‘Obsession’s’ Michael Johnston Discusses the Massive Success of the Film and His Interest in Joining Curry Barker’s ‘Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ • Living-Dead
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‘Obsession’s’ Michael Johnston Discusses the Massive Success of the Film and His Interest in Joining Curry Barker’s ‘Texas Chain Saw Massacre’
For ‘Obsession’s’ at home release Matt Konopka sits down with Michael Johnston to discuss the film and if ‘Texas Chain Saw’ is in his sights.
Still on an impressive run in theaters, becoming one of the most successful indie horror films of all time, Curry Barker’s Obsession is now available digitally to become your newest obsession. Personally, it’s my favorite genre movie of the year so far. Unhinged, oddly funny, and utterly terrifying, it’s a total crowd-pleaser– an instant classic that we’ll be talking about for years.
Barker unleashed a unique vision of fear into the world. But to bring that vision to fruition and have the sort of success Obsession has had, you need a cast capable of bringing the characters to life. The filmmaker found them in stars Michael Johnston (Bear) and Inde Navarrette (Nikki). Both deliver such screen-grabbing performances that, in a universe that accepts horror movies, they’d both be up for awards come Oscar season.
Navarrette has, quite understandably, gotten much of the attention thanks to a portrayal that simultaneously has audiences wanting to scream in terror and hug her all at once. But that doesn’t and shouldn’t take anything away from Johnston, whose own performance sucks viewers into this horrible situation without any way out. It’s the ultimate be careful what you wish for situation, with Johnston expressing varying levels of loneliness, heartache, and, yes, cruelty, that make Bear one of the more fascinating horror villains of recent memory.
I had the immense opportunity to sit down with Johnston for the home release of Obsession, now available on digital via Focus Features.
To kick things off, I couldn’t help but ask Johnston what seeing the film’s success has been like for him. “I don’t know. It’s really surreal,” said Johnston. “To think that this movie that I made with people I consider to be my friends, it just feels like we all made this little movie together. This little indie film, and it’s now breaking all these records…It doesn’t feel real. It’s the coolest thing ever. I’m just so honored that I’m meeting people who love the film and that we’re having conversations about my art and my work and all of the work that we poured into this. We really cared, and to see it resonate with people is the best thing ever.”
Spielberg never could’ve imagined Jaws would be as successful as it was. Nor could John Carpenter with Halloween. It’s impossible to know exactly how a movie will resonate with an audience. But Johnston had an idea that they were onto something big. “When we were on set filming this thing, I think everyone knew that we were making something really special. Did we know how big it was gonna get? No, I don’t think so. But we certainly worked our asses off and treated it like, ‘Okay, this is our moment. This is our time to shine.’ We all had something to prove. It was a very young cast and crew. It was definitely different from most film sets that I’ve been on.”
Watching Obsession, that hunger is more than apparent. It’s a film brimming with passion and drive to create something unique that leaves the audience talking. That sort of thing doesn’t just happen, though. According to Johnston, Barker had a vision, and he took careful steps to make sure that vision came to life the way he wanted it to.
Johnston remembers, “He [Barker] was quite literally editing the movie before it was shot. I remember this thing where he used this program that I think they use for video games or something, when he was location scouting. He would take pictures of all the different rooms, put them into this 3D model, and then he would put these fake puppets in and do the shots and everything. Curry would come in with his vision to the point where we would have these really dramatic scenes, and we’d only read half the scene because he knew that he was gonna cut and go to a different shot. And that can feel kind of crazy. He knew exactly what he wanted.”
Even knowing what he wanted, there’s no way even Barker could’ve imagined how much Navarratte would nail the creepiness of her role. Johnston still recalls the moment his co-star first really scared him. “It was probably like the first week of shooting, I think. We were in Bear’s house, and we’re filming a scene where she kind of looks up at me and smiles and says, ‘I’m your freaky Nikki.’ I kept asking her when we were setting up, like, ‘I want to see the smile. Show me the smile.’ And she was like, ‘Nope, sorry, babe. Nope.’ I’m like, ‘Come on, I want to see it.’ And so, I did see it for the first time. And it freaked me out so much that I nervously laughed and ruined the take. I was like, ‘Wow.’”
So was I. Although, for myself, as with much of the audience I’m assuming, the Nikki effect had us squirming in our seats from the moment Bear makes his wish.
Part of me wonders if Bear ever would’ve made that wish with the One Wish Willow had he not suffered the loss of his cat during the opening moments of the film. “I think he would have done the same damn thing,” muses Johnston. “I will say, though, that the cat was a really great moment to show us who Bear really is. Because if you really pay attention, he doesn’t even grieve the cat. He’s so avoidant of his feelings. You see him go to the trivia bar and say, ‘You know, my cat died,’ but I think what he’s really feeling most of all is lonely. I think that’s a theme for Bear. He doesn’t want to face up to all the difficult feelings, so he’s just living in his head and living in a dream world and thinking, ‘If I get this girl, then I don’t have to face all my issues.’”
