Where Danger Lives (1950)

Viewers of the trailers for this movie, and many viewers of the movie itself, probably read the title and first thought of the supposed mental illness reflected by the character Nicky. But this article is primarily concerned with the mental illness of the main character, Bear. Because analyzing the consequences of his disturbances reveals something far more disturbing about new horror-hit Obsession.

The hook of this movie is the tension between wanting to be loved and the fear of being all-encompassed by that love. It plays on men’s typical (though certainly not universal) inner-conflict between the desire for the fulfilling aspects of a romantic relationship and their fear of the responsibility that comes with one. That’s what gets men’s butts in seats: a horror film based on a fear they’re loath to even admit to themselves that they have. That would be sufficient to make a scary movie.

But very early in the film, we get one of our very few explicit recognitions of Bear’s mental difficulties. That is, when he opens his medicine cabinet, and a slew of over twenty pill bottles litter the shelves. They appear to be filled too, implying this is less due to sloppiness and more due to an abundance of prescriptions. Throughout the film, we get almost no hints that Bear suffers from any physical conditions, implying that all of these pills are prescribed to treat something beneath the surface.

But what could it be? Nobody ever says that Bear suffers from anything, and indeed, his symptoms don’t match with anything readily apparent. But, in fact, they do. Because the title of this film doesn’t refer to Nicky. It refers to Bear. Whether intentional or not, the thesis of this film is that Obsession is the mental illness. A mental illness that is decisively cast as a men’s mental health issue.