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'Backrooms' Stuns with $81M Debut
- peteforde 4mo agoI'm a long-term "OG" Kane Pixels fan. I took a friend to see the opening night preview and we both loved it. Anyone not familiar with Kane - who was 16 when he started making his "found footage" films in Blender - the guy is a truly brilliant mind. Listening to him talk... you can close your eyes and he speaks like someone middle aged. It's almost uncanny. Anyhow, in addition to his genuinely excellent Backrooms videos, I highly recommend you turn off the lights and take in his The Oldest View series as well. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjY897CCu4g&list=PLVAh-MgDVqvAwoFF5hJmtRrx86Yw-pdN1&index=2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjY897CCu4g&list=PLVAh-MgDVq... He painstakingly recreated a random demolished suburban Texas mall from archival footage. It's wild how good he is at this.
- idbnstra 4mo agoI’m pretty sure someone else did a majority of the mall recreation, but i may be wrong
- samtheDamned 4mo agoI wasn't aware he was behind the oldest view. That makes me more excited to see this movie because that was really good on what couldn't have been much of a budget to begin with.
- thrance 4mo agoThe Oldest View is really great. And it's surprisingly deep if you care to look into it a little.
- asmodeuslucifer 4mo agoIt's amazing how scary an obvious puppet in a grocery cart can be.
- tnvmadhav 4mo agohe also did a one shot found footage on the “attack on titan” final chapters. It was unsettling but maybe that was the point.
- deleted 4mo ago[deleted]
- Modified3019 4mo agoI really enjoyed it. I had no idea what a “backrooms movie” would end up being, but it was exactly what I could have hoped for having enjoyed his other work. Honestly creators from youtube putting out movies recently has probably been the most interested in going out to see something in years.
- portly 4mo agoI also thought obsession was decent. Spooked me a bit like horrors used to do when I was little.
- toomuchtodo 4mo agoHaven’t seen it yet, but it’s a fun trope from what I’ve read, there’s an old Tales from the Crypt episode that is a shorter version of it.
- ChrisMarshallNY 4mo agoI enjoyed Impulse. It looked a lot more polished than what I'd expect from an indie producer, though. I liked it, and it's a shame that it was killed. Kind of a "slow burn," though, so I think I know why it was killed.
- mbonnet 4mo agoThe potion seller guy wrote Challengers
- wewewedxfgdf 4mo agoI saw it. I'm not a young Internet kid. And I enjoyed it - it's quite clever, I never cringed at terrible dialogue, people behaved in ways that you would expect them to in strange circumstances. Worth seeing. Amazing it was made by a 20 year old.
- Zetaphor 4mo agoYou should definitely check out his YouTube series if you haven't seen it and want more context
- deleted 4mo ago[deleted]
- squidsoup 4mo agoShowing alongside Obsession, another horror film made by a YouTuber.
- unsnap_biceps 4mo agoNeither of these two movies are my jam, but I'm glad they are finding success. It's giving me hope that we're going to get a revitalized movie industry focusing on new IP and talent.
- candlemas 4mo agoAnd Iron Lung earlier this year.
- iluvcommunism 4mo ago[dead]
- lwansbrough 4mo agoI think people are excited for new ideas in cinema. A24’s track record is far from perfect, but I respect their willingness to try things. In my opinion, this movie is no exception. Very meandering and largely devoid of any real plot. Did a good job holding the tension at points, but ultimately fell flat in delivering on that tension. Probably worth a watch if you enjoy the genre. If you’re someone who just enjoys a good story, this is a pretty easy skip.
- ramenat2am 4mo agoThat really shows the hunger for original stories and IC among cinephiles. Major studios were too afraid to produce something fresh instead of numberless sequels and reboots in the last decade or so.
- petercooper 4mo agoThis year seems to be turning a bit of a corner. Of the top box office movies so far this year there's Michael, Project Hail Mary, Hoppers, Wuthering Heights, GOAT.. with Obsession and Backrooms rapidly rising. Last year it was basically F1 and Minecraft (and while not sequels, both are arguably well known "franchises" outside of movies - but I guess MJ and Wuthering Heights are too ;-)).
- torben-friis 4mo agoWuthering Heights was a remake, and Hail Mary was also a safeish bet since it's a novel by the same guy as The Martian. Not to say that it isn't an improvement, but we're still pretty far from seeing American cinema catching up to the world stage in originality, let alone to the golden Hollywood era.
- peteforde 4mo agoI don't think it's a hot take to say: give Kane Parsons the keys to the kingdom.
- muglug 4mo agoAnd Michael was based on some of the most expensive & beloved IP in the world (extremely popular with Gen X despite everything)
- mrandish 4mo agoAt least Hail Mary was an original IP with no built-in sequel opportunity. These days, I'd be happy if more major studio, big budget releases were adapted from original IP books. Sadly, I heard that the studio is apparently trying to figure out how to make a Hail Mary sequel (sigh).
