‘I never thought people might feel threatened by us’: YouTuber Curry Barker on his big horror ascent

The 26-year-old has received rave reviews for his micro-budget horror Obsession, support from Ari Aster and control of a Texas Chain Saw Massacre remake Things have been going scarily well for 26-year-old film-maker Curry Barker. The past 18 months have seen him level up from lo-fi YouTube comedy skits to an $800 horror short that went viral to a breakout feature picked up for $15m to being handed the reins of one of the most legendary franchises in Hollywood. It’s almost too good to be true. Fittingly, Barker’s big-screen debut Obsession, out this week, is all about what happens when a wish gets granted. The film, which premiered at last year’s Toronto festival, currently rests at 96% on Rotten Tomatoes, the best-reviewed horror of the year so far. “Luckily for this project, it’s been really, really positive,” Barker tells me over Zoom the week before release. “I haven’t seen very many negative reactions which can also be scary because then the one negative that you do see sticks out like a sore thumb and all you think about is that.” Will he keep looking even as the film edges toward release? “I feel like I’m going to look,” he confesses. “If it starts t