Red Mosquito

It's a beautiful movie, you are the one who should be embarrassed. (By your post)

still haven’t seen it

Ello Sailor wrote: Sun June 21, 2026 7:57 pm

Farmer John wrote: Sun June 21, 2026 2:02 pm So far my favourite thing about letterboxd is seeing all the movies LV has given half a star to (Killers of the Flower Moon?!)

See? Attention-seeking behavior.

Let him cook!

bart wrote: Sun June 21, 2026 8:42 pm still haven’t seen it

Me either

Backrooms........ good

Farmer John wrote: Sun June 21, 2026 9:49 pm

Ello Sailor wrote: Sun June 21, 2026 7:57 pm

Farmer John wrote: Sun June 21, 2026 2:02 pm So far my favourite thing about letterboxd is seeing all the movies LV has given half a star to (Killers of the Flower Moon?!)

See? Attention-seeking behavior.

Let him cook!

Never let lil bro cook again.

Backrooms was cool, but I was kinda annoyed by some of the decisions they made compared to the shorts, which are more disturbing to me. Especially with how they got in.

Despite its feature length, it felt smaller.

BurtReynolds wrote: Mon June 22, 2026 4:13 am Especially with how they got in.

The more I think about it, the more this pisses me off.

Spoiler: show

One of the best concepts of Backrooms is the idea that you can randomly hit an edge wrong in the real world and accidentally clip into the backrooms, where you are completely fucked unless you can accidentally bump out again (in which case you are still probably fucked). Why did they replace it with a lame magic doorway? Terrible decision. It robbed the movie of a lot of tension. I suspect it's because of worries that general audiences would be too confused.


and...

- the rooms are too varied and cluttered. It robs it of the liminal space feel. The endless, stark, office space hallways are a lot more terrifying than a bunch of familiar items strown about. One could almost build a life in the movie version. In the originals, you're fucked.

- Too much emphasis on the monster(s). The real terror of Backrooms was the rooms.

I feel like some edges were rounded off.

Despite this, it was a nice little movie. 3 stars

BurtReynolds wrote: Mon June 22, 2026 4:56 am

BurtReynolds wrote: Mon June 22, 2026 4:13 am Especially with how they got in.

The more I think about it, the more this pisses me off.

Spoiler: show

One of the best concepts of Backrooms is the idea that you can randomly hit an edge wrong in the real world and accidentally clip into the backrooms, where you are completely fucked unless you can accidentally bump out again (in which case you are still probably fucked). Why did they replace it with a lame magic doorway? Terrible decision. It robbed the movie of a lot of tension. I suspect it's because of worries that general audiences would be too confused.


and...

- the rooms are too varied and cluttered. It robs it of the liminal space feel. The endless, stark, office space hallways are a lot more terrifying than a bunch of familiar items strown about. One could almost build a life in the movie version. In the originals, you're fucked.

- Too much emphasis on the monster(s). The real terror of Backrooms was the rooms.

I feel like some edges were rounded off.

Despite this, it was a nice little movie. 3 stars

You are describing exactly what I was worried this movie would be but was so relieved it wasn't.

Spoiler: show

Structurally, how would this feature length, character-based movie have worked if there were no way the characters could enter and exit the backrooms consistently? I understand that "clipping in" randomly and being stuck is scarier, but while that makes sense in a short film, that would be a tough solve for a feature with multiple characters. This was a smart change.

Personally, I don't find "liminal spaces" scary at all and I think it would have gotten boring quickly if everything were just empty all the time.

Thank GOD for the monsters. Again, I was so relieved this movie had ACTUAL horror imagery and not just a bunch of empty rooms.

They crafted the concept into a fun adventure framework (similar to As Above, So Below), which goes a long way toward giving it a sense of scope and scale and momentum. I think every point you're making would have made it worse.

LoathedVermin72 wrote: Mon June 22, 2026 1:03 pm

BurtReynolds wrote: Mon June 22, 2026 4:56 am

BurtReynolds wrote: Mon June 22, 2026 4:13 am Especially with how they got in.

The more I think about it, the more this pisses me off.

Spoiler: show

One of the best concepts of Backrooms is the idea that you can randomly hit an edge wrong in the real world and accidentally clip into the backrooms, where you are completely fucked unless you can accidentally bump out again (in which case you are still probably fucked). Why did they replace it with a lame magic doorway? Terrible decision. It robbed the movie of a lot of tension. I suspect it's because of worries that general audiences would be too confused.


and...

- the rooms are too varied and cluttered. It robs it of the liminal space feel. The endless, stark, office space hallways are a lot more terrifying than a bunch of familiar items strown about. One could almost build a life in the movie version. In the originals, you're fucked.

- Too much emphasis on the monster(s). The real terror of Backrooms was the rooms.

I feel like some edges were rounded off.

Despite this, it was a nice little movie. 3 stars

You are describing exactly what I was worried this movie would be but was so relieved it wasn't.

Spoiler: show

Structurally, how would this feature length, character-based movie have worked if there were no way the characters could enter and exit the backrooms consistently? I understand that "clipping in" randomly and being stuck is scarier, but while that makes sense in a short film, that would be a tough solve for a feature with multiple characters. This was a smart change.

Personally, I don't find "liminal spaces" scary at all and I think it would have gotten boring quickly if everything were just empty all the time.

Thank GOD for the monsters. Again, I was so relieved this movie had ACTUAL horror imagery and not just a bunch of empty rooms.

They crafted the concept into a fun adventure framework (similar to As Above, So Below), which goes a long way toward giving it a sense of scope and scale and momentum. I think every point you're making would have made it worse.

Spoiler: show

I don't think it would be a tough solve at all. Plenty of movies throw characters together into a hostile environment and have them work it out in there. Giving them an easy escape is pretty lame and relies on the characters being really stupid to keep them there.

Liminal spaces aren't inherently scary, but they do evoke a strange and interesting emotional response in me. I'm not saying it should have been nothing but empty rooms (the shorts aren't that either), but as it was, it wasn't particularly scary to me. It just felt like a weird place on the other side of the walls, not a terrifying lovecraftian revelation that the world we inhabit is just a facade.

Anybody ever see Vivarium? I need to watch that again and compare.

Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die

That was fun. Heavy handed, sure, but fun.

I forgot that as I was leaving, I found a piece of popcorn that fell into my pocket in the theater, so I got a bonus treat. So I'll add a half star to my letterboxd review.

BurtReynolds wrote: Tue June 23, 2026 1:27 pm I forgot that as I was leaving, I found a piece of popcorn that fell into my pocket in the theater, so I got a bonus treat. So I'll add a half star to my letterboxd review.

This is why I don't rate most things

should i watch bone fuckin tomahawk?

Why did NIN put so much effort into the absolutely terrible TRON: Ares? They even exec produced it! So weird. The score absolutely rips but it's odd to hear it over such a depressingly flat and empty movie.

welp, "Bone Fuckin' Tomahawk" indeed, indeed

you re goddamn right it is

Broker
American Fiction

I enjoyed both. Something between 3.5 and 4 stars (out of five)