Exclusives
‘Hell House LLC’ Creator Stephen Cognetti to Direct ‘A Body in the Woods’ [Exclusive]
Bloody Disgusting caught up with Hell House LLC creator Stephen Cognetti at Midnight Fest in Boston to learn about his next film, A Body in the Woods.
“I’m thrilled to get into something original and terrifying,” Cognetti tells me. “A Body in the Woods is something I wrote right after I finished the edit for Hell House Origins and was in a great horror mindset.”
He continues, “I can’t say much about the scripts details other than it’s super spooky and I can’t wait to begin filming, which will hopefully be sometime soon.”
A traditionally shot narrative horror film, A Body in the Woods will be Cognetti’s biggest effort to date.
Cognetti made his feature debut with Hell House in 2015 and returned to write and direct all four sequels: 2018’s Hell House LLC II: The Abaddon Hotel, 2019’s Hell House LLC III: Lake of Fire, 2023’s Hell House LLC Origins: The Carmichael Manor, and Hell House LLC: Lineage, which hits Shudder on October 30.
He also helmed 825 Forest Road, which arrived on Shudder earlier this year.
With Hell House and found footage behind him, it will be interesting to see where Cognetti’s career takes him next.
Stephen Cognetti at Midnight Fest
Exclusives
‘The Haunting of Pennhurst’ Exclusive Clip Trains Scare Actors For Historic Haunt in Tribeca Doc
The past and present collide in haunting, poignant ways in the genre documentary The Haunting of Pennhurst, which sees a Halloween haunt serve as a reclamation of true historic horrors.
Ahead of its world premiere at the 25th Tribeca Film Festival, we have an exclusive clip that sees scare actors in training for the Halloween season. The catch? This haunt is opening at the historic Pennhurst State School & Hospital site, a facility that caused immense harm to its disabled patients over decades of its operation.
In the documentary, “For over seventy years, Pennhurst State School & Hospital was called a place of care. What happened inside killed over half its population. It closed in 1987, leaving behind unmarked graves and an unresolved history. Today, on those same grounds, disabled performers – many living with the same conditions that once sent people to Pennhurst – put on their makeup, pull on their costumes, and prepare to scare people for a living.
“Through grit, compassion, and buckets of blood, the eclectic performers of the Pennhurst Asylum haunted attraction are wrestling with a space that is at once a lucrative business and a gravesite.”
The upcoming documentary hails from directing trio Nathan Stenberg, Mike Attie, and Katarina Poljak, who explore their socially-relevant subject through archival footage, first-hand accounts, and an immersive verité.
“Pennhurst has haunted us since we first passed through its dragon-tooth gates; the horrors of the institution echo through the site today. We are so grateful to bring this film to the Tribeca Festival, particularly the Escape from Tribeca section, which feels right for a story where past and present bleed together. We hope audiences leave unnerved and asking the same uncomfortable questions we did,” Attie, Stenberg, and Poljak said in a statement.
Watch the clip below that sees disabled and neurodivergent scare actors learning the ropes of a Halloween haunt, reclaiming the site’s grim history in the process.
Tribeca Screenings:
- Public 1 (Premiere) Screening – Friday, June 5 at 9:15PM at Village East by Angelika
- Public 2 Screening – Sunday, June 7 at 3:15PM at Village East by Angelika
- Public 3 Screening – Tuesday, June 9 at 6:15PM at Village East by Angelika
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