This film was very suspenseful and had a great premise.

Rating: 7/10 (8 June 2015)

It Follows is a small horror and suspense film vaguely about a haunted S.T.D and the young woman that has to avoid the inevitable consequences of a supernatural presence. There is a small set of rules that the horror behind the film follows. There is a being that targets a single person and stalks them at a slow, yet constant pace. This presence never stops, and cannot be killed. It has the ability to change its appearance at will to any person it finds suitable. It is possible to change its target by having its current target have sex with someone else, making the other person the new target. Only the current target and those who have been the target before can see this being. Once the presence reaches the target, stuff will happen and it will then go back down the line and stalk the previous target. The beauty of this concept is that the protagonist is never safe and always on the run. This gives the entire film a natural drive and constant sense of dread. While this is technically a horror film I wouldn't call it scary. It was very suspenseful and I was on the edge of my seat for most of the film, but I didn't have any trouble sleeping after I saw it. The over all structure of the film is built upon small scenes that jump from location to location with a heavy metaphorical overtone and lots of silent and subtle moments. While some might call the film slow and jumbled. I found it's slowness to be an effective building of tension and its many short scenes make predicting when this being would actually show up very difficult. This sense of overwhelming fear is made even more effective by slow, yet long takes and some really good cinematography. I have very few problems with the plot. The first issue is that there is a heavy reliance on metaphor, and so much of the plot is subtly told that the possibility of missing something is incredibly high. I do respect that the creators of the film expect the audience to pay attention, but there needs to be some straightforward foundation to build metaphors on or else they can be interpreted in so may ways that people will get lost at times. On the other hand, not finding these metaphors still leaves a straightforward and simple plot, but there is a complex plot hidden inside that allow of people will miss on the first viewing. This might not even be a flaw to some people. One final nitpick is that the parents in this film are almost never seen and never directly interact with the plot. While this might be a throwback to older horror classics it is a trope that I think needs to go away. I still do recommend watching this movie. I was constantly on edge and the subtle storytelling kept me focused and interested.