From 'Backrooms' to 'The Blair Witch Project' Reboot, YouTubers Are Leading the Future of Horror

The upcoming Backrooms movie, set to be released in theaters May 29 by A24, has already generated much discussion for one reason: Kane Parsons, who created the anthological series on YouTube in 2022 that reached over 190 million people, was only 19 years old when directing actors Renate Reinsve and Chiwetel Ejiofor on set.

"It was not serious in the sense that I had a desire and plan," Parsons recently told Esquire of his original YouTube creations. "I didn't think all the things I was putting out would stick. I assumed it would flop on YouTube."

Clearly, those YouTube videos did anything but "flop." Made for under $10 million, Backrooms is already tracking to be an early summer hit, with an estimated $20 million U.S. opening.

Backrooms is just the latest horror film helmed by a filmmaker that got their start on YouTube, a platform allowing aspiring directors to organically build an audience before ever making any official Hollywood connections.

One of the most critically acclaimed horror films of the past five years, 2023's Talk to Me, was directed by Danny and Michael Philippou. The pair of Australian filmmakers got their start on YouTube through a channel called RackaRacka, which currently has nearly seven million subscribers. The two most recently directed 2025's Bring Her Back, starring Oscar-nominee Sally Hawkins, and are helming a much-anticipated sequel to Talk to Me.

The upcoming The Blair Witch Project reboot was recently announced to be directed by Dylan Clark, a horror filmmaker who built a dedicated fanbase through his low-budget shorts on YouTube - many of which he directed while attending film school. Last December, Clark was officially attached to direct and co-write a feature-length adaptation of his popular short, Portrait of God, which was filmed in a college classroom.

Not all of these filmmakers built their audience through making short films, though. Chris Stuckmann, who directed last year's release Shelby Oaks with the support of powerhouse indie distributor NEON, gained his fanbase through reviewing and critiquing movies online. He even managed to gross nearly $1.5 million toward the film's budget on Kickstarter.

Other recent examples include Lights Out director David F. Sandberg (who went on to make 2019's Shazam!) and Skinamarink director Kyle Edward Ball. Overall, the YouTube-to-filmmaker pipeline is one of the most exciting trends. In an increasingly competitive industry where connections and luck mean everything, filmmakers like Parsons, Clark and Stuckmann are proving there is no one "right" way to make dreams - or nightmares, in this case - come true.

This story was originally published by Men's Journal on May 11, 2026, where it first appeared in the Entertainment section. Add Men's Journal as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

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This story was originally published May 11, 2026 at 4:22 PM.