I just can't

Rating: 2/10 (9 October 2018)

I have seen some reviews say that the concept is original. There is nothing original about the concept of ridding yourself of a curse by passing it on to the next unsuspecting victim. I suppose it is a tiny bit original that this curse is passed on for sex? Actually, no. STD are passed on this way in real life. Which brings me to the issue of informed consent. Knowingly having sex with someone in order to pass on, in this case, a curse without first informing the person that you have the affliction is called assault. It happens all the time in real life and it's not ok. Nothing original about it. I'm just saying.
Speaking of sex, you have to pass the curse on by sex, and then "It" kills people by having sex with them, apparently? It just feels like sex for the sake of sex if there's no explanation. It's the dumbest premise of all time. I just can't.
The whole thing is just boring, boring, boring. I get that it's a formulaic approach, but most horrors like this at least go on to investigate the origin of the evil thing. Why does it kill? Why does it kill in the way that it does? These questions keep the viewer at least interested in the story. Here, there is no story. All we have is some girl running, with the help of her friends, from an entity that walk super slow. There is nothing engaging. No exploration of who might be patient zero or what is "It's" motivation.
I didn't find "It" to be the least bit scary. I mean, if people can easily outrun it at a speed walking pace, I'm just not that scared. "It" moves so ungodly slow, and apparently only does so by walking, that it would be easy enough to just jump on a plane, fly across the ocean, and wait for it to make it's slow a** way across the seas. I know, I know. Not everyone can just pick up and move half way around the world. But if I had some unseen murderous entity bent on killing me, I'd do what it takes. People move around all the time for less compelling reasons. If you can't make it across the world, just a couple hours drive will do to get a good night's rest. Maybe find a job that requires you to fly around the country a lot. See? A little bit of reasoning takes the fear factor right out.
The plan to kill this thing makes absolutely no sense. At the beach, she shoots it and it just stands up and keeps coming. What makes them think electrocution will do the trick if bullets won't? And what exactly is the plan anyway? "It" is only getting in the pool if Jay is there, so in order to electrocute it, don't they have to electrocute her? I guess maybe if she's fast enough she can swim to the edge and get out first, but it just seems like an ill-thought-through plan.
I guess Maika Monroe at least does a good job with what she's given. With a plot that revolves solely around a chick running around screaming like a lunatic at an entity that only she can see, this easily could have devolved into "please just kill her already so as to spare us all from this annoyance" territory, but it really didn't. Maika managed to not grind on my nerves. Plus one in the acting column. That's why this movie gets 2 stars instead of 1. But that is literally all this film has going for it.