Editorials
You Turn A Corner. What’s the Most Terrifying Thing You Run Into?
One of my favorite things to do with horror movies is to try and put myself in the shoes of the victims/protagonist. I do my best to empathize to see how I would react under those same circumstances. And while I find that many of my choices would probably lead to my inevitable demise, there are just as many if not more times that I would be one of the few standing when the credits roll. Just don’t ask me about my fate in the sequel…
Sometimes, I like to take that a step further and create scenarios for myself that aren’t based on any one particular scene. It’s a fun way to keep my mind sharp and think about how to react under pressure. Then again, I recognize that there are situations where I’d probably freeze, completely lose all ability to function, and basically just resign myself to fate.
Below are a few of those situations. Check them out and then tell me what would terrifying thing would break you if you rounded a corner and came face-to-face with it.
Junji Ito’s ‘Gyo’ – This Walking Shark Monstrosity
First of all, I’m not sure how this walking shark could get the jump on me around the corner. After all, it stinks to high heaven. That being said, if I made this turn, I’d probably pull one of these. No sir, thank you, goodbye, I’m fine.
The Mist – The Mantis Creature
The Mist is one of those movies that is brilliantly composed. While the main characters may be under siege from interdimensional monstrosities who kill without discrimination, the real villains are the ones lurking inside the supermarket, the ones that we thought were our friendly neighbors.
Still, I could run into any of them around a corner and simply ignore them, pass them, and continue on my way. But this Mantis-esque creature? That’s something that will make my heart leap into my throat and see me run faster than Usain Bolt.
Eight Legged Freaks – Giant Spiders
If ever there was something that would make me collapse into a ball and weep uncontrollably, giant spiders would be it. Hell, even regular spiders scare the absolute shit out of me!
But seriously, the thought of being captured, wrapped in a spider cocoon, and then feasted upon later is absolutely sickening. I’m having a hard time just writing this part of the post because I have such a case of the heebie jeebies right now.
Judging from the unprecedented box office success of Kane Parsons’ Backrooms adaptation, you’ve likely already seen the liminal horror hit that managed to make audiences afraid of empty hallways and bad wallpaper. And now that so many of us have already entered the yellow labyrinth (some of us more than once), the time has come to discuss the spoiler-filled details that make the movie so fascinating in the first place.
And if there’s one element here that makes the Backrooms movie stand out from any previous lore/mythology, it has to be the genius addition of the Still Life entities. Warped recreations of real people that somehow wandered into the Complex, these misremembered creatures are responsible for some of the most disturbing imagery of 2026 – as well as laugh-out-loud memes created by one of the film’s very own concept artists.
However, true to Parsons’ word that the movie would rely heavily on practical effects, each of these distorted monsters was brought to life by real actors under heavy layers of makeup and prosthetics (with the occasional splash of CGI enhancements). While Anora and If I Had Legs I’d Kick You actress Ivy Wolk wasn’t among these performers, despite what Letterboxd might have you believe, the creature cast did benefit from veteran players with plenty of genre experience.
For starters, Alien: Romulus alumni Robert Bobroczkyi (who previously brought that film’s horrific Offspring to life during its most memorable sequence) plays the flick’s main antagonist, the Still Life version of Captain Clark. And though there was some obvious CGI involved in making the character’s peg-leg and nightmarish face more believable, Bobroczkyi’s monstrous performance and his natural 7’7″ frame helped to make that final chase sequence a clear highlight among this year’s genre offerings.
The film’s Texas-Chain-Saw-inspired “dinner” scene also features a freaky collection of less-aggressive Still Life creatures in the form of the Bearded Man, the Red-Headed Woman and, strangest of them all, the cheekily named “Archibald Leland Sutter Still Life” (who earned this title among fans and crewmembers as a reference to his apparent affinity for lamps).
While this was the first major horror outing for both Patrick Baynham (The Bearded Man) and Dana Mahmood (Archibald), Rhiannon Roberts has worked as a stunt performer in everything from Yellowjackets to HBO’s The Last of Us adaptation – which is probably why The Red-Headed Woman is the most active out of Clark’s impromptu “family.” That being said, the Archibald Leland Sutter Still Life is my personal favorite of the bunch simply because his anachronistic outfit suggests that the Backrooms phenomenon might be a lot older than the Async Foundation. I also love how hard he tries to be helpful with that little light of his!
That might be it for the Still Life entities, but I think horror fans will also be pleased to hear that the film’s Found Footage prologue stars none other than Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City star Avan Jogia as Naren Warne – and American Mary herself Katharine Isabelle also shows up in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo at Mary’s house party towards the middle of the story (though I have a feeling that she originally had a bigger part that was likely cut for time).
At the end of the day, Parsons’ Backrooms may have been an auteur-driven project motivated by the young director’s unique take on the classic creepypasta, but film has always been a collective artform, so it’s fun to see just how many talented performers it takes to bring this kind of supernatural nightmare to life in a way that connects with so many people.
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