Obsession Is Gen Z’s Blair Witch Project - But Not for the Reason You Think
Film fans around the world are going crazy for Curry Barker’s Obsession, the global sensation that proves, once again, that low-budget horror can be a gold mine.
The wild success of Obsession is marked not only by the fact that this little horror movie has defeated The Mandalorian and Grogu in the box office rankings – no mean feat considering that it was the first Star Wars movie in seven years – but also by the fact that Barker’s sophomore feature did something almost unthinkable, recording an increase in ticket sales in its second weekend.
Most movies drop around 40% in week two of their theatrical run. Anything around a 30% decrease in box office takings after the opening weekend would be a signal that a film will continue to perform well for a few more weeks. For Obsession to become even more popular as the days tick by is a rarity.
The level of hype surrounding the film is absolutely earned - Barker has truly crafted something special. And in doing so, he’s also earning comparisons to a cult horror classic, The Blair Witch Project.
Obsession and The Blair Witch Project Tap Into Psychological Dread
While the story of Obsession is nothing like The Blair Witch Project on the surface, there’s no denying that both of these films capture a very similar tone and atmosphere. The 1999 film used a documentary lens for an air of authenticity. Barker achieves this level of realism by creating three-dimensional, relatable characters.
They’re also both very small-scale stories, contained within their own little bubble. Bear and Nikki’s twisted romance rarely impacts anyone but the two of them, aside from their friends Ian and Sarah (and those other party guests who are briefly freaked out by Nikki’s antics). Likewise, The Blair Witch Project is essentially just about three people and their harrowing adventure in the woods.
Keeping things tight and minimal gives both films a sense of intimacy that you rarely see in horror. So often, we're fed unwieldy monster movies, big-scale ghost stories like The Conjuring, or brutal and bloody slasher flicks filled with an endless line of victims. Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez knew back in 1999 that nothing grips an audience quite like psychological dread, though, and Barker has tapped into that same idea now.
Word Of Mouth Made Both Movies Box-Office Sensations
The initial budget for The Blair Witch Project was just $35,000. After post-production, the final cost is believed to have been somewhere around $200,000. Granted, you can see this low amount in the gritty, grainy feel of the final product, but that’s all part of the magic of the independent flick. It ended up making just under $250 million at the box office, making it one of the most profitable films in cinema history.
While Obsession benefits from almost 30 years of technological advancement and looks a lot slicker than its ‘90s counterpart, it’s still far from the polished product you’d find in a studio genre piece. With a reported budget of just $750,000, Obsession set itself up for success right from the get-go. At the time of writing, Barker’s movie has passed $100 million at the box office and shows no signs of slowing down.
The key to both these films' success is word of mouth. Obsession has been all over social media since it was released, from fan theories, adoration for Inde Navarrette, and pure disdain for Bear’s downright evil use of the One-Wish Willow.
Experiencing the movie in a packed cinema is the only way to do it, with the visceral reactions to the jumpscares and intensely uncomfortable moments something to relish. I have personally told everyone I can to go and see Obsession – it’s got mass appeal that you rarely find in a horror movie.
The Blair Witch Project obviously didn’t have social media buzz behind it, but it was certainly a cultural phenomenon at the time. Audiences had never really seen found footage horror of this ilk before, and given the lack of internet interference, many viewers even began to wonder whether it was genuinely real.
Back then, viewers felt they had stumbled across something highly disturbing and raw. They couldn’t wait to tell their friends about it, and the film thrived because of that hype. The Blair Witch Project was the blueprint for indie horror success. Now, Obsession is well and truly following in those formidable footsteps, giving Gen-Z its own cult hit to celebrate.
