A24's 'Backrooms' Film Loses the Eerie Minimalism of Kane Parsons' Original Videos
By
Nicholas Russell
If you only eat one bagel today, this is the bagel.
Summary
A review/analysis of Kane Parsons' "Backrooms" YouTube videos and the subsequent A24 film adaptation. The article discusses how Parsons' original found-footage videos captured the eerie, liminal-space horror of the Backrooms concept (originating from a 4chan thread), and argues that the expanded A24 film version loses some of the unsettling weirdness and minimalist dread that made the originals so effective. The piece explores internet horror culture, the transition from viral online content to mainstream film production, and what gets lost in translation.
Key quotes
· 3 pulledI remember it well because the video—impressive on its own for being slick, professional, and, crucially, scary—quickly racked up views over the course of a few days.
The Backrooms concept, born from a 4chan thread imagining an endless series of drab and empty yellow-tinted rooms that look like abandoned '90s conference halls.
Sometimes otherworldly beings dwell in these places, wh
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