Hey guys, just arrived at the OBSESSION discussion. Got held up by traffic. Is anybody still here? Hello?
Yeah, this movie made by some fresh-faced twenty-something Youtube guy named Curry Barker for less than a million dollars made $519 million in theaters alone. Stuck around forever, got great reviews, became one of the go-to talking points for hammering the big budget super and star related franchise movies that had underperformed around the same time. This and another hugely successful low budget horror movie made by a youth from the internet were pointed to as proof that we’re through the looking glass, it’s a generational shift, Hollywood as we know it is dead, buried and desecrated, it’s a whole new ball game, nothing will ever be the same, adults might not even be able to set foot in a movie theater without being attacked and having sixes and sevens carved into their flesh as part of a viral TikTok trend. It’s time to panic because a newish director’s low budget horror movie has never once in history been a surprise hit, unless you count NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT, THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE, HALLOWEEN, FRIDAY THE 13TH, THE EVIL DEAD, THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT, SAW, PARANORMAL ACTIVITY, TERRIFIER 2, and all the other ones.
Actually now that I think about it it’s pretty much one of the central horror traditions since before I was born for stuff like this to happen. But this time it’s brand new and will change all the rules, I’m sure.
Before all the excitement I saw a trailer for OBSESSION, the one where Bear (Michael Johnston, UNTITLED THE MUMMY RETURNS SEQUEL) calls the number on the package for his “One Wish Willow” and asks an operator (Barker himself) if he can alter his wish. In context it’s a good scene, but seeing it then I thought “Some magical realism shit about making wishes? I can skip that one.” Only after it had been out for a few weeks and the praise was practically unanimous did I decide I needed to see it. Eventually. (read the rest of this shit…)
