Definitely not a masterpiece, but worth your time

Rating: 7/10 (6 November 2016)

THIS PARAGRAPH CAN BE SKIPPED Before I proceed with my review, let me analyze it so that it is actually useful for you. However, you can still skip it without affecting your understanding of my point. So what I want to say is that I judge a movie with two different ways: objective and subjective. The first one refers on some technical details and generally aspects of the movie that are viewed the same at least by the majority of people. This will most possibly help you understand if you will like the movie. Now, about the second way: it's my personal point of view. What I liked and what I disliked. Ι believe both are important. But enough about me. Let's talk about the movie.
Plot synopsis: "It follows" is about a girl, Annie who finds herself being chased everywhere by a creature with the ability to take various human forms after she has sex with her new boyfriend Hugh. Later, she finds out that the curse can be transferred through sexual contact to someone else and that the creature is invisible to everyone except her and the previous carrier of the curse. Knowing these, she and her friends try to save her. While "It follows" is generally pretty good, I find the massive praise it receives by older viewers to be hyperbolic (film reminds of older movies so I guess it's because of nostalgia) and of course the negative reviews by teenagers to be unfair. Scariness: 7/10 "It follows" is not considered a very scary movie in general. It has two fake jumps scares (the first one will definitely get you) and an actual one that you can easily expect though. Moreover, somewhere, in the middle of the movie there is a really good scare I have to acknowledge (the tall guy). No more scares, the rest of the scariness of the film comes from the "it is non-stop heading towards you" concept and the way the music score and the direction supports it. And that's one of the main reasons this movie is praised so much: it tries to make you constantly feel unease and it succeeds! I found myself a lot of times checking the protagonist's surroundings for someone following her. Acting: 6/10 you have seen better, but generally it works out. Bailey Spry as Annie is convincing throughout the movie and gives the best performance of all the cast. Her friends are just OK Music score (not sure how to rate it): As everybody says: "It reminds of John Carpenter's Halloween electronic score." As I will say in the subjective part, while it succeeded in building tension when needed, some other times I felt it was distracting and meaningless. But I don't want to disappoint you. Most people like it. Plot and characters: 7/10 if you have read the plot synopsis you may have probably realized it is not something remarkable. Apart from this, there are some little inconsistencies (e.g. where are these kids' parents? Why are they not worried about them missing all the time?), some scenes feel vague (e.g. when at beach looking at the fishermen) and for the most of the movie the characters are on the verge of being what we all hate in horror movies careless and sometimes dangerously impulsive (which makes it easier for the murderer to kill people (and the director). Why does it get 7/10 though? Generally, the plot makes sense and it's unpredictable (except for one jump scare as I said earlier). Moreover, there are some interesting elements that I can't ignore, but it is not for sure that you will notice all of them the first time you watch the film. A lot of them are hidden in the background or require from you to remember faces so that you understand them. The point is that the better your observation skills are, the more you will like the movie. Finally, the end is up to you to decide if it is happy or not.
The subjective part: Unfortunately, I was left kind of cold at the end. It has to do with what I like in horror movies and what I got was not exactly that. As I said although it has that unsettling feeling of being watched it is not that scary in general (although the tall guy scene still gives me the creeps). It also lacked creepiness according to my tastes. Example of creepy moments in movies (SPOILERS): in Mama there is a scene where the woman is in girl's bedroom and sees a human resembling form hidden under a blanket and assumes it is one of the children she has adopted. Then she looks on the other direction doing something and the blanket moves and hides in the wardrobe. Then she hears the voice of both girls in the kitchen. In Insidious the moment that the old lady describes the demon only she can see and her co-worker draws it. About the cinematography, it was well-shot, but I was not impressed or something I found the music distracting in many moments. It actually didn't even sound like music sometimes. An issue I had was about some scenes I thought were vague. I re-watched them and I still don't know what they meant. And about the ending, I believe it's up to you to decide if it's good because it is vague as well. I just feel I didn't understand what happened at the end. I think I am not the only one with this issue. Final verdict: If you are more of a typical horror fan like me you may be a little disappointed by "It follows", but I don't think you will hate it either. If you have much experience with horror movies and can appreciate good directing details then you will most probably like it. I am certain it is not a masterpiece (yeah you may have notice that characterization), but either way it's worth your time.