How "The Backrooms" Can Fix Internet Horror Movies
And why you should watch Kane Pixels' Backrooms series
What is the Backrooms?
The above post originated on the imageboard site 4chan, specifically the Paranormal subsection--or "board"--of the site. Despite the urban legend's origins on a controversial Internet locale (whose political culture I wrote a thesis on in college), the Backrooms has been one of my favorite creepy stories to come out of the site. With nothing but a basic, liminal space as its image coupled with a cryptic paragraph warning users of what happens if they "noclip" out of reality--as if the real world behaves like a glitchy video game--the Backrooms is an incredibly simplistic setting that leaves a lot up to the imagination. And, as most mysterious ideas on the Internet tend to do, the Backrooms was slowly inundated with literal layers of lore, monsters, and rules to follow by people who wanted to turn the story into something more expansive.
While I can't fault the level of dedication contributors to places like the Backrooms Wiki have to expanding on this very simple short story, I personally enjoy the smaller, more mysterious elements of the Backrooms. What makes me afraid of the Backrooms is how much is unknown about it, how much could be there, how the location could work, but with very few concrete answers as to how or why. For the Backrooms to work as a compelling setting, I feel like there needs to be less explanation and more mystery surrounding it. The Backrooms would have to exist as a place that, while it has certain rules and creatures involved, still can't be entirely comprehended by humanity.
Which is why Kane Pixels' Backrooms series is one of my favorite found footage horror series on YouTube. What started as an independent short film soon grew into a found footage/documentary blend that tells the tale of an alternate 1990's, where a scientific company studying the Backrooms seeks to use it for both humanity's benefit and to turn a profit. What impresses me the most about his series on a technical level is that it's almost entirely animated, yet is presented in a way that makes it feel real. There are real actors, realistic-looking settings, and voiceovers at times that match the character actions shown onscreen. All of this is presented in a blend of research footage, documentary-style reports, and dramatic scenes that feel more in line with a TV series than a YouTube project.
But outside of that, I have to be vague. See how "Kane Pixels' Backrooms series" is underlined up there? If you click that link, it will take you to a playlist of all the videos that make up his Backrooms series. Each of their descriptions also contains a date that tells you when on the timeline the videos take place. Because while most of them are presented in sequential order, there are a few outliers that add to the mysteries of his version of the Backrooms. I highly, highly recommend you click that link and watch through all of his videos when you get the chance. It's incredible stuff, especially for someone who is only 17 years old at the time of writing this blog post.
While I enjoy the simplicity of the original Backrooms story and I'm not too keen on expanding it anywhere past its eerie origins, Kane manages to stay true to the original tale while adding ideas of his own to the mix. I think what makes his version of the Backrooms so interesting is that it encompasses everything the short story does while also expanding on what makes it so terrifying. At the same time, though, Kane adds his own elements to the urban legend, elements that make his version of the tale unique and interesting. Again, I'm sorry to be vague here, but the series is truly a masterwork when it comes to expanding on an Internet myth without jeopardizing what made the original story such a scary concept.
At present, Kane Pixels has over 2 million subscribers because of the incredible work he's done on the Backrooms. But that's not his most impressive feat. Earlier this month, it was announced that, this summer, Kane will be teaming up with writer Roberto Patino to create The Backrooms, a film based on his series produced by A24 in partnership with 21 Laps, Chernin Entertainment, and James Wan's Atomic Monster. The four studios behind the movie are massive, and with Kane a the helm, it's likely the film will be a success. While it's unclear if the movie will be canon to the series he is currently creating on his YouTube channel or its own original story, Kane's position as the film's director means his vision is going to come to life on the big screen.
And I think this film has the chance to be something truly special.
Most people in the film industry don't understand Internet horror. They don't get what makes it work. It's just not their forte. The last time movie studios tried their hand at big-budget Internet horror, we got Slender Man. Presenting Slenderman--an Internet urban legend about a tall, faceless man in a suit that drives people insane before kidnapping them--as a multi-million dollar horror production was never going to match up to the likes of the no-budget Marble Hornets series, or the interconnected universe of TribeTwelve and EverymanHYBRID. Slender Man suffers from a major problem many big-budget productions based on Internet urban legends or scary stories (often dubbed "creepypasta") do: They took something that was made specifically for an Internet audience and tried to sell it as something for a general audience. Which is never ever going to work.
What makes Internet horror so unique is that it can come in a variety of forms. Short stories like the Backrooms or Candle Cove. YouTube series like Marble Hornets or The Mandela Catalogue. Online puzzles across a variety of social media sites like AshVlogs or EverymanHYBRID. Much of Internet horror is based around the unknown, the slow burn, or the collaborative efforts by users to uncover the mystery. It's also based on unconventional methods of storytelling, such as the vlogs of a supposed rich girl in "I Am Sophie," or the presentation of lost video game footage in "Valle Verde." Most of these stories cannot and should never ever be adapted for the big screen. Maybe they could work for the small screen, like Candle Cove did in Syfy's anthology series Channel Zero. But beyond that, nothing that I've listed above would ever work as a full-length feature film meant for general horror audiences.
But I think Kane's Backrooms series is different.
Many of the stories and series and puzzles I listed above often have tales that are obscured in a level of mystery that can only be solved through player interpretation or interaction. Marble Hornets, for example, has a companion channel, "totheark" (to the ark), featuring cryptic puzzles that explain certain elements of the main series. Some of these elements make totheark essential viewing for anyone who wants a full picture of what happens in Marble Hornets. A similar Slenderman-based series, EverymanHYBRID, relied heavily on user interaction and puzzle-solving across various websites for the audience to garner a full picture of everything. Due to how long the series ran for, the only real way to understand what transpired throughout is to watch lengthy recaps, such as those by Night Mind. While it works for online series because of how easily viewers can follow along in real time despite how widely-dispersed the story can be, something like that could never translate to film that well because those unique mystery elements would have to be stripped away from it.
