Jump to content

User:Not0nshoree/Backrooms (webseries)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Not0nshoree/Backrooms
GenreFound footage
Analog horror
Science fiction
Created byKane Parsons
Inspired byThe Backrooms
Written byKane Parsons
Directed byKane Parsons
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of episodes15
Production
AnimatorKane Parsons
Original release
NetworkYouTube
ReleaseJanuary 7, 2022 (2022-01-07) –
present

Backrooms is a sci-fi horror web series created by American YouTuber Kane Parsons (known online as Kane Pixels). It is loosely based on The Backrooms urban legend. The series debuted in 2022 with the short film "The Backrooms (Found Footage)" which has over 56 million views as of February 2024. Parsons would expand his series to include fourteen more short films. The series is slated for a film adaptation with Parsons set to direct, alongside A24 producing.

The series revolves around Async, a fictional research institute that discovers the Backrooms and attempts to document and research it.

Development and themes[edit]

After making several Attack on Titan themed videos, Parsons was looking for "new things to do". He was in between projects and was inspired to create a found-footage style animation of the Backrooms after rediscovering a render he had saved some time prior. Parsons was vaguely aware of the Backrooms in terms of the original image and caption he saw on Instagram two years prior.[1] However, he was not aware of the community behind it. In an interview, he stated: "I came across the original image on my computer … and I just thought, huh, it would be interesting to see if I could go to my 3D software, Blender, and try to recreate a scene in this environment,".[2] He would use Blender to create a test animation of a chair in the Backrooms being thrown and hitting a wall. The shot would later be used in the first video of the series.[1] Parson's would use Blender alongside Adobe After Effects to create the first video. It would take Parsons a month to complete the short.

Michael Dobuski of ABC News would describe the themes of the series as "It's a slow burn story focusing on both the politics of Async and the United States government, as well as the otherworldly, confusing functions of the Complex, or The Backrooms."[2]

Reception[edit]

Reception for the series has been mostly positive. The first video of the series received positive reviews from critics. WPST called it "the scariest video on the Internet".[3] Otaku USA categorized it as analog horror,[4] while Dread Central and Nerdist compared it favorably to the 2019 video game Control.[5][6]

Kotaku praised the series for exercising restraint in its horror and mystery.[7] Boing Boing's Rob Beschizza predicted that the Backrooms, like the creepypasta Slender Man and its panned 2018 film adaptation, would eventually be adapted into a "slick but dismal 2-hour Hollywood movie."[8]

Parsons said he had "no idea" there was a fan community behind the original Backrooms legend, and recalled being surprised to see comments on his first video from people saying "You're doing the Backrooms wrong. What is this?" or "There's supposed to be smilers on level one." He said that this continued until eventually "people almost forgot about the old one" and his version had "sort of been adopted" by fans.[1]

Episodes[edit]

