Obsession Feels Like The Grown-Up Version Of A Beloved Horror Franchise

Warning: This story contains major spoilers for "Obsession," so proceed with caution.

If you're a child of the 1990s, there's a good chance that your gateway into horror storytelling came from R.L. Stine's beloved "Goosebumps" book series. A staple of book fairs and Scholastic order forms, each story in the 62-book series (which also yielded some scary "Goosebumps" TV episodes) found kids encountering all things supernatural, paranormal, and occult. Whether it was a riff on "The Blob" in the form of "Monster Blood," vengeance gone wrong in "The Haunted Mask," or a familiar redux of W. W. Jacobs famous short story "The Monkey's Paw" in the form of "Be Careful What You Wish For..." 

It's that last book that feels particularly relevant with the release of Curry Barker's new horror movie "Obsession." There's something about Barker's approach, both in its execution and the ending, that makes "Obsession" feel like a gnarly twist on a "Goosebumps" book that will bring those familiar feelings of fear back for '90s kids who are now adults.

Like several "Goosebumps" books, "Obsession" finds our main character, pathetic sad boy Bear (Michael Johnston), stumbling upon a peculiar item. While searching a small shop for a crystal to gift to his co-worker crush Nikki (Inde Navarette in a killer lead performance), he discovers a vintage novelty item called a "One Wish Willow," a small piece of wood that claims to grant one wish per person when broken. Bear originally intends to give this to Nikki. But instead, after failing to work up the nerve to tell Nikki how he truly feels about her, he hastily wishes that Nikki will love him more than anyone else in the world. 

Needles to say, his wish is granted, but it's far from a dream come true.

Immediately, it's clear that Nikki is acting strange. She suddenly wants Bear to stay overnight with her, but something feels off. Even after she has a terrifying outburst in the middle of a would-be romantic moment in bed with Bear, he chooses to push through his fear because he finally has the girl of his dreams, even if it's slowly devolving into a total nightmare. 

While it might seem like Bear is your classic nice guy stuck in the friend zone who finally catches a break, his refusal to do anything about Nikki's obvious emotional and mental instability, simply because he finally has the love of his life, tells you everything you need to know about him. Oh, sure, he tries to call the help hotline on the back of the "One Wish Willow" box, but only in an act of desperation when Nikki becomes too obsessed with him. He's never looking out for Nikki's well-being, only his own when her constant doting on him becomes overwhelming. And the only way for the wish to stop is for Bear or Nikki to die. 

Of course, "Obsession" is much darker than any "Goosebumps" book. Whether it's Nikki's sudden smashing of her own face with a wine bottle, messing herself while standing in the middle of the living room waiting for Bear to come home from work, or brutally killing their friend Sarah (Megan Lawless) by repeatedly smashing her face into a steering wheel, this movie goes to some twisted places. Inde Navarrette is astounding in both these moments and some more quieter bits of horror, especially when it becomes clear that the real Nikki is still in there somewhere. 

But perhaps the most twisted bit is the ending of "Obsession," which feels like a "Goosebumps" staple.

One of the best things about "Goosebumps" books were the endings. Most of them seemed to give their protagonist a happy ending, having learned a lesson from their encounters with the supernatural, paranormal, and occult. But more often than not, there was another twist waiting in the wings, providing an ominous, sometimes even doomed conclusion. "Obsession" takes that premise to the darkest possible place.

After enduring endless terror and anxiety due to Nikki's seemingly unstoppable obsession with him, Bear decides to take his own life by overdosing on his late mother's depression meds. He's tried everything to stop Nikki from loving him so much, right down to finding another "One Wish Willow" and trying to have someone else cancel out his wish. But nothing has worked. Unfortunately, Bear left the unbroken willow piece in the living room, and just after he's swallowed a bunch of pills, his demeanor changes, as if he just realized something he forgot.

Bear embraces Nikki, and the two possessed lovers are blissfully happy, both covered in blood from Sarah's murder. But Bear still has all those pills inside of him, causing him to foam at the mouth and convulse before dying. Nikki, seemingly unable to handle it, proceeds to grab a gun and follow him out. But with Bear dead, his wish is over, leaving an unpossessed Nikki in this bloody crime scene, left to scream in terror as she tries to process what just happened. If that's not an ending worthy of a brutal "Goosebumps" book, then I don't know what is.

"Obsession" is playing in theaters everywhere now.