- aaron695 4mo ago[dead]
- ChrisArchitect 4mo agoThe what? Horror something? ....started on 4chan? Yeah, immediate aboutface here. And reading wiki articles about it that throw around words like "creepypasta" like that's widely understood? Liminal spaces I get. Reminds of Severance. And anyways, how is this worth going to a theater for? <Shrug> A24 has done well. Is 81M considered breaching 'mainstream'? Because these niche horror things being portrayed as part of the greater 'culture' is tiring.
- peteforde 4mo agoThis is not the reaction of someone trying to keep an open mind, especially given that this isn't your usual cup of tea. If you can get over your preconceived notions, I'd bet that you'd really enjoy this movie. It's extremely well executed and genuinely unsettling without ever getting gory, comedic or stupid.
- cheschire 4mo agoI must be the weirdo for not wanting to feel unsettled like that. Doesn’t reality have enough unsettling stuff? Why pile onto that? Give me comedy. Oh how I miss the 90 minute comedy movie.
- peteforde 4mo agoWhat I find unsettling is that large swathes of mainstream society seem to consistently tack towards safe, unchallenging pablum. Why watch Parasite when you could watch a Happy Gilmore sequel? I'm not saying this to be contrarian or give you a hard time. You should watch whatever makes you feel joy. However, you shouldn't be surprised that for a lot of people, music, movies, television and books (I kid, I kid) that don't surprise, challenge, shock, confuse or inspire us feels vapid, hollow and intellectually insulting. Long live the counterculture. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujJ8talVp90 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujJ8talVp90
- kikokikokiko 4mo agoI would rather go watch Weekend at Bernie's for the 100th time.
- dgan 4mo agoI practically never watch any movies because they are almost always trash, but decided to go watch Obsession after seeing a youtuber (penguinZ) talking positively about it Yeah it's pretty good. I am in my late 30. Excited for Backrooms which isnt yet available
- fmajid 4mo agoChiwetel Ejiofor is a phenomenal actor, that probably helped. This is more of an indictment of Hollywood’s creative bankruptcy than anything, strip-mining Star Wars or Marvel will only take you so far.
- deadbabe 4mo agoNow that Backrooms has been a hit, I wonder if we’ll ever get a House of Leaves movie, which was somewhat of an inspiration for the original backrooms lore.
- smithcoin 4mo agoI swear I used to see shorts or reels with a Kevin Bacon version of the House of Leaves story
- squidsoup 4mo agoHouse of Leaves form of hypertextual academic satire is so firmly bound to the written word that it would be un-filmable, but you could make a film from the Navidson Record (and it would potentially be much more interesting than Backrooms).
- deadbabe 4mo agoThe Navidson Record is the most interesting part of House of Leaves. Everything else is pretentious literary indulgence.
- Jordan-117 4mo agoI recall Danielewski sharing a spec script for a possible TV series some years ago. Appropriately, it referenced itself and treated the show as a real thing within its own universe. In the meantime, claymation studio Laika has a faithful adaptation of "Piranesi" in the pipeline. It's more dreamlike and beautiful than gothic horror, but it does center on a similar concept of an infinite structure existing beyond physically reality that reflects human thought in enigmatic ways.
- atleastoptimal 4mo agoAll they had to do was simply hire a talented person who knows how to make compelling narrative art. This is lost on the movie industry, though Hollywood has been treading water for over a decade now, failing to examine its failures and coasting on inertia. In general, there is sooo much free money on the ground for large, hierarchical American corporations to do the following 1. Give young talented people resources and freedom 2. Don't put them through endless bullshit internal status games The reason why the tech industry in the US thrives so much is partially due to the fact that it is one of the few industries that gives people high salaries and agency in their roles without a huge amount of experience. Almost everywhere else is just an artifically gated series of internal politics, nepotism and pointless rituals in too-big-to-fail industries, which attract people who prefer these games over actual results.
- Triphibian 4mo agoI saw a Youtuber recently make a compelling argument that one of the features Hollywood has been missing is the pipeline of young, imaginative talent that music video direction used to provide. Backrooms, Iron Lung, etc. make a good case that YouTube can be that new pipeline.
- Triphibian 4mo agoI suppose if The Daniels were the last directors to enjoy the music video > Hollywood path then Neil Blomkamp might be the proto-example of Internet content > Hollywood.
- jtokoph 4mo agoMy first thought is that it would be the very successful YouTubers that get approached by hollywood. And those people are already doing well for themselves independently and would most likely not want to move to the corporate culture without creative control.
- ip26 4mo agoThat's the exactly the role talent scouts fill - spot the ones that show glimmers of promise before it's obvious, and offer them opportunity.
- moralestapia 4mo agoGlad to see another 4chan original going mainstream. <:)
- spartanatreyu 4mo agoNo spoilers below: The movie was great but it's not a stand-alone movie, it is a small piece of the full story so don't go in thinking that everything will be explained and tied up in a neat little bow. The movie takes place in Kane Pixel (the movie director's) youtube series: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVAh-MgDVqvDUEq6qDXqORBioE4Yhol_z https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVAh-MgDVqvDUEq6qDXqO... It makes a lot more sense if you watch the full youtube series first.
