Obsession and Moreno Valley: a wish-horror flick finally lands at the discount house

If you missed Obsession back in May, you're not alone, and you're not out of luck either. The supernatural horror picture that came and went from the big first-run screens earlier this year has settled into its natural late-life home: the $5 ticket window at Regency Theatres Towngate 8. For Moreno Valley folks who like their scary movies cheap and their popcorn without the premium upcharge, this is exactly the kind of October pickup worth knowing about, especially with Halloween season putting everybody in the mood for something with teeth.

The real story here isn't the plot, it's the credits. Curry Barker wrote, directed, and edited Obsession himself, a one-man-band approach that tells you a lot before the opening scene even rolls. Triple-duty filmmaking like this usually means one of two things: either a director with such a specific vision he can't trust anyone else to touch it, or a production too lean to afford a separate editor and still make the release date. Watching the film, I'd guess it's some of both. There's a scrappy, hands-on texture to how the scares are built and paced that feels less like studio horror and more like somebody who grew up loving the genre finally getting a shot at a feature and gripping it with both hands. That intimacy cuts both ways. It gives the movie a personality a lot of glossier horror releases this year sorely lacked. It also means there's nobody in the room pushing back when an idea runs long or a joke doesn't land.

The setup is simple and a little wicked: Bear, a shop clerk with an unremarkable life, makes a wish he probably shouldn't have. His friend Nikki takes the bait, and what starts as a crush curdles fast into something far more dangerous. Cooper Tomlinson and Megan Lawless carry the central relationship, while Andy Richter shows up in a supporting role that's a genuinely fun bit of casting against type for a guy mostly known for comedy. I won't get further into where the wish leads, because the fun of this kind of premise is watching the screws tighten.

Here's where I have to be straight with you: there's no critic consensus score to point to for this one, no Rotten Tomatoes percentage or Metacritic number to lean on, which means you're getting my read and nothing else. That's fine by me, because I have opinions. Obsession is a solidly mid-tier horror comedy that knows exactly what kind of movie it wants to be and mostly succeeds at being it. The “be careful what you wish for” structure is as old as horror itself, but Barker finds a genuinely uncomfortable groove in how fast devotion flips into menace, and the film is smart enough to let Nikki's turn feel more sad than campy for stretches at a time. Richter's scenes are a highlight, a jolt of recognizable comic timing dropped into a story that otherwise plays it straight. Where it stumbles is pacing in the middle third, where the central conceit gets stretched thinner than the story has ideas to fill, and a few line deliveries that needed one more take.

It's not a movie that's going to redefine the genre, and it's not pretending to. It's a confidently made, occasionally very effective horror comedy from a filmmaker clearly building toward something bigger, and five months after release it's found the right price point and the right crowd. If you're the type who likes discovering the smaller horror titles that slipped under the radar during their first run, Obsession playing at Regency Theatres Towngate 8 is a reasonable way to spend an evening, especially paired with the kind of cheap-ticket, free-parking convenience that makes a second-run house worth the drive.

Facts verified as of October 1, 2026.