Most horror films don't even try half the things 'It Follows' expertly achieves

Rating: 9/10 (11 January 2016)

There are scary movies and then there are horror films. Scary movies make up the overwhelming bulk of the "horror" landscape — these days it's supernatural haunting films stacked with jump-scares and creepy little kids. Conceptually, "It Follows" appears to be in that vein, but David Robert Mitchell's sophomore feature film has artistic inclinations that elevate it well above schlock. The flip-side is that for every film buff who appreciates it, a horror junkie might be a little underwhelmed. To the junkies, I say too bad — "It Follows" is a retro-style horror triumph.
Part coming-of-age film, part supernatural slasher movie, "It Follows" centers on Jay (Maika Monroe), a 19-year-old in suburban Detroit whose romantic hookup with Hugh (Jake Weary) takes a turn for the terrifying when he reveals to her that he's passed something on to her — an "it" that takes on various human forms and will follow her until it kills her or she's able to pass it on to someone else.
Jay doesn't really believe it at first, but when it becomes clear that she's never safe in one place for long before some creepy, half- or fully-naked being comes after her, she enlists the help of her sister and some friends to help her figure out her next move.
Jay and her friends appear to be living in contemporary times, but there's a conscious absence of most technology and the inclusion of older car models and box TV sets, creating the aesthetic of a '70s suburban slasher movie. Combined with the subtle but haunting electronic score, "It Follows" is a pretty clear homage to John Carpenter's "Halloween" — suburbia honestly hasn't looked this creepy on film since the slasher heyday.
That's just one of the many horror sensibilities that Mitchell absolutely nails. His use of 360-degree camera pans and his overall patience with the camera in an era when horror movies seem to require moments of hand-held panic and chaos serve as not only the ultimate throwback to great '70s horror movies (I'm including "The Shining" in that category), but add to the thrill-level of the film experience.
"It Follows" does have moments when it caves to contemporary techniques and puts aside its slow-burn tactics, and they're among the weaker parts of the movie to be sure, but they don't sink it. In an effort to ratchet up the plot, the characters do have some extremely close encounters with "it" after a handful of hide-and-seek sequences, but what matters more is that Mitchell insists on keeping the audience in the dark and does not yield information that would compromise the mystery of "it." This will infuriate some folks, but it's part of what separates "It Follows" from its peers.
Symbolism is also a device Mitchell employs in spades that quickly elevates the film. That — and poetry, literature and foreshadow. "It Follows" could actually be the first horror film appropriate for a high school English class. Mitchell's liberal but calculated use of these techniques adds layers upon layers to the movie and it evolves into so much more than an eerie and effective horror concept. Whether it's the sexual or erotic imagery or the symbolism presented by the many bodies of water that appear throughout the film, these are just some examples of the way the film tackles bigger, more relevant questions that most horror films don't aspire to even scratch the surface of, the biggest of which is most definitely loss of innocence. It's clear that "It Follows" is as much about growing up and the terror that comes with it as it is the terror of running from certain death.
Even if it doesn't reach the level of thrills that ought to accompany a sit-down with a horror flick, the sheer depth and degree of intention in "It Follows" is staggering. Mitchell hasn't crafted a masterpiece exactly, but his film does so many things and goes so many places that others with similar concepts flat out don't, and they all blend together into this contemporary indie throwback horror film that stands tall.
~Steven C
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