Kane Parsons has become a horror phenomenon, with his A24 film Backrooms crossing $100 million at the box office and introducing mainstream audiences to the eerie liminal spaces he first explored on YouTube. But while the film is a standalone hit, it quietly nods to another of Parsons' projects—his 2023 YouTube series The Oldest View—hinting that both stories may exist in the same terrifying universe.
For those unfamiliar, The Oldest View is a six-part series (four narrative-driven episodes plus two abstract bookends) that has racked up tens of millions of views. It centers on Wyatt, a YouTuber who discovers a seemingly endless staircase in a forest, leading to an underground replica of the real-life Valley View Mall in Dallas, Texas. There, he encounters a rolling giant effigy of 19th-century botanist Julien Reverchon—a figure rooted in Dallas history—that stalks him through the abandoned corridors. The series is a masterclass in found-footage horror, blending Parsons' signature visual effects with a deeply unsettling atmosphere.
In Backrooms, the connection appears subtly. Early in the film, viewers see a sign for "Reverchon Ventures" at a demolition site—a clear callback to the Reverchon giant and the mall's destruction in The Oldest View. The sign reappears in the film's final moments, suggesting that the same corporate entity may be responsible for the nightmarish spaces in both stories. This isn't just a throwaway Easter egg; it ties together themes of memory, architecture, and decay that run through both works.
Parsons has always been fascinated by the way familiar places can turn sinister. In Backrooms, the endless hallways resemble hollowed-out retail spaces, much like the underground mall in The Oldest View. Both projects use real-world locations—Valley View Mall, demolished in 2023, and the generic commercial spaces of the Backrooms—to explore how time and neglect warp our memories of once-warm environments. The Reverchon giant, originally a parade float created by artist Kevin Obregon, becomes a tragic guardian in Parsons' hands, adding pathos to the horror.
For fans eager to dive deeper, all six episodes of The Oldest View are available for free on Parsons' YouTube channel, Kane Pixels. While it's unclear if the series is complete, it offers a fascinating companion piece to Backrooms. With the film's massive success, Parsons' twisted imagination is sure to have a bigger canvas going forward, and these interconnected stories hint at a larger mythology waiting to be explored.
If you're a fan of psychological horror that lingers long after the credits roll, check out our list of Top 10 Psychological Thrillers of the Last Decade. And for more spine-tingling recommendations, don't miss Rebecca Hall's 'The Listeners' on Starz, a haunting slow-burn thriller about a mysterious hum.
