We generally hear the words “careful what you wish for” enough times in life that you’d think, if you ever were to be granted your heart’s desire by supernatural means, you’d at least be really particular about the wording. But an impetuous request to an invisible genie-like entity has ruinous consequences for multiple people in “Obsession,” a nifty, unnerving little horror film from internet comedian and viral-video auteur Curry Barker that begins like the premise of a joke — and ends with a far sicker punchline than you might expect. Like the novelty gift that causes all the trouble, “Obsession” initially seems simplistic, and even a bit silly, in its rehash of the age-old monkey’s paw trope. Like the consequences of that ill-considered wish, however, it proves eerily hard to shake.
Focus Features spent a cool $14 million on acquiring “Obsession” following its buzzy Midnight Madness premiere at last year’s Toronto Film Festival — a pricetag at least 14 times the size of the film’s budget, which itself was an unimaginably vast step up from the $800 that Barker spent on his eye-catching, hour-long and finally YouTube-released debut “Milk & Serial” less than two years ago. Shooting has already wrapped on his Blumhouse-produced, Focus-acquired third feature “Anything but Ghosts”; a “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” reworking with A24 is now in the offing.
