One shouldn't miss this, even if it was disappointing in some respects...

Rating: 8/10 (4 January 2016)

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to suppress my curiosity, so I had read about the plot of 'It follows' here and there, before watching the film. Now, I've seen it three times, and even though it has its good share of (brilliant) moments, it's not the modern horror masterpiece I was hoping to find.
The main problems are that the plot drags on at times, and the rules of 'it' and how it operates, are somewhat unclear and confusing at times. For one, it would be quite simple to avoid 'it' forever: when it comes close to you, get in a car or plane or boat and go far away and so on. Then, 'it' seems to be unable to go 'through' people or things, but it can - seemingly effortlessly - navigate through crowded places like cinemas or schools without touching anyone - yeah right. Also, if 'it' can be easily exposed by throwing a blanket over it, that would give any victim (and their friends) the opportunity to expose it to the world (which may not help in itself, but now the police and the parents are quite helpless anyway). But... I know from experience that such details should not be looked into too hard, since horror movies are essentially metaphoric entertainment, like fairy-tales were (and are) as well. 'It' seems to represent death, which reveals itself to youngsters who had lived carefree up until then. Through sex, they lose their innocence and become aware of their vulnerability, their mortality). Coming-of-age, stuff like that. Personally, I wouldn't link it directly to venereal diseases, but if people must...
Beyond that, I would have chosen to leave out the first scene (which felt like the obligatory horror intro - who really needs it in a film like this?) and begin things with that innocent adolescent Jay, and how things slowly begin to fall apart - more mystery, less horror. The pool scene in the end was the obligatory finale, but didn't work much for me, either. I really liked the contemplative, atmospheric ride that this film was most of the time (photography!, acting!, soundtrack!, it's all wonderful! - except for the occasional, truly clichéd, 'monster'), and so it's really easy to be lenient, but 'It follows' is - I must warn you - not perfect.
5 or 6 or even 7 out of 10 seems fair, but this is quite a special film to me, in spite of what I can say against it. A good 8 out of 10, therefore.