New indie-horror wave leans into retro props and “obsolete” technology, following breakout hits Obsession and Backrooms

A summer horror lineup that has produced breakout draws at the box office is also spotlighting a common aesthetic thread, according to reporting published Aug. 5 by The Guardian. The publication argues that several new indie- and mid-budget horror titles are increasingly centered on retro settings and “obsolete tech” props, with creators building tension through tactile details rather than strictly pared-down production design.

The Guardian highlighted two films it says opened the movie season with particular momentum: Obsession and Backrooms. The outlet reported that both have grossed hundreds of millions of dollars, helping generate a wave of interest among younger viewers. It said the films are often compared not only because of their commercial starts but because of similarities in how they present objects and environments, even as the plots differ.

Beyond those two titles, The Guardian pointed to additional examples it cited as part of the same trend. Among them were a film described in the report as Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma, which it characterized as ditching minimalism in favor of retro surroundings. The outlet linked this approach to a broader movement within contemporary horror filmmaking, where outdated devices, familiar-looking consumer technology, and other period-anchored props are used as visible anchors for mood and world-building.

Budget and production scale were also part of the comparison in The Guardian’s account. The outlet said both Obsession and Backrooms were made for comparatively minuscule budgets, a detail it used to frame why the aesthetic emphasis on props and settings has drawn attention. In that telling, the appeal is not simply higher production values but a deliberate focus on specific visual and material cues that can be achieved without large-scale sets or extensive effects.

The report tied the rise of the retro-props approach to audience taste, describing a theater season that has brought many younger viewers to indie horror. It also suggested that filmmakers and audiences are treating “obsolete” technology as more than background decoration, portraying the objects as part of the story’s atmosphere. Rather than relying solely on ambiguity or sparse compositions, the movies highlighted in the report are presented as leaning into recognizable, time-stamped material culture.

The Guardian’s framing ends with the idea that the current horror cycle is shifting its visual language. In the outlet’s view, the genre’s recent popularity is coinciding with a willingness by filmmakers to move away from minimalism and toward carefully curated, old-fashioned environments, where the physical look of devices and rooms becomes a channel for dread. The next visible marker of whether this approach sticks will be how upcoming releases in the same season deploy similar prop-heavy, retro-leaning design choices, and whether audiences continue to respond at scale.