The Backrooms (Found Footage) - 2022

[fluffyenderpug]

Contains spoilers for the short, which can be found here

When I clicked on this short (it was the first thing that popped up when I tried to look into the Backrooms), I was fully expecting it to be silly, over the top, and not scary at all. After all, one of the biggest criticisms of the Backrooms isn't the concept itself, because liminal spaces can be creepy, but it's how people use the concept. Many people turn it into more of its own universe and miss the point. This surprised me by not doing that.

For one, most of it doesn't even have a monster, and when it does, it's used very wisely. We only see the monster in snippets, so the stressor mainly comes from the sounds it makes, and the fact that the place seemed uninhabited only moments earlier. I firmly believe that audio is one of the most useful tools when it comes to scaring people. The game "Ellen" is only really scary because of its use of audio, and it can be a very effective thing if used properly, which I believe this short does.

Another thing that I've seen people point out is how realistic the cameraman is- You'd expect the victim in a short like this to be screaming and whatnot when, in reality, one would probably be more inclined to silence in this situation. I know I would. Out of the whole flight, fight, freeze response thingy, he goes with flight, so it makes sense that he wouldn't use his energy for something like screaming. Not only because his body is already doing 50 other things, but because it would just attract the monster.

The video does a great job of building tension through things like audio and the pure idea of being chased. I got nervous for him, and I hardly ever get freaked out by horror content, so that was a neat surprise, feeling actually freaked out by this little internet video. Also, I'm not 100% sure on this but I'm pretty sure most of it was animated (because some things look too smooth/unrealistic for it to be an actual set for a low budget short made by a teenager and also there are a lot of comments about that). If so, that just makes this all the more impressive.

TL;DR - This short film had no right being as good as it was, and I'd highly recommend watching it

[classichorrorfan]

That one is pretty intense, reminding me of the ending to "The Beyond," directed by Lucio Fulci. It also reminded me of some hospitals that are set like that, feeling like real life mazes. Overall well done.