Editor’s Note: Freeline Media movie critic Mike Fried likes to keep up with those new releases — you know, like the much-talked about Obsession. Well, he’s seen it, and …. Read on!
By MIKE FRIED
Obsession
4/5
Bear is a hopeless romantic who has a crush on his fellow record store employee, Nikki, but when she asks him if he likes her, he gets scared and says no. He then uses a “one wish willow” to make her love him more than anyone else. Things get weird, especially when she becomes totally fixated on him.
The concept of the monkey’s paw goes way back and it’s basically the old find the monkey’s paw, make a wish on it and of course, be careful what you wish for ….. because the gods with their evil sense of humor don’t really give you what you ask for unless you’re really specific (like asking for a billion dollars,) but even after that, bad things can happen.
There is a reason Jordan Peele’s production company is called Monkey Paw Productions and it is no coincidence that this movie was inspired by a Simpsons Treehouse of Horror episode involving Homer (who else?) buying a monkey’s paw that grants him four wishes … but each of them has a disastrous catch. And this movie is no different, throwing in a little bit of Fatal Attraction in as well.
This is a terrific movie and despite one or two minor gory scenes, should not put off anyone who dislikes body horror. I mean if you don’t like gore at all, don’t watch it; but this is not what I would call a body horror movie. To me, a body horror movie is far more severe.
Curry Barker does a really fantastic job directing this movie, his first theatrical film. He directed a short horror film called The Chair and uploaded it YouTube; that led to him being approached to make a feature length version, but he opted to do this movie instead.
He knows how to write a good story and really shows that he knows how to direct a horror film. The entire film was shot in just 20 days, a very compressed schedule. When I saw the film’s length (108 minutes), it seemed to me that length, based on the subject matter, might be at least 20 minutes long longer than it would be for other similar pictures of this nature; however, there are plenty of shots in the film that linger where the camera stays on one of the characters for more than one would think appropriate. What that does is definitely add to the spookiness of the piece. The movie is shot from Bear’s perspective and it adds to the tension as we, like Bear, do not know what’s going to happen next. In some respects, it reminded me of the editing done by Stanley Kubrick in The Shining; I’d have to think this was a major influence on the film. It didn’t hurt that Barker, besides writing and directing the film, also edited it so it would be his vision. And it works. There’s a lack of insert shots and that made the pacing of the film even more eerie.
But with all the doodads and all of the style, this movie would not have worked without its two leads. Michael Johnston and Inde Navarette were absolutely terrific as Bear and Nikki. Navarette’s manic portrayal of Nikki becomes truly frightening. Bear is a guy with no spine. He’s an introvert and is easily guided by his friends. He has had a crush on Nikki since childhood, but it is unrequited. Nikki, for her part likes Bear as a friend, which drives Bear to use the One Wish Willow. And once the damage is done, these two actors go full out — Bear’s introversion becomes more manic as he is dealing with a Nikki he does not even recognize.
And Navarette plays the “charmed” Nikki as someone who would actually scare Alex Forrest (look it up!!). Their performances are what makes this movie really work. In terms of tension, this movie had a lot of it and that’s basically because of the relationship between Bear and Nikki. Bear is in over his head and he knows it and there’s even a little part of Nikki that knows this as well. Her inner voice comes out while the Nikki monster is sleeping and pleads for Bear to kill her.
The supporting cast, consisting of Cooper Tomlinson as Bear’s friend and co-worker, Ian, was terrific as the guy who doubts everything that Bear is telling him. And Megan Lawless is really good as the daughter of the record store owner that works with Ian and Bear and who is secretly attracted to Bear. Andy Richter has a small role as the record store owner but he really doesn’t add much to the film.
The cinematography by Taylor Clemons is overly dark but it works well, especially in those scenes of Nikki’s weird movements. And the score by Rock Burwell adds a lot of atmosphere.
As tense as the movie is, like any good horror movie it is not without each share of humor. There is an absolutely hysterical scene in which Bear calls up the company that made the One Wish Willow and a stoned customer service representative on the other end of the line proves to be of absolute zero assistance. It’s truly a laugh out loud scene that is necessary because of the intensity of the film. There is also a great deal of physicality in Nikki‘s role in terms of certain movements she makes in the dark that are really scary. They almost reminded me of the spider walk in the exorcist and I wonder if a physical double was used in the dark scenes. Whatever was done, it simply worked well.
I really enjoyed this film, and I certainly hope that Barker makes more horror films that are as thoughtful and as nuanced yet crazy as this one.
WATCH IT!
Michael Fried has no formal training in movies, except having watched over 26,000+ movies — if not more — in his 60-plus years on this planet, starting with Goldfinger as his first cinema experience. He knows what he likes and he knows what he doesn’t like, and it’s quite often different from the conventional wisdom. He knows that the best franchise is Godzilla and he loves action movies and comedies. He has not been nominated for any awards except some boring insurance awards which has no applicability to movies (with the possible exceptions of Billy Wilder’s Double Indemnity and John Cassavettes’ Big Trouble). He is part of a team that won the 1980 SUNY Albany Trivia content by correctly guessing the question, “Who played the president of Klopstockia in Million Dollar Legs?” So he has that going for him, which is nice.
Contact Mike at moviemike3@yahoo.com and mike.fried@yahoo.com.