No.TitleDirected byWritten byLengthOriginal release date
1"Found Footage"Kane ParsonsKane Parsons9:14January 7, 2022 (2022-01-07)
In 1991 while filming a short film, a cameraman phases into the ground and suddenly finds himself in the Backrooms. He begins exploring his new surroundings, repeatedly calling out for help. Along the way, he feels like he's being watched. He is then led by drawn arrows to a wall faced with various graffiti. Among these is a drawing of a face and the words "Don't Move Stay Still". He then hears a sound behind him and turns to see a creature that begins to chase him. After being chased through several hallways, Kane manages to escape through a hole in the floor. He navigates through the lower floors and experiences various architectural anomalies. Eventually, he finds an emergency exit door that leads him back up to the same floor he initially fell in. After some time wandering, he is pursued by another creature. Hearing it approaching, he hides from it in a narrow gap in the wall, which leads him to a deep slope at the end. As he looks down, he hears a noise from behind him, and he turns around and the creature charges forwards and grabs him, causing him to drop the camera down the shute, which lands and falls through the floor, teleporting it. Now teleported back into the real world, it falls from the sky and lands on a lawn.
2"The Third Test"Kane ParsonsKane Parsons1:46January 13, 2022 (2022-01-13)
On July 2, 1998, the Async research institute would conduct a third test of their “Low Proximity Magnetic Distortion System”. A robotic narrator would explain that in April of that year, a press conference was held where the vice director of Async, Ivan Beck, would state the goal of the project was to address the growing housing and storage space crisis.
3"First Contact"Kane ParsonsKane Parsons1:57January 17, 2022 (2022-01-17)
On October 17, 1989, Async performs the sixth test of the Low-Proximity Magnetic Distortion System. The resulting surge in energy causes panic amongst researchers, who urgently request to a superior that the system be shut off. However, refuses and urges the test to continue. The test results in the opening of a gateway into the Backrooms (in-universe referred to as the "Complex").
4"Missing Persons"Kane ParsonsKane Parsons2:36January 28, 2022 (2022-01-28)
Reported missing person cases begin to skyrocket shortly after the opening of the Threshold. While on a routine expedition, Async employees discover a body sitting against a wall covered in a dark growth.
5"Informational Video"Kane ParsonsKane Parsons8:01February 12, 2022 (2022-02-12)
An instructional video regarding Async’s “Project KV31”. The video discusses the procedures regarding the exploration of the Complex. Async employee Peter Tench gets separated from his group in an expedition that occurred on February 29, 1990. Panicking, he searches for his group and explores his surroundings. He eventually finds his way back to the entrance only to find an observation area that was not there when he initially entered. His keycard allows him access to the room before the lights go red and an alarm sounds.
6"Autopsy Report"Kane ParsonsKane Parsons2:36February 23, 2022 (2022-02-23)
An autopsy is conducted on the body found in "Missing Persons". The medical examiner determines that growth is a malignant form of hay bacillus. The examiner inquires Ivan Beck as to where the body came from.
7"Motion Detected"Kane ParsonsKane Parsons4:07March 11, 2022 (2022-03-11)
In 1990, Async sets up motion-activated cameras in the Complex. A compilation video is made from all available recordings, most of which are Async employees walking in front of cameras. The last clip shows a dark mass peering from behind a wall in the distance.
8"Prototype"Kane ParsonsKane Parsons1:32March 28, 2022 (2022-03-28)
In 1982 Async began testing their prototype for their “Low Proximity Magnetic Distortion System”. A Metal ball is seen in the middle of a machine. The machine is activated and begins to emit sparks, before concluding shortly after.
9"Pitfalls"Kane ParsonsKane Parsons14:04May 1, 2022 (2022-05-01)
While on a routine expedition in the Complex, Async researcher Marvin E. Leigh falls into a hole when attempting to traverse across a room faced with deep pits[a] after being requested to record an unknown anomaly. While examining his new surroundings, Marvin hears a voice yell out from a half on his left. Against the advice of his colleagues, Marvin advances to the source of the sound suspecting someone was somehow in the Backrooms and may need help. Now finding himself in a neighborhood, he follows the yells to the last house on the road. Inside the house, Marvin experiences more anomalies before finding out the source of the sound was not a person, but a creature that pursues him back to the entrance to the hole, where his colleagues drop down a tether, allowing Marvin to climb back up.
10"Report"Kane ParsonsKane Parsons6:20May 20, 2022 (2022-05-20)
Higher-ups at Async review the footage recorded by Marvin in "Pitfalls". Startled by the existence of a hostile lifeform in the Complex, they seal off access to the portion of the Complex where the creature was documented.
11"Presentation"Kane ParsonsKane Parsons8:26June 25, 2022 (2022-06-25)
Async proposes plans for the potential commercialization of the Backrooms. On May 8, 1990, Async meets with the Department of Energy for contract negotiations. The meeting is abruptly interrupted when the Threshold outpost alarm is sounded. Over the surveillance cameras, the researchers see a distressed Peter Tench in hazard gear standing in the observation room.
12"Found Footage #2"Kane ParsonsKane Parsons13:23August 21, 2022 (2022-08-21)
A woman documents an anomaly in her garage before she falls into the Backrooms. After navigating her surroundings, she stumbles upon a car that had seemingly phased into the Backrooms from the ceiling before crashing into a wall. Following bloodstains from the car, she is led to a room full of dark plant-like growth. A creature then emerges from the growth and begins to chase her. She is eventually cornered into a dead-end when suddenly glowing green cracks in the walls light the room before the tape abruptly ends.
13"Reunion"Kane ParsonsKane Parsons13:11December 8, 2022 (2022-12-08)
On May 30, 1990, Async reopens access to room 14D. After being deemed safe to enter, numerous researchers go to the room and begin work on covering the holes in the floor. Meanwhile, three researchers, including Dr. Mark Blume, Marvin Leigh, and Randall Tachi are sent out to assess the room before 14D, which is far larger than 14D, and mostly unlit. After exploring the room for a while, the three are suddenly ambushed by a man who steals the shotgun Mark was wielding and turns it on them. The attacker reveals himself to be Tench, still alive months after he went missing. He explains how Async faked his death which destroyed his life. He is cut off when the group in 14D radio in. Mark requests armed assistance, stating his group was being held hostage, before being shot by Peter.
14"Overflow"Kane ParsonsKane Parsons1:38December 24, 2022 (2022-12-24)
On August 2, 1972, a machine system experiences a power overload. A green glow gradually fills an office room, and attention is given to a document clipped to a bulletin board, which displays the signature of Ivan Beck.
15"Damage Control"Kane ParsonsKane Parsons14:03January 30, 2023 (2023-01-30)
After shooting Mark Blume, Tench flees to the Threshold, and he successfully evades security and exits the premises of the facility. The next day, Async holds a meeting where they provide context to the events that happened the day before. It is revealed that after going missing in the Complex, Async had faked Tench's death to avoid suspicion and that after he was found alive, they kept him in the facility while they worked to reintegrate him. It is proposed that while in confinement, Tench began to fear Async was seeking to harm him, so he snuck back into the Complex. It is then revealed that after shooting Mark Blume and escaping the facility grounds Tench was found dead seemingly due to falling and landing on his head.