That said, Johnston is a fan of a popular fan theory floating around out there. “I am loving the fan theories. I was just talking about the one about how Nikki is actually possessed by the spirit of Bear’s cat. I think that’s so brilliant because she’s waiting outside the door and everything. I love that one. It’s a really good theory. If you think about all the crazy things she’s doing in the film, it’s kind of what our pets would do.”
That’s just a theory, though. And as fun as it is, Johnston recognizes, cat or not, what happens to Nikki is all because of Bear. “Bear’s the villain, no doubt about that. However, in his own mind, he doesn’t think he’s the villain. He’s just really selfish, and he’s just trying to get the girl of his dreams. And, you know, he doesn’t want to see his friends suffer, but he just can’t deal with his own trauma, his own suffering, his own depression, whatever he’s going through. And he thinks that the idea of who he thinks this girl will be for him is going to save him, or at least distract him from all of his pain. I mean, the whole thing that he turns Nikki into is just a projection.”
Considering Bear’s issues, he seems like the sort of guy who would use the One Wish Willow, whether or not Nikki was in the picture. So, what if she wasn’t? “Oh man,” says Johnston. “If Bear wasn’t pining over someone, there would definitely be something else in his life that he’s using to distract from all his pain and suffering and depression and avoidance of reality. So, I could imagine him being really, really addicted to video games and obsessed with being the best Fortnite player or something. I could see him making a wish of ‘I wish I were number one on the rankings.’ I could see him doing something like that, just covered in sweat with Doritos all over his shirt.”
I add that that might’ve worked out for him a little better. Then again, we’re talking about the One Wish Willow, here. You never know quite how it’s going to go.
While we’re on hypotheticals, the conversation turns to Bear and Sarah (Megan Lawless). Sarah’s a tragic character herself, one who longs for Bear to recognize her feelings for him. That longing is cut short by Nikki in one of the most brutal horror film moments of the year. But Johnston likes to consider what would’ve happened if Bear and Sarah hadn’t been caught together. “Sarah did not deserve that. I think that Bear and Sarah would have been a lot more right for each other. If Nikki didn’t show up in that moment, I can see Bear not gaining any more popularity points and kind of going for it, like probably kissing her and just being a total player in that moment. But again, I don’t even think he would look at it that way. I think he’s just kind of so tunnel vision on what his own miserable little life is that he doesn’t even see how he’s hurting other people.”
Poor Sarah. She deserved so much better.
Speaking of hurting people, Barker has been tapped to direct the next Texas Chain Saw Massacre, a franchise all about causing extreme pain and terror. Last time Dread spoke with Johnston, he revealed he’d love to play a villain in the new take. So, have he and Barker spoken about such a thing yet? “We’ve chatted, because I love The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. I actually play one of the characters in the video game. It was one of the first horror movies I ever saw, the original, when I was way too young. And I love it. So, I was more just trying to get like, ‘Hey, so tell me about the story.’ He [Barker] was like, ‘I haven’t even started writing it! Shut up.’ So, no, we haven’t really talked about it, but I’m down. I’m totally down.”
Considering Texas Chain Saw is one of his favorite horror films, I have to know…who’s Johnston’s favorite villain in the franchise? “The Hitchhiker”, he declares without hesitation. “I’m really curious. I don’t know anything about what he’s [Barker] doing with the story. I don’t know whether he’s keeping all the original characters or putting his own flavor on them, which I kind of suspect, you know, Curry Barker is gonna roll up his sleeves and have some fresh, kind of modern take on it, you know? I’m really looking forward to that. I’m sat, as the current generation would say.”
Me too. Especially if Johnston got to play some version of the Hitchhiker in the film, to which he responds, “I would love that. I love horror, and I love The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.
For those who haven’t realized this yet, Johnston is a massive horror fan. Before we go, I ask him what some of his favorites are that he likes to recommend to others. “28 Days Later. The tone of that movie is just, it’s really special. The Silence of the Lambs. Classic. I mean, that movie, it’s like a school. You can learn so much from that film. I loved Get Out. I love Ari Aster’s work with Hereditary and Midsommar. I would love to do a movie like Green Room. Although I don’t know if I’d be able to stomach it.”
I remind Johnston that if he could stomach the face smash in Obsession, he’d probably be okay.
As for the rest of you who haven’t seen Obsession yet, do you think you have the stomach for it? Find out tonight with Obsession now on digital via Focus Features.
(This interview has been edited for time and clarity)
