Backrooms

[SocksAndTheCity]

I don't really know where to start with this - I've seen the directors YouTube series and quite a few other Backrooms videos (although I don't think it matters if you haven't and it's definitely a standalone film) and liked them, but I suspected the off-kilter creepiness might be spoilt a bit in a shiny full scale production.

It definitely wasn't IMO, and the atmosphere of tension and dread was all there in spades; anybody expecting a straightforward linear narrative probably won't enjoy it, but parts were genuinely like being trapped in a nightmare and I was with it all the way 😀

Definitely not for everyone but incredibly impressive for a twenty year old director. Great performances too and I think they actually built the set, which I never want to see in real life ever.

I really want to see this! Glad to hear it's good as a standalone. How scary on a scale of 1-10?

My daughter saw it and loved it. I’ve seen one of the YouTube episodes and that was enough for me. Absolutely terrifying!!!! I agree the creator (now director!) is so talented.

It was excellent, and properly creepy. I also enjoyed the slow pace which is rare in movies these days.

Oh so did I! It was a real treat not to have a constant crash bang wallop of STUFF HAPPENING! because somebody somewhere thinks that's the only way to keep people engaged.

There's barely even a plot, to be honest. What is there is mostly to get the characters into the backrooms in the first place, where not a great deal happens but everything that does is somehow incredibly unsettling.

It really depends on what you find scary, I think. There was one moment where I nearly fell out of my seat but that likely wouldn't bother others, and those looking for trad type jump scares won't find anything much, but the scary bits (even if it's just barely seeing a glimpse of something disappearing around a corner in the background) are so well done I found myself holding my breath a few times without even noticing 😂

Just saw it today and not a big fan TBH. I can see why it will do well with critics and people in general though just.....I like my horror more traditional.
It felt like there was alot of suspense build up and then not alot happening.
Abit like watching a really long episode of Black Mirror!😆

I have a ticket for this on Sunday - so I’ll be scanning reviews until then to ensure it isn’t the sort of mad axe man or body horror that would have me running, screeching, from the auditorium …

Just came back from seeing it- It was shit.

I loved it.

I watched all of the YouTube films and was really looking forward to seeing this film! I watched it yesterday, did not find it massively scary btw - loved it up until the bit towards the end (with weird "people" etc), I thought that bit was a bit of a sell out and unnecessary - too much explaining and it took away from the whole liminal space horror idea. I imagined the creatures to be a bit more sophisticated.

But overall - a really cool film! Loved the colour scheme and the design of backrooms, the room with a stair over a void is exactly what I had in my nightmares as a kid.

I dont know what to think about this one

Because I had no clue about episodes I went in blind and felt as if I was in a fever dream. I can see that the young director has huge talent

I was disappointed in the 'end' section though, it seened out of place with the rest

Saw it this afternoon. I enjoyed it, found it very intriguing & the time went very quickly. I didn't really have a clue what it was all about other than it being about the different characters' memories & thoughts. But it's more than that, reading up on it after

I didn't find it at all scary, one or two jumpy moments but that's all

I thought it had really excellent visuals and pace. The suspense built well. The actors were very good too. The backrooms are exactly how you would think they would be - disturbing and uncomfortable. The only down side was that to make it a film they had to create a story. It was good but didn’t quite work for me - once you see the monster it loses something. Still, better than most films I’ve seen in the last 10 years.

It was excellent until the end of the film was approaching where the film-makers had realised they had to provide an ending to satisfy the audience. What they provided was serviceable but a let-down in terms of what had gone before.

Still, worth a trip to the pictures for me. Even thought I'm not a fan of horror films as a rule.

The first 3/4 were brilliant, impeccable cinema. Really imaginative and well done. The last quarter was a bit predictable but that’s a very minor critique.

The sound design was so good. And I love the concept behind it. Basically, a crowd-created film. Hope this director does lots more.

I’m too scared to actually watch this movie, but find the cultural phenomenon behind it so fascinating.

That in around 2003 a ‘hobby store’ in middle America documented their renovations. Then the photos became part of the public domain. Then a random guy on a horror forum found one of the photos and uploaded it, asking others if they found it unsettling. That was the start of Kane Parson’s short movies (and of course Severance).

I totally agree @ComedyGuns - anybody can add their ideas and there are thousands of Backrooms videos and levels that have nothing at all to do with Kane Parsons version of it at all. Some of them are stupidly terrifying (and yet I will still watch them before I go to bed 🤣).

As a sidenote the references in press articles and reviews to 'Youtube filmmakers' when referring to KP and also Curry Barker (Obsession) are starting to irritate me. They are filmmakers.

That’s incredible - are they all done using Blender?

I'm the opposite to you - I knew nothing about this until I went to see the film with DS who explained the whole phenomenon to me afterwards (he thought I must surely already know all about it!) Since then I have gone down a rabbit hole of research. Personally, I think the actual idea of liminal spaces and backrooms is creepy as hell and I found the attempt to turn the film into more of a classic horror towards the end was unnecessary and actually detracted from its creepiness. Presumably Hollywood demands this. It's incredible to think the film was directed by a 20 year old and I was fascinated to see the original 2002 photo which sparked the backrooms phenomenon. I feel like I will be seeing backrooms everywhere now.

It was awful.