It Follows Review

Horror had a major problem, it developed and evolved until it eventually reached the gory slasher movies of the 80s, the formula for those films (first half filled with teen sex, second half filled with teen slaughter) became the cheap formula to replicate. The next craze was the found footage frenzy post- The Blair Witch Project, cheap to make and trying to convince those watching that it might actually be a documentary. So the problem became that horror lost its inventiveness and everything became a cheap slasher film or a cheap found footage film, horror might now be finding its feet again. Last year saw the terrifying Babadook, and this year sees the brilliant It Follows. What these films understand is shouting boo makes you jump, but creating a sense of dread will keep you up at night. It follows sees Maika Monroe’s Jay have sex with a boy, only to discover that having sex with him has passed on a form of curse, where a being that can look like anyone and is referred to only as “It” will follow you until it can eventually kills you, if you sleep with someone else you can pass it on the them, but after it kills them it will eventually work its way back down to you. What’s fantastic about this film is that draws inspiration from exactly the right areas, particularly the work of John Carpenter circa 1970s. Rather than relying on close-ups and editing, director David Robert Mitchell utilises beautifully composed long shots as various forms of “It” creep into frame. The appearances of “It” are perfectly composed and you spend your time viewing the film wondering like Jay if “It” is close and who could it be. The performances are all great, the teen characters feel really genuine rather than the stereotypes often depicted in usual horror fare they all feel like real people. The depiction of sex as an act leading to potential demise isn’t one particularly unique to horror, more often than not the survivor of a horror film is the white virgin female, however what’s fascinating about this is once Jay is given this curse, she becomes the victim but she is also instilled with a sense of power, she could have sex with someone and potentially seal their doom. It’s a shame that given the films strong showing that it falters a little in its final act, it doesn’t exactly know how to solve the conflict between Jay ant “It” and the show down doesn’t seem entirely at piece with the rest of the film. Fortunately the films closing scene uses ambiguity to its strength leaving multiple interpretations, none of which are going to make it any easier for me to get to sleep tonight. (5 Stars)