Between this and “Obsession,” the Youtuber-turned-horror director pipeline just keeps on rolling!

“Backrooms” is based on the internet creepypasta series created by Kane Parsons, who makes his feature directorial debut here. In the film, a furniture store owner (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and his therapist (Renate Reinsve) discover a dimension of seemingly endless spaces in the basement of his store. Directors James Wan, Osgood Perkins, and Shawn Levy are among the film’s producers.

Of all the recent Hollywood trends, the one of Youtubers becoming mainstream horror directors is one of the more interesting. Chris Stuckmann (“Shelby Oaks”), the Philippou brothers (“Talk to Me” and “Bring Her Back”), Mark Fischbach (“Iron Lung”), and most recently Curry Barker (“Obsession”) all began their careers online (some of them in comedy, not even horror) and have made their way to the big screen. The results have been mixed: the Philippous and Barker’s projects are oft-cited as some of the best horror films of the decade while Stuckmann and Fischbach’s are largely already forgotten. “Backrooms” lands somewhere in the middle of those, with Kane Parsons showing some promise behind the camera but a thin script and stretched concept leave the film itself feeling pretty standard.

Creepypasta-inspired films like “Slender Man” often have a hard time adapting to feature-length, since their very concept is to be a lore more than a full-on event. The idea of “Backrooms,” a hidden world of liminal spaces to get lost in, is indeed a creepy one, but it lends itself to a ten-minute short or indie video game than a two-hour movie, and the overextended story is felt here.We get a few brief moments of attempting to give our characters depth (Chiwetel Ejiofor is a failed architect who still can’t come to terms with his divorce) but they don’t really come into play or make us care about them.

Kane Parsons is only 20 years old, so getting the reins to a $10 million Hollywood film that stars two Oscar nominees is certainly an impressive way to begin a career. He shows some promise and grasp for how to create and hold space with the camera, but I think he needs to work on creating mood. For example, the Philippous brothers are good at creating a sense of dread in their films, while Jane Schoenbrun (“I Saw the TV Glow”) has a lingering feeling of nostalgia and uncertainty. “Backrooms” would have benefited from having the titular area have a feeling of unsafe or claustrophobia (similar to Kubrick’s “the Shining”), but instead it often just plays like Ejiofor exploring weird-looking rooms with bizarre furniture placements.

The practical sets are impressive to be sure, with the production crew having built 31,000 square feet of rooms which some people apparently got lost in while filming. The sound design also has some impressive moments. But those aspects feel wasted thanks to a script that believes it is smarter than it actually is, including an ending that for me felt pretty unsatisfying.

“Backrooms” has a few creepy moments and a couple dark laughs, but it is a night and day comparison when compared to something like “Obsession,” which manages to be consistently unnerving, often funny, and have well-executed commentary beats (not to mention characters you empathize for or love to hate). I’m interested to see what Parsons does next because I do believe he has the skills to be a good horror director, it is just a shame that his first film is one that feels as forgettable as the items you would find stored in a store’s backrooms.

Critics Rating: 6/10