Terrific, original vision with near-flawless execution

Rating: 8/10 (30 October 2015)

I was inspired to write my own review of this film after sifting through pages of critiques from people who expect some ADD-friendly, big-budget hack job with MTV-style editing and jump scares.
If you're going into this movie expecting that, of course you're going to be disappointed. Those types of movies are played out and aren't frightening at all. This film gave me the worst feeling of dread since watching the first Halloween movie. And you know what made that movie great and the remakes so inferior? We barely know who or what "IT" is. Modern horror films and remakes/sequels try to analyze what makes the scary person or thing tick. But the unknown is always scarier than the known. We don't need a back story. We can't expect the characters to know the origin of "it."
"It" in this story is a curse of some sort -- I won't spoil it -- but the primary victim in this story didn't ask to be infected with this curse and only gets a cursory explanation from her sexual partner (at least there's that) before she is left to deal with it herself. Not knowing who "it" is, what "it" looks like or why it's following you is absolutely horrifying.
Anyway, this film offers tense, atmospheric horror without cheap scares. The suburban Detroit location adds a creepy backdrop. The minimalist Casio score adds to the sparse feel. This is a horrifying premise and the delivery is nearly flawless. As Quentin Tarantino has noted, the filmmaker breaks some of his own rules throughout the film and that is a minor issue, but it doesn't take away from the experience. This is easily one of the top five horror films of the past 25 years.