David Mayne
Taking several cues from late 70’s and early 80’s horror classics such as John Carpenter’s ‘Halloween’ and ‘Night of The Living Dead’, ‘It Follows’ blends an eclectic mix of horror, suspense, and fast-paced storytelling to bring us the freshest scary movie in recent memory. While it stumbles in a few places and asks the audience to “go with it” in regards to the somewhat obnoxious plot setup, ‘It Follows’ does what very few horror movies these days can accomplish, it takes you on a roller coaster ride of crazy-ass, paranormal and often terrifically themed suspense as it builds to its somewhat vague but nonetheless sinister conclusion.
Maika Monroe stars as Jay Height, a normal American teenager who goes to the movies with her sorta-boyfriend, Hugh. After Hugh sees something or someone in the theater that only he can see, he nervously asks Jay to leave with him. Confused but not wanting to cause a scene, Jay leaves with Hugh and they end up in the back of his car where they have sex, after which Hugh chloroforms Jay and she wakes to find herself tied to a chair in some abandoned building. Hugh explains to her that he is trying to help her by teaching her what she needs to know to stay alive. Little does Jay know, she is now the target in some sexually-bizarre game of pass the potato, where one “carrier” passes on some sort of sex-curse to the next person they have sex with. Here’s the catch (cause that last part wasn’t it), the “curse” is a deranged maniac(s) who begins stalking the person with said curse. Although they can only walk, if they reach you, terrible things happen, as is shown in the film’s gruesome opening scene. No matter where the cursed person goes, the killer will walk straight for them, causing the carrier to always be on the move. One more catch: NO one else besides the cursed or the previously cursed can see the killer.
Everyone still with me?
What’s awesome about “It Follows’ is director David Robert Mitchell’s tight and effective steering, and while the pace slowed a few times, Mitchell has managed to craft a stylish and effective horror yarn that leaves one foot in our childhood memories while updating the genre for todays audience. At times it actually felt as if I was sitting in a movie theater watching a suspenseful slasher flick some 25 years ago…and it gave me a feeling of excitement I haven’t felt in a very long time.
The score is quite simply fantastic and almost a character in and of itself. Much like ‘Halloween’ and ‘The Shining’, the sound design at work in ‘It Follows’ takes on a personality all its own and serves to only heighten the sense of dread that ‘It Follows’ so successfully bathes in.
Mixing teenage angst and terrifying scenarios with horrific sexually transmitted disease overtones, ‘It Follows’ makes for one interesting night at the movies, and I loved it. Go see it!
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