Writter/Director Curry Barker’s OBSESSION remarkably transforms a rudimentary TALES FROM THE CRYPT/DARKSIDE “Be Careful what you wish for” premise into an absolutely fascinating, truly engaging, wildly unpredictable and surprisingly cathartic grenade of horror. I have a hunch film academics will be dissecting and analyzing its bottomless pit of potential interpretations for many years to come. I certainly felt one way about it while viewing it and then was hit with a completely different take many hours later. It rather brilliantly lures the viewer into certain areas only to bludgeon them from the opposite direction on several occasions. In fact, one of its greatest scares utilizes just such a subtle misdirection. I gotta say, it was a jolt so potent that I felt like I was being electrocuted. I probably should go see a doctor because it may be a symptom of something far more serious, but I felt bolts zapping my body like I was Wile E. Coyote and I believe if I ever want to feel that way again, the most efficient way would be to shove a fork in a wall socket (I promise I won’t).
Poor insecure Baron “Bear” Baily (Michael Johnston) has got some unrequited heart eyes for his record store co-worker Nikki (Inde Navarette). Foolishly, instead of staying home and mourning his recently deceased cat (like I would) he takes Nikki up on an offer to go out for drinks and even buys her a cute novelty present in the form of a “One Wish Willow” (a stick that’s meant to make your dreams come true if you break it while stating your desire out loud). As the evening ends, per usual, Bear fumbles every attempt to disclose his true feelings to Nikki and in frustration, after saying good night, breaks the toy himself wishing that the object of his affection loved him more than anyone else in the world. The request is instantly granted with Nikki becoming head over heals infatuated with Bear which is awesome at first but then snowballs into a cross between the BUFFY episode “Him” and a gore-soaked, sadistic, mutated version of HOW TO LOSE A GUY IN 10 DAYS. Sounds pretty silly for sure, but believe me when I say that every nightmarish results your brain can come up with is delivered ten fold and nothing can prepare you for how strangely comical, squirmingly uncomfortable, supremely tense and downright disturbing things become.
I was a little disappointed to see the movie theater I was seeing OBSESSION in was at full capacity when I bought my ticket but I’m so glad that I plowed through my ochlophobia instincts. I don’t think I’ve ever been on the same page with a group of people before as I felt I was with my fellow audience members while viewing this film. We were of hive mind, gasping in terror, laughing in second hand embarrassment and cringing at the physical and emotional atrocities. Barker got me right in my two soft spots. First of all, the movie delights in playing with darkness and utilizes it to great effect obscuring characters faces at the most opportune time. Secondly, it showcases two of the best and most delightfully erratic acting performances that I’ve seen in a horror film and both are absolutely award worthy in my book. Bear on paper shouldn’t even be remotely tolerable but somehow Michael Johnston is able to convince you he’s a victim of circumstance even while he commits moral outrages and seems incapable of registering what he’s done. Navarrette’s Nikki is terrifying one minute and hilariously unhinged the next. Whatever supernatural force engulfs her reads distressingly akin to the kind of mental illness we’ve all probably witnessed at some point in our lives. Her pendulum swings from monster to victim are phenomenal and there’s something so damn heartbreaking about her feeble slivers of awareness that her true self is being systematically stomped out and erased by some malignancy beyond her control. It’s almost like the half—fly caught in the web at the end of THE FLY (’58) squealing “help me” I can barely handle it. Suffice to say I’m obsessed with OBSESSION and even though it put me through an emotional wringer, it’s basically just what I wished for.
