It Follows... It's Scary

Rating: 9/10 (9 March 2015)

Drugged and tied to a wheelchair; Jay (Maika Monroe) awakes to find Hugh, her date, in a frenzy. Looking for something that can't be found, it seems, and then he screams, rolls her to the edge of a car park and points. A nude woman on the lip of an amber light, just walking directly at them, unstoppable. Jay has been cursed by Hugh, he passed the curse to her through sex, and as Jay stays alive Hugh is guaranteed to stay alive too. The curse can take the shape of any person and will work endlessly to find its next victim; it follows.
Set in Detroit, David Robert Mitchell uses It Follows to tell the feeling of alienation and isolation felt by teenagers in the 21st century. Each teen awkwardly interacts with one another, and adults play a remote role in the movie. Authority and structure almost seem non-existent; the police only appearance and they seem non-plus by the possibility of a rape, this creates a believable environment where the mysterious deaths of teens would not affect the community. Also, the film's monster runs along the edge of nearly every shot allowing run seamlessly into the narrative and the environment.
The visual tone of the film is stark, and many driving scenes roll through the decaying landscape of the 8 Mile Stretch. Some of the shots are also unique in building tension, like attaching the camera to the leg of the wheel chair or spinning the camera on its own axis to give a panoramic showing of monster and it's potential victim. Also lighting is one of the nuances of the terror; one scene early in the film has a friend opening the door, behind the hall is lit to be completely black, this allows for the monster a giant man to lurch into the shot, and my heart pulsed throughout the sequence.
Acting in the film is subtle for a horror movie; the actors shift from action to apathy seamlessly. Keir Gilchrist in particular adds a depth of desperation to the dreariness. His constant melancholy stares at Maika Monroe, the aimless body language and his ability for his face to express angst conveys the emotional depth of the film.
There is one flaw to the film; the main plot of the film is engaging up until the climax. The film final confrontation seemed a bit forced, and all too similar to the climax in Stephen King's It. The sequence isn't terrible and does have this feeling of anxious scurrying, also its significance is exposed skilfully after. It just doesn't gel with the rest of the film.
Definitely one of the best English speaking horror films I have seen since The Descent; I was left feeling tense and the concept for the monster is one that should unnerve most people.