A24's New Horror Films Prove One Thing About The Future Of Scary Movies

Horror has consistently proven itself as one of the most flexible genres with its blending of tones, aesthetics, and voices. It's often a training ground for blossoming filmmakers on the rise, as they're frequently challenged to get their movie made with limited resources. Low-budget horror tends to breed creativity and, in certain cases, box office revenue. Just look at the careers of Sam Raimi, John Carpenter, and George Romero, all of whom have gone on to become some of our greatest filmmakers. You never really know when the next batch of talent is going to come out of the woodwork, and it looks like we have some new blood to keep an eye on.

A24 has given the go-ahead for Kane Parsons to make his feature directorial debut under their banner with "The Backrooms," a science-fiction horror film produced by James Wan's Atomic Monster (via Variety). The project is set to star Chiwetel Ejiofor ("The Life of Chuck") and Renate Reinsve ("The Worst Person in the World"), with plot details being kept under wraps. The wildest detail about this announcement, however, is that Parsons is only 19 years old, therefore making him the youngest filmmaker in the studio's history. That's an age where most folks are barely learning to figure out who they are in the adult world, and here's this fresh face working with one of the most prominent film distributors in the business.

It's a well-deserved chance of a lifetime for Parsons, considering "The Backrooms" was born out of the found footage YouTube series he created on his channel Kane Pixels when he was just 16 years old. The Gen Z talent's videos have become a kind of staple in the online horror sphere, garnering attention from all corners of the internet for the past few years now. (Parsons' other YouTube series, "The Oldest View," was heralded as one of the scariest horror movies of 2023.) He's able to conjure considerable dread and atmosphere with very little money, which gives the impression that he has a lot of cool tricks up his sleeve.

We can glean quite a bit of information from this exciting announcement, but one of the biggest takeaways is that YouTube is a hub for horror talent on the rise.

If "The Backrooms" wasn't reason enough to see YouTube as a focal point for fresh young talent, then all you have to do is look at what's playing in theaters right now. Danny and Michael Philippou got their start on the online video platform with their channel RackaRacka, and are currently riding the wave of their second theatrically-released horror flick, "Bring Her Back." The pair initially made a splash a few years back with the nasty 2022 possession horror film "Talk to Me," which has been given the greenlight from A24 to move forward with a sequel.

Although I personally believe "Bring Her Back" is a lot of slickly produced yet shallow provocation, it's undeniable that their work has captured people's attention, with /Film's Chris Evangelista heaping praise upon the bleak feel-bad horror flick in his review. YouTube is bursting with a bunch of soulless content, but up and comers with something to say will almost always sneak through the cracks and find an audience. The site is a much different place than it was when I was first discovering it, which can sometimes make me feel like I'm out of touch with what has become popular these days. Some may sneer at the idea of a platform home to Cocomelon and Mr. Beast videos producing a new crop of filmmakers, but just because something is removed from your generation doesn't mean there's no value to its popularity. A24 is incredibly wise to pay attention to what folks are talking about and give these creators an even bigger platform to let their artistry flourish.

Parsons and the Philippou brothers aren't even the first filmmakers to make the leap from YouTube to the big screen. David F. Sandberg, known on YouTube as ponysmasher, expanded upon his eerie "Lights Out" short with a feature-length horror film from Warner Bros., and has since worked on films from the "Conjuring" universe ("Annabelle: Creation"), the former DCEU ("Shazam!"), and the world of video game adaptations ("Until Dawn"). He even still uploads videos teaching valuable filmmaking tips and tricks based on what he's learned. Online film critic Chris Stuckmann had aspirations of being a filmmaker and, after years of his online presence, struck a deal with Neon to distribute his found footage directorial feature debut, "Shelby Oaks."

The best part of all this is some YouTube creators taking the initiative to make horror movies of their own, as is the case with Curry Barker's "Milk & Serial," which you can watch right now for free. The 2024 found footage horror film centers around some YouTube pranksters taking a joke way too far. Produced for $800 (you're reading that right), the hour-long feature is pretty impressive and has a darkly comic mean streak. It's only a matter of time until his ingenuity gets on the radar of a Hollywood higher-up.

Parsons is in some excellent company here, and his collaboration with A24 is only going to get more eyes on his work. But if we're looking at the breadth of how YouTubers can become sensations in Hollywood, we also need to take a look at another horror film from a few years ago.

Kyle Edward Ball's "Skinamarink" proved to be a very divisive film among general audiences, but for my money, it's not only one of the best horror films of 2023, but an era-defining influence to boot. It features a plot, albeit a slight one, following two very young children who wake up in the middle of the night to discover that their parents have disappeared, along with all of the windows and doors in their house. The camera fixates on ceilings, public domain cartoons and partial outlines of the children themselves. It's a viscerally upsetting avant-garde liminal nightmare that swallows you whole. The tension of "Skinamarink" is nearly unbearable, all without having to show anything that you would typically expect to scare you. It's one of few movies I've seen that I can easily quantify as evil from top to bottom (complimentary).

Before making his leap to the big screen, Ball got his start on his YouTube channel Bitesized Nightmares, where he would attempt to visualize people's nightmares. Many of these videos are still really creepy. Ball's 30-minute short entitled "Heck" is basically a test run for what "Skinamarink" would ultimately expand upon. The feature film, which Ball shot in his childhood home, became one of the most talked about viral horror sensations of 2023 after an illegally-distributed screener made its way across the internet. By the time Shudder and IFC came to a deal to distribute the film, it was on the minds of many horror fanatics. "Skinamarink" beat the odds and proved how wide-reaching YouTube horror can be. When was the last time you saw an experimental film garnering this much notoriety from the general public?

It proves that YouTube is a democratized hub for viewers to shine a light on content creators with something to say. Parsons' "Backrooms" videos play in a similar liminal space as "Skinamarink," but time will tell if he sticks to the understated approach of his YouTube videos or expands the scope of his canvas. There are a considerable number of online talents out there that we have yet to discover, and that's incredibly exciting. "The Backrooms" feels like only the beginning for Parsons, and I can't wait to see what array of horrors he has in store for us.

"Bring Her Back" is now playing in theaters nationwide.