2026 suddenly went from a very bleak year for film with remake after remake and unoriginal idea after unoriginal idea flooding the cinemas but in a moment we suddenly have two of the years biggest horror movies dropping at the same time and the landscape has changed forever.
Hollywood has ran off familiarity for many years pumping sequels, remakes and any other cash grab they possibly can linking to an old well known franchises whilst throwing cash at marketing campaigns that capitalise on our nostalgia.
In steps two YouTubers who didn’t do any of that and delivered two of the most incredible horror movies that have been released for many, many years.
Obsession and Backrooms arrived to critical and fan acclaim and not only did they become profitable, they blew box-office numbers apart and outperformed every major studio release this calendar year and they don’t look like slowing down anytime soon.
Instead of the usual drop-off of box office numbers and attendance that you see with most films released Obsession refuses to slow down and is actually improving and keeping steady week on week which is unheard of.
Hollywood thinking has been blown apart and the success of these two movies was not an accident. These were fresh, personal and features that affected audiences on an emotional level which then turned into a viral conversation. Genuine discovery is as rare as marketing tool as you can get in an industry that relies on multi-million dollar marketing budgets but both of these films did just that, they organically appeared and grew beyond all realms of comprehension.
Chatter began and people suddenly wanted to go and see what all the fuss was about and after watching Obsession I came out of that theatre with chills, it was nothing short of a masterpiece and one of the best horrors I’ve seen in years. It spoke to audiences (and myself) on an emotional level and left me on tenterhooks throughout as discussed in my Obsession review.
Obsession and Backrooms are two very different horror movies with one transforming attachment style, insecurity and emotional fixation into a source of terror and the other ignoring a clear threat and giving audiences that sense of uncertainty and disorientation. What both films have in common though however are atmosphere and existential dread rather than convention monsters, spirits or any other typical horror movie entity.
Streaming, YouTube and other platforms have already started to steal the limelight from many Hollywood productions but when both of this years biggest film hits and not only horror movies but directed by YouTubers, the suits will have to sit up and pay attention.
No film-school or apprenticeships here just two YouTubers who know their audiences and delivered two solid films that have gripped the very generation they were catering their films to.
Long gone are the days when a big franchise could get people out of their houses and into their local cinemas, these types of horrors rewrite the rulebook and made two films so unbelievably hyped that curiosity to see if that hype was in fact true became too much to take. These films HAVE to be seen on the big screen and you’d be missing out if you didn’t.
Both films have left The Mandalorian and Grogu firmly in their review as both horrors have blown the box-office records and everything we knew about them wide open.
Internet culture is becoming mainstream cinema and both these films proved you don’t need superheroes, franchise sequels or billion dollar budgets to make a good movie.
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