Curry Barker's horror movie Obsession draws inspiration from a classic Halloween episode of The Simpsons.
Curry Barker is the latest YouTube comedian turned horror director with his new movie, Obsession. Barker, who first found the attention of genre fans with Milk & Serial, is earning rave reviews for his first feature, which currently has a 96% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Obsession is a modern take on The Monkey's Paw story, but it's not where Barker got his idea from. Instead, he found it in an early episode of The Simpsons. Matt Groening's iconic animated series has been influencing creators for decades. For Barker, a random viewing of an old"Treehouse of Horror" episode completely changed his life forever.
What Is 'Obsession' About? Obsession stars Michael Johnston as Bear, a young man who works at a music store. He is head over heels in love with his co-worker, Nikki , but fear of rejection won't let him tell Nikki how he feels. In another world, this could be a cute rom-com about love causing a man to find courage, but with Curry Barker's twisted mind running things, Obsession turns into pure horror.
Everything goes off the rails when Bear buys the supernatural"One Wish Willow," which promises to grant its owner one wish. Desperate, Bear wishes for Nikki to"love me more than anything in the entire world.
" The wording is something Bear will quickly regret because Nikki indeed falls in love with Bear to the point of deadly obsession. Curry Barker Was Inspired By an Episode of 'The Simpsons' In a September 2025 interview with William Earl of Variety, Curry Barker explained where he found the inspiration for Obsession. It began when Barker invited some friends over to watch him in a bit part he had in an episode of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.
Season 16's"Risk E. Rat's Pizza & Amusement Center" has the gang returning to the Chuck E. Cheese-like entertainment center from their youth. Of course, once there, like always, everything goes to hell. During the episode, Barker appears in a brief role as Joey, an employee at Risk E. Rat's. It was a fun part for the director.
However, it's what happened before the episode that changed everything. Related The Scariest Horror Franchise of the '70s Is Officially Returning With the Perfect Director Glen Powell is also producing a TV spin-off for A24. Posts 2 By Aidan Kelley Leading into It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia was an old episode of The Simpsons from 1991,"Treehouse of Horror II," which includes a familiar segment. Barker told Variety: “Bart gets a monkey paw and causes a bunch of chaos.
I was thinking that I’ve never seen a straight crazy horror where … we’ve seen ‘Be careful what you wish for’ tons of times. But we’ve never seen my version of it. I instantly started thinking about what I could do with that. ” "Treehouse of Horror 2" Is a Comedic Spin on "The Monkey's Paw" The Monkey's Paw is a 1902 short story by W.W.
Jacobs. In it, a husband and wife are given a mysterious monkey's paw, which can grant three wishes. When their son is killed in an accident, they wish for him to come back to life. He indeed does, but as a rotting corpse.
Every wish comes with horrific consequences. Be careful what you wish for is the moral of the story, and it's so enduring that it has often been used in horror ever since, including in the Tales From the Crypt film, Deathdream, and Pet Sematary. The Simpsons gave it their own twist in"Treehouse of Horror II", the series' second annual Halloween anthology episode.
In it, Homer , Bart , and Lisa eat way too much Halloween candy after trick or treating, which results in the trio having nightmares. Bart's nightmare gives him supernatural powers, while Homer dreams of his brain being put into a robot. Opening the episode is Lisa's dream, a take on"The Monkey's Paw". Subscribe to our newsletter for horror origin stories and more Want more deep dives into how pop culture inspires modern horror?
Subscribe to our newsletter for in-depth coverage, filmmaker insights, and contextual analysis that connects films like Obsession to their cultural roots. Get Updates By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime. While vacationing in Morocco, Homer buys a monkey's paw, which promises to grant four wishes.
The first of the wishes goes to baby Maggie, who wishes for a new pacifier. Next, Bart wishes for the Simpsons to be rich and famous. It works, as the family's images are now all over everything and being sold as merchandise.
However, their fame is so consuming that Springfield turns on the family, sick of seeing them everywhere. It's a clever wink to how The Simpsons had taken over pop culture by Season 3. Lisa takes the paw next and wishes for world peace. That's exactly what happens until, in a world now without weapons, aliens Kang and Kodos show up and take over an Earth incapable of defending itself.
Homer decides to use the last wish for something simple and harmless, a turkey sandwich. Even this goes wrong, though, when the scariest thing of all occurs: the sandwich is dry! Wanting to get rid of it, Homer tricks his neighbor nemesis, Ned Flanders , to take the paw. In the presence of the kind Ned, all of his wishes result in only good.
The Simpsons' best episodes held a mirror up to society and even their own impact on it.
"Treehouse of Horror II" is the perfect example of that. Three decades after it first aired, its stranglehold on pop culture didn't cause a fan to turn on the series. Instead, it resulted in Curry Barker creating one of the best horror movies of 2026. The Simpsons TV-PG Family Animation Comedy Release Date December 17, 1989 Powered by Expand Collapse
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