Backrooms (Kane Parsons, 2026)

[HardNight'sDay]

I decided to look up some Backrooms like films. I already found one called Backrooms Bigfoot released this year. No, I'm not kidding even if I tried.

[The Curious Sofa]

...and of course there is Amityville Backrooms.

We'll certainly see more horror movies based on creepypasta and other viral content. The next high profile adaptation along those lines will be Siren Head.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movie ... 236634292/

[colinr0380]

Was thinking about this earlier: Since Parsons/A24 can’t reasonably claim to own the concept or even the name of the Backrooms, couldn’t anyone capitalize on this film’s success by releasing their own Backrooms movie?

Probably, although there could probably be a convincing claim made that Parsons is a key element of the success of any such project, however much backed up by his studio, producers and Boards of Canada adding to the mix. That is partly why it was such a good move to get him doing the musical score as well, along with all of the allusions to elements in his series, because those are the aspects that are distinctly his. And whilst it may seem that Parsons was plucked at random off of YouTube, it strikes me that it would be hard to pick out another distinctive voice from the other Backrooms video makers that a film production company could partner up with to create a rival series, or something like that. And as the American Horror Stories episode and Amityville: Backrooms show, it maybe cannot be left entirely to Hollywood themselves to tackle the material either!

According to yesterday's Red Letter Media video, apparently Spielberg and Amblin have picked up the rights to Alex Kister's The Mandela Catalogue series (i.e. the one about evil alien dopplegangers that have existed since Biblical times. My grasp on the convoluted lore of that one is not too strong as yet), which makes sense since that is one of the other viral internet series with the most developed lore out there (and Mr Isiah "Wendigoon" has done interviews with Kister as well over the years, including a live stream with both Kister and Parsons together); and the next entry in the V/H/S anthology series is going to be SCP Foundation-themed, in official collaboration with that site. So both of those things would likely never have happened without the success of Backrooms.

(Although the biggie 'internet horror' series with masses of lore surrounding it that would be amazing to see adapted would be the Cloud Atlas-esque epic MotherHorseEyes series, though my dreams of Thomas Pynchon being brought in to adapt it for Paul Thomas Anderson, or Ari Aster in Beau Is Afraid mode, might be a little optimistic!)

[domino harvey]

There are a few ancient Reddit NoSleep/LetsNotMeet stories that could be fun on screen (the lamp story, the smiling man, the guy who went on a camping trip with a bunch of people and realized there was one extra person with them the whole time, the killer furby-like doll) but some of these corporate choices are bizarre

[Mr Sausage]

the guy who went on a camping trip with a bunch of people and realized there was one extra person with them the whole time

That one's been done in an army context in the intermittently good Korean horror film R-Point.

[domino harvey]

I’ll keep an eye out for it! I tried looking for this story’s post but couldn’t find it - I remember the guy taking a group picture and everyone looking at it after and being unable to see any extra person in the photo, even when counting out an extra person when going person to person with their finger on the photo. Something really unsettling about that detail for me!

[colinr0380]

A24 have just put up the film for pre-order in UHD and Blu-ray editions. Extra features are:

"Everything Must Go" Bonus Footage (16m)
Feature commentary with Director Kane Parsons, VFX Supervisor Edward J Douglas, Sound Designer Eugenio Battaglia, and Composer Edo Van Breemen
“Building the Backrooms” Featurette (26m)
VFX & Scene Breakdown with Kane Parsons (16m)
Prop Walkthrough with Kane Parsons (1m30s)
Two VFX Breakdowns with optional commentary (5m and 2m)
Six Collectible Postcards

Plus they have additional items such as the score on vinyl and an edition of The Yellow Wallpaper Zine guest edited by Parsons. Plus an ASYNC mug!

[domino harvey]

You’d think they’d include some of the initial YouTube videos too

[mfunk9786]

I’m always puzzled as to why A24 calls these shop exclusives. Yeah, they’ve had a few special edition exclusives released through their site, but this will almost certainly end up on Amazon, etc within a few days.

[pizza time!]

You’d think they’d include some of the initial YouTube videos too

I'd assume because the youtube traffic is Kane's bread. Giving it up for a blu-ray extra would be quite a concession on his part.

But then, who really knows what's going on legally.

[The Curious Sofa]

I recently argued in favour of horror films in response to accusations of unoriginality, because I don't believe that originality necessarily distinguishes a good horror film. However, this film does things that I have genuinely never seen done before. And if any film this year deserves an Oscar for Best Production Design, it's this one. I also liked that

Spoiler

the denizens of the Backrooms are similarly spatially distorted when they are finally revealed.

Admittedly, the characters and plot aren't particularly memorable, but they are just your guide to taking you on this ride and what a ride!