A Breath Of Fresh Air

Rating: 8/10 (13 March 2017)

In a time where horror movies are known for being full of predictable jump scares and horrible acting, It Follows breathes new life into the franchise through excellent acting, a very haunting atmosphere, and an original and frightening "villain". One interesting attribute of It Follows is its homage to original horror movies like Halloween and Nightmare on Elm Street. In fact, the main "villain" of It Follows represents most classic horror icons due to it always moving at a walking pace. One distracting issue of It Follows is "the rules" which, due to not being fully explained, ends up being very distracting. Let's begin by talking about the strongest part of the movie:
1.Atmosphere: The atmosphere in It Follows is what makes this movie truly terrifying. The haunting atmosphere is present throughout the whole movie and there isn't a time where It Follows shifts the tone. This tone is the strongest in scenes where the main character isn't moving due to knowing that "It" is getting closer and closer while the main character isn't moving.
2.Characters: Perhaps one of the weakest part of modern horror films, the characters in It Follows are very strong and well-acted. Perhaps the best part of the characters is how relatable they are since the main character is suddenly thrust into a situation that she didn't want to be involved in. Also, the movie cleverly hints that the main character could be considered the monster as well due to being forced to give the curse to someone else to avoid dying.
3."It": The idea behind "It" was really clever and original. While "It" being described as walking doesn't make it seem very intimidating, it slowly becomes more and more intimidating as time goes on and the main character begins to lose her guard. However, the way "It" kills the person with the curse is weird and kind of over-dramatic and the fact that "It" doesn't have a true form is disappointing.
4.The Rules: Perhaps the weakest part of the movie would be the rules. While interesting, the rules can be pretty distracting due to some alternative scenarios not being answered. Also, even though the film clearly states that "It" is always walking towards whoever has the curse, there are at least two scenes where "It" is either described or shown standing still.
In the end It Follows is a clever horror movie that focuses on conveying horror through tone instead of cheap jump scares as well as making very relatable characters that don't act very stupid for the most part. The homage to classic horror movies is also a nice touch (even if some scenes are clearly meant to be homage instead of being connected to the plot).
Final Verdict: 8/10