Curry Barker’s breakout horror hit Obsession, about a man who casts a spell for everlasting love, has stunned the industry with a 40% weekly box-office surge and $85 million on a $1 million budget. In this interview, Barker explains how he pushes familiar horror concepts into darker, more honest territory, chasing discomfort over jump scares and exploring the extreme limits of human desire.
Film-goers are obsessed with the newest horror movie in town. Obsession, which follows the repercussions of a man casting a spell of everlasting love from the woman he’s infatuated with, has freshly accomplished the unprecedented: a 40% week-on-week increase in worldwide business.
Director Curry Barker knows the shiny, seductive and scary power of the thing. It could be a viral hit or an oatmeal workaround for those allergic to oatmeal. But the nauseating aftermath of its grip on the human mind was what he had in mind when the young director named his much-raved-about horror film after the idea. Obsession has grossed $85 million globally against a $1 million budget so far and is the toast of critics.
Barker’s debut feature, the YouTube indie Milk & Serial—made on a $800 budget—catapulted him onto Hollywood studios’ wish list. He has now been brought on board by A24 to direct a spin-off for the character of Leatherface from The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974). We caught up with the director on a Zoom call, appearing more runway adjacent than horror auteur, in his tweed jacket with patterned lapels paired with orange-tinted shades.
Edited excerpts from the interview:
I’ve been intrigued by this idea for a long time. There’s so much to play with when it comes to what somebody would do or how far someone would be willing to go for the person they are in love with—the concept has existed since the dawn of humanity. I was just so attached to this idea of how far you could go with it. Then the wish element presented itself to me, and it really opened my eyes to a real story there, about being careful about what you wish for—and it started forming there.
Yes. That’s my bread and butter. Something that’s more scary than traditional is uncomfortable. I am always chasing that uncomfortability. If I can make you feel weird, that’s more exciting to me than if I can just make a loud noise to scare you.
Absolutely. I’m chasing the most extreme versions of it and want to see how far a concept can go. We’ve seen this concept before, so it’s important for me to take it further and make it darker as well as more honest to reality.
It’s in my nature to try to do things as differently as possible. If it is a concept that we’ve seen before—or if it’s a concept whose potential hasn’t been fully realised—that’s really exciting for me. I take it on as what a person would do in real life. I think that most stories that have been told, where there’s magic or some sort of unnatural element to them, are never honest about what humans would actually do or react to. So, there’s actually a lot to play with. There are so many different concepts that I could see myself making a story about and just approaching it from a very specific angle.
That’s actually what I love about the horror genre. That you can really do anything. People have asked if I am worried about being put in a box or whatever, but the cool thing about this is that there is no box, really. It’s just that you’re allowed to take whatever story you want and make it go as dark as you want.
Well, it’s funny because people think that the One Wish Willow (the monkey’s paw in the film) is some sort of a cursed object. I get that... but the funny thing is, it’s a wish that he made. Forcing someone to love you is a pretty extreme wish, right? Maybe if he had wished for something a little less, it could have worked. It’s not like the One Wish Willow has to be this super cursed item, right?
Yes, I think it can make you more careful. And it’s a scary rabbit hole to go down. You have to be careful because if you focus too much on the pressure of your next movie, or if you focus too much on the constraints, it could hinder the project. So, I try not to think about it too much. I try to pretend like I’m back in my room, writing, as if nothing has changed.
I’m still discovering my voice. There are some directors with whom each film feels really different from the other—you couldn’t even tell that it’s the same director. Then there’s some who are so specific with their style. I’m more attracted to that. I definitely want to establish some sort of style and signature. But those things are expanding, and I’m excited to figure out even more what that language and style are for me.
In no particular order, The Invisible Man, Weapons, Hereditary, Midsommar and Talk to Me.