- collinmcnulty 4mo agoI am aware of the existence of the web series but have never seen any of it, and I felt it was a great standalone experience. The lack of explanation I think worked really well.
- breezybottom 4mo agoI don't know, it made sense enough to me — movies don't have to explain everything to work. I actually appreciate that there wasn't a big lore dump, I don't care about any of that.
- daveisfera 4mo agoBut they should do something. The first 1 hour or so was very well done and engaging, but then it just wraps up all of the sudden without digging into or addressing any of the topics they brought up. It wasn't bad but it wasn't great either. I'd say it was an interesting YouTube series of crazy ideas to watch as a few shorts, but not enough there to warrant a movie.
- mrandish 4mo agoI haven't seen the movie yet. While the entire YT series is good, the part I liked best (and am most interested in going forward) was the later episodes where some mysterious organization starts exploring the Backrooms for unknown reasons. I really dug the more sci-fi X-Files / Stranger Things vibe than straight horror but the web series stopped before that direction was ever developed. It sure felt like it could be going somewhere really interesting. To fair, the original WTF appeal of the web series' creepy Backroom vibe was great but it did start to get a little tired for me right before Kane expanded things beyond the initial "I'm trapped all alone in this endless place." But I've never been a big fan of horror plots that revolve too much around "two minutes of suspenseful creeping" building to an inevitable jump scare. Now that the movie is doing great, I'm hoping we'll get a follow-up that further develops the later parts of web series and keeps going.
- HDBaseT 4mo agoSucks this film had exclusivity rights for different cinemas.
- Triphibian 4mo agoBackrooms and a new Boards of Canada record coming out on the same weekend feels like some kind of cultural signal.
- njoyablpnting 4mo agoAlso consider that Backrooms features a song from the new Boards of Canada album
- Triphibian 4mo agoLiminception.
- yoz 4mo agoMind absolutely blown by this
- prvc 4mo agoThe new Star Wars movie grossed $81.6 million at its debut last weekend, for comparison.
- mrandish 4mo agoThe Mandalorian TV series wasn't bad but the Star Wars franchise has been in reset/turnaround for ~7 YEARS (since the last movie). It's incomprehensible that Disney bet their relaunch on a spin-off streaming series based on a tertiary character miraculously swimming back upstream from online to cinema. The two leads are a guy you never see and a small puppet (with the big reveal new character being a CGI alien). As great as they were, C3PO, Yoda and Chewbacca couldn't have carried Empire Strikes Back as the leads. What was Disney thinking?
- overfeed 4mo ago> What was Disney thinking? "We continue to make a shit-load of money off toys and merchandizing"
- ndsipa_pomu 4mo agoAndor is the now the gold standard for Star Wars productions - serious themes, adult oriented, great writing and top tier acting. The Mandalorian was definitely aimed at a younger audience.
- bluefirebrand 4mo agoI think Mando season 1 is what Star Wars should be. A space themed throwback to old pulp novels, cowboys and samurai and pirates, with a veneer of lasers and spaceships painted on top. Andor is great, don't get me wrong. But Star Wars is best when it's pulp adventure stuff.
- ndsipa_pomu 4mo agoWell George Lucas did borrow a lot of stuff from samurai films (The Hidden Fortress being the main one), so that is a return to its roots. Personally, I think that Firefly did the cowboys in space a lot better, but maybe that's due to better writing. I did enjoy the Mandalorian, but it's a bit too shallow.
- yobid20 4mo agoomg my family we all went to see this today and we were all raging at the end. this is one of the dumbest movies any of us have ever seen. no plot. no point. complete waste of my life that i will never get back.
- hanzeweiasa 4mo ago[flagged]
- kev009 4mo agoI wonder how much of this is a kind of alternate nostalgia like Vaporwave. Similar to the aesthetic draw of Severance. Wandering around the halls of some functional institution was definitely a childhood past time of mine. Now still wondering how our parents and grandparents enjoyed private office space, lounge furniture designed by professional celebrities like Eames, and time, doing more with less. Now stuck at home or wandering in some open plan space that looks like college kids got permission to use a charge card at Ikea.
- ejj28 4mo agoInterestingly enough, the original Backrooms creepypasta was cited by the creator of Severance as one of his inspirations for the show.
- schlauerfox 4mo agoI'm convinced it's from the old JCPenny/Sears/mall back hallways that were minimally decorated that housed the photo studio and layaway filtered through the eyes of a 5 year old.
- haunter 4mo agoThe music from the new Boards of Canada album (which just got released this weekend) was the cherry on the top for me
- frozenseven 4mo agoThis is where internet lore and 'YouTuber'-made movies will begin to pass stuff like Star Wars and the DCU in popularity and the mainstream consciousness. Backrooms will gross just as much as the Mandalorian movie and the upcoming Supergirl flop, if not more. Glad to see it. In terms of good will, this point was passed well over a decade ago.
- ChicagoBoy11 4mo agoWhat is the recommended way to watch this? Watch the movie first AND THEN try to see the YouTube content, or vice-versa?
- jakebasile 4mo agoI saw the film without seeing the YouTube stuff and didn't feel like I missed out on anything. The film is self contained (and excellent).