But the Backrooms series isn't like that. While Kane will occasionally "hide" extra videos in the description or comments section of his main entries, and while not everything is presented in the order events happened, the series is almost always straightforward. The hidden videos across the series are often supplemental material that, while adding new details to the story overall, aren't required viewing for casual audiences. And, despite what I said about everything not always being presented in order, the way Kane does present the story makes everything that happens straightforward. The first few videos leave viewers with a couple of cliffhangers for later, but the way they pay off in those later uploads ties everything up in an expertly-crafted way. This isn't like the impressive but sometimes confusing analog horror stories of Gemini Home Entertainment or The Monument Mythos (which are both still fantastic series in their own right). Kane's Backrooms series very much feels like something that could essentially be an experimental television series.
Which is why I think it will work really, really well in film. The story is simple, but it isn't standard. Kane has crafted a tale that, while easy to follow, still has many layers of mystery and fear of the unknown attached to it. The story also has central, named characters with established personalities, too. While there are plenty of horror series that have this that can be found online, a recent trend has been to use horror ideas as a worldbuilding platform instead of to tell a straightforward story (but that's a whole other conversation for a different post). Because Kane's Backrooms series has many of the elements associated with the typical presentation of, say, a TV series, his videos already lend themselves to adaptation.
It's unlikely the movie will be made in the same vein as the found footage/documentary/drama mash-up Kane's series is. Given that the movie isn't being written by Kane, it will likely be filmed in a more standard way, establishing the setting, characters, and mysteries that arise in the same way most other Hollywood productions do. But, because of Kane's involvement, that added touch of his vision will inevitably make the film stand out. Kane's Backrooms series shows that he understands not only how to make good Internet horror, but also how to make it feel like something you could watch on TV without being something that could ever be presented in another medium. That weaving of mysterious Internet-centric presentation coupled with a clear story underscores his understanding of what makes his series work. Which is why I think he'll be able to translate it to film in a unique, interesting way, even if how the story is presented is different.
But the Backrooms film is much bigger than the Backrooms. Because, if successful--if done right--The Backrooms could signal a shift into more online horror being brought to the big screen in faithful, respectable ways.
One of the biggest reasons why Slender Man didn't work was because it never followed the established lore of the character. The film tried to change things that really didn't need changing in order to differentiate itself from Slenderman's pre-established Internet mythos. Why this was done is unclear, but what is clear is that the film suffered because of it. What makes Slenderman work is the terror that he's always watching. It isn't jumpscares or his direct interaction with the characters. It's the paranoia he instills in audiences, because you never know where he is. To some extent, Kane's Backrooms series does something similar. There is something lurking in the Backrooms, but you never know where it could be. While it could come out and jumpscare you, the danger doesn't end there. Because it loses you, but you also lose track of it. The tension is always building.
A common trend of online horror is that the most well-known productions rely on terror more than they do any other type of scare. Paranoia, terrifying situations, and eldritch unknowns are the three major ways in which online horror is presented. Kane's Backrooms series embodies all three of these aspects. Due to this type of horror--atypical of many a schlocky horror movie--being Kane's forte, his seat in the director's chair indicates this is the type of terror to expect when The Backrooms does hit theaters. Because something like that would not only reflect his pre-established Internet series; it would also make the film feel like it was crafted by him. It would not only appeal to fans of his existing Backrooms videos, but also underscore what makes Internet horror different from what you find in most horror films. Giving The Backrooms a similar tone--and maybe, in some subtle ways, a similar presentation--to Kane's YouTube series can also introduce new audiences to this unique brand of horror. Whether or not the general, non-Internet faring public would like it remains to be seen. But at least it would give the film its own identity.
Because that's really why The Backrooms has so much potential. Despite being a loose adaptation of a 4chan post, Kane's vision of the Backrooms is presented in a way that could only be molded by his specific vision. A vision that lends itself to a serialized, television-like story that still holds on to the mysterious, less conventional elements of Internet horror. While The Backrooms as a film may end up being a niche horror piece given its online origins, the film will still do well at the box office if it is presented right. The film will do well if it embodies what makes Kane's Backrooms series so effective. Otherwise, it would just be a forgettable horror movie with an interesting concept, but poor execution.
But I don't think The Backrooms is going to fall into that trap. With Kane behind the camera and an experienced writer in Patino penning the script, I truly think The Backrooms can be a great experience. Don't mistake my words, though: It will not "elevate" Kane's preexisting Backrooms project. To consider the translation of a story from one medium to another as "elevating" that story negates the impressive work that first, original version of the story achieved. Instead, I think The Backrooms can be a properly terrifying translation of Kane's work from one medium to another.
The production companies, Patino, and Kane himself are proof that The Backrooms has everything it needs to make it work. And I think, thanks to the mistakes of Slender Man and the overwhelming success of Kane's YouTube series, The Backrooms will stay true to its roots and deliver an edge-of-your-seat cinematic experience. The endless possibility of Internet horror kind of rests on the laurels of how well The Backrooms does critically and commercially. No pressure, right? But no matter what The Backrooms might mean for the future of horror films based on Internet series and urban legends, it's already shaping up to be a memorable film built around the knowledge of how to make Internet horror retain what makes it special on the big screen.
I'm looking forward to seeing The Backrooms on its opening weekend.
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