ghost, or making comparisons to the best of Mike Flanagan’s work? Perhaps not. But if you’re the type of person who likes the terror that comes with invisible guard rails and the right amount of nightmare fuel, 825 Forest Road is shrieking to be added to your regular list. What can I say? I’ve already watched it twice.

825 Forest Road streams on Shudder April 4, 2025