Film adaptation[edit]

On February 6, 2023, A24 announced that they are working on a film adaptation of the Backrooms based on Parsons' videos, with Parsons directing. Roberto Patino is set to write the screenplay, while James Wan, Michael Clear from Atomic Monster, Shawn Levy, Dan Cohen, and Dan Levine of 21 Laps are set to produce.[9][10]

Notes and references[edit]

  1. ^ Later revealed to be referred to as "Room 14D"
  1. ^ a b c Padilla, Anthony (2023). "I spent a day with BACKROOMS CREATOR KANE PIXELS". Youtube.
  2. ^ a b Dobuski, Michael (November 6, 2022). "The Backrooms: Horror storytelling goes online". ABC News.com. Archived from the original on November 8, 2022. Retrieved 17 June 2023.
  3. ^ Russell, Erica (17 January 2022). "'The Backrooms' Viral Horror Short Explained". WPST. Archived from the original on 31 January 2022.
  4. ^ Dennison, Kara (7 February 2022). "See Attack on Titan Through the Eyes of Backrooms Director Kane Pixels". Otaku USA. Archived from the original on 7 February 2022.
  5. ^ McAndrews, Mary Beth (14 January 2022). "'The Backrooms' Is A Found Footage Nightmare Freaking Out The Internet". Dread Central. Archived from the original on 31 January 2022.
  6. ^ Anderson, Kyle (March 22, 2022). "TERRIFYING BACKROOMS SHORT FILM IS ALSO SUPER IMPRESSIVE". Nerdist. Archived from the original on December 31, 2022. Retrieved February 11, 2023.
  7. ^ Walker, John (April 4, 2023). "The 4Chan Creepypasta That's Taking Over The World (And You May Not Even Realize It)". Kotaku. Retrieved April 10, 2023.
  8. ^ Beschizza, Rob (1 February 2022). "Explore The Backrooms in this short found-footage horror flick". Boing Boing. Archived from the original on 1 February 2022.
  9. ^ Grobar, Matt (February 6, 2023). "'The Backrooms' Horror Film Based On Viral Shorts By 17-Year-Old Kane Parsons In Works At A24, Atomic Monster, Chernin & 21 Laps". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on February 6, 2023. Retrieved February 6, 2023.
  10. ^ Burton, Carson (February 7, 2023). "YouTube Horror Series The Backrooms Is Getting Turned Into a Feature Film". IGN. Archived from the original on February 11, 2023. Retrieved February 11, 2023.

Works cited[edit]

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User:Not0nshoree/Backrooms_(webseries)&oldid=1216231948"