Started off incredibly strong, then...

Rating: 6/10 (5 June 2015)

It is incredibly tough to rate this movie. The actors were mostly fresh faces, and the cinematography was really really good, aside from that...the story
****Spoilers ahead****
The movie starts off strongly where the audience has no clue what "it" is. It seems to change into different characters depending on...well we're not sure. the first guy who had it said it can change into people that you love just to hurt you, but it never changed into anything that the main protagonist loved, just random people (or people-like things) with the exception of the neighbor, but it didn't seem like she loved him, or anyone in particular. In fact we don't know anything about her other than she's a kid that is old enough to date.
the story tries to sum up things about the area later in the movie (like we're not quite sure where this film takes place, but they hinted that it was somewhere possibly in Detroit, referencing 8 mile) which has pretty much no relevance once it's talked about. For whatever reason no one else can see "it" unless you have sex with that person, making it more like a sin that comes for you or a manifestation of a std rather than an actual haunting. For whatever reason it can be shot and it bleeds, but doesn't affect it in the least. The girl is told not to let it touch you, but it touches her twice through the film, with seemingly little consequence. In fact the movie has very little consequence of any kind, the parents are absent from the movie, but the kids have full access to their homes and vehicles. The beginning of the movie was electrifying and horrifying but slowly dies off near the end. This movie would have done better as a series, similar to Halloween.
Then there's the house that the first guy rented. It set up traps so he could protect himself from "it" because he was genuinely scared of it, as he should be. This bothered me since the girl never used the same tactics or even take the same precautions. In fact the only reason he went on the date was so he could pass it along. When the girl gets it however, she only shows real fear of it whenever it is around, and no other time. Heck even the family is so laid back about it, why should the audience be afraid of it at all? Her siblings seemed like they could care less about what it was.
Plot aside, I thought the jump scares were a nice touch. Usually movies are riddled with ridiculous jump scares at all the wrong times, this movie did a VERY good job with them. I think if they would have had a tighter structure for the story and plot line and even used less effects, this movie would have been a refreshing addition to the horror genre. If you are into feeling a sense of scare, the first part of the movie will definitely do it for you. 6.5 out of 10 for me.