Editorials
Ti West and More Directed Segments for a ‘Conjuring’ Spin-Off Project You Probably Haven’t Seen
VICE’s “The 3:07 AM Project” gave four emerging horror filmmakers a chance to play around in ‘The Conjuring’ universe with minute-long morsels of murder.
The Conjuring has proven itself to be a worthy cinematic universe, delivering two proper sequels and a slew of spin-offs, with more creepy content on the way to further expand the multi-billion dollar horror franchise. The reception towards Ed and Lorraine Warren’s cinematic antics has somewhat cooled down in recent years and left audiences wondering if what’s currently on slate for The Conjuring universe will be its last hurrah or if “The Nun 3” or “Crooked Man Vs. Annabelle” are inevitable.
There are lofty expectations in place when it comes to The Conjuring IP, but there were also surprisingly ambitious plans in place even during the production of the original movie. A connected Conjuring universe may not have been on anyone’s radar yet. However, a sly piece of marketing for the first film, masquerading as a series of anthology shorts, technically functions as the start of a larger supernatural franchise. It also just so happens to include early horror contributions from Ti West, Nacho Vigalondo, and other emerging filmmakers who are now even bigger names in the industry.
“The Devil’s Hour” is said to be a haunted period of time, shortly after three in the morning, where the world is more susceptible to supernatural interference. It’s an idea that’s turned to in a number of horror movies, including The Conjuring. The first film even contains a cryptic reference to the mysterious time period in a short exchange between Lorraine and Ed Warren:
“She ran out to that tree by the dock, climbed up, proclaimed her love to Satan, cursed anyone who tried to take her land, and hung herself. Time of death was pronounced at 3:07 in the morning.”
“Well, that explains a few things.”
In this sense, it’s actually a compelling premise to use the fluid framework of “3:07 AM” as the basis of an anthology where directors can do whatever they want with “the most haunted time of the day.” This is exactly the approach that was taken by VICE for The 3:07 AM Project, a six-minute horror anthology that aired on the network to promote James Wan’s then-upcoming movie, The Conjuring (the collection even ends with an ad to see The Conjuring “this Friday”). The 3:07 AM Project isn’t anything revelatory and it mostly amounts to a fascinating experiment in minimalism. However, it’s still an interesting horror contribution that seems to by all means be forgotten and ignored. The 3:07 AM Project was never included as an extra on any of The Conjuring releases and even its IMDb listing remains incomplete. With contributions from Ti West, Nacho Vigalondo, Jason Eisener, and Max Landis, it’s absolutely worthy of discussion.
Each of the segments in The 3:07 AM Project are unconnected and tackle decidedly different corners of horror, each of which feel quite appropriate for these respective filmmakers, even more so now that a decade has since passed. Nacho Vigalondo’s (Timecrimes, Colossal) “This One, For the Lady” almost feels like a surreal VR experience. The short gets into the paralyzing confusion that exists when the lines between dreams and reality blur together. There’s a colorful, fun house aesthetic to it that speaks to Vigalondo’s filmography. Max Landis (Chronicle) is the directorial choice that’s perhaps the most from its time and his segment, “The Séance” is also given the most breathing room. The chaos that breaks out once the séance goes to hell is nothing new, but what’s interesting about the structure of “The Séance” is that it begins at 3:05 and embraces a few moments of normalcy before the clock switches over to 3:07 and all bets are off. This makes “The Seance” the lengthiest of the segments, but it’s frustrating that Landis doesn’t make better use of the limited time.
Ti West’s “Box” is one of the more frustrating contributions to The 3:07 AM Project. It’s a simplistic static shot that progressively builds tension, only to culminate in an easy, predictable jump scare. It’s the type of scare and editing that punctuates some of West’s earlier works like The Innkeepers. To be clear, “Box” looks incredible and the old-fashioned aesthetic that West turns to here makes it easily the most stylized segment of the lot. West’s desire to immerse himself in a specific filmmaking style has gone on to become one of the director’s trademarks, whether it’s in the period piece touches in The House of the Devil, the glossy found footage presentation style in The Sacrament, or the more genre-blending sensibilities that have fueled his most recent works, X and Pearl.
West has proven himself to have the most promise out of the filmmakers who are assembled in The 3:07 AM Project. “Box” comes across as a fitting piece to the larger puzzle of West’s filmography, but at the same time it feels like him punching below his weight here. “Box” works with its basic mission, but it could have aimed much higher. Finally, Jason Eisener’s (Hobo With A Shotgun, Treevenge, Turbo Kid) concluding entry, “One Last Dive,” is the most captivating and creative of the lot. The short largely plays out underwater and these murky visuals add a lot of atmosphere. “One Last Dive” gets a lot of mileage from the disturbing dissonance of seeing items like a baby carriage underwater and the final note that it goes out on is legitimately frightening. Curiously, the entire aesthetic to this short feels like a precursor to 2021’s The Deep House, an underwater horror film. Eisener’s short is close to being a decade ahead of the curve in this respect.
Overall, The 3:07 AM Project feels pretty disposable, but VICE does an excellent job with the rising filmmakers that it recognizes. Any of these names would have actually been interesting choices to handle one of The Conjuring spin-offs and could have likely done some exciting things with them. None of the shorts in The 3:07 AM Project would make for strong spin-offs on their own, but the horrors of Ti West’s “Box” do feel comparable to what’s later done with The Conjuring’s Crooked Man.
There’s such potential behind The 3:07 AM Project that it’s unfortunate that it didn’t amount to something more iconic, despite brief flashes of brilliance. Ultimately, sixty-ish seconds just isn’t enough time to create proper horror and even giving these directors three minutes apiece could have had transformative results. Considering that Ti West and the rest of the names assembled for The 3:07 AM Project have gone on to accomplish big things, this type of experiment would maybe be more worthwhile for them to attempt now that they’re all more seasoned storytellers. It would at least be interesting to see what the same filmmakers could do with identical restrictions after a decade of filmmaking and honing their craft.
If nothing else, Mia Goth contorting a twisted smile on screen for sixty continuous seconds would make for captivating cinema.
VICE’s ‘The 3:07 AM Project’ can be watched right here, on YouTube
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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