Eerie and Atmospheric...IT FOLLOWS is One to Watch

Rating: 8/10 (16 February 2016)

It's always refreshing to find a horror movie that succeeds in freaking me out to some extent. David Robert Mitchell's IT FOLLOWS manages to do just that. Watching it the first time in total darkness and slightly less than sober, it had me jumping at shadows when it was over. It's just so perfectly atmospheric. It feels so retro and modern and the same time, and it comes with a John Carpenter vibe thanks to the eerie synth score from Disasterpeace. This has got to be a breakout hit for both writer/director Mitchell and his cast of unknowns. I've been trying to do my part in spreading the word on the film to friends, as I know it'll be easy for a small indie film like this to pass under the radar without getting the attention I feel it rightly deserves. IT FOLLOWS is essentially a film about a sexually-transmitted poltergeist. We're introduced to our heroine Jay (Maika Monroe) as she's preparing for a date with a guy she's feeling pretty good about, and the date goes well enough that the two of them close it out with a tryst in his car in an abandoned industrial parking lot (romantic, yeah?). Then it gets freaky. He knocks her out and ties her to a wheelchair, but it's for her own good. He needs her to listen to what he's about to explain: he has just passed It on to her. What "it" is, he has no idea. But it was following him and now it's going to follow her. Then only way to get rid of it is to have sex with someone else and pass it along. It will follow you, no matter where you run. And never, ever let it catch up to you
I went into IT FOLLOWS expecting a slasher film. A murderous specter that haunts you, following you until it gets close enough to murder you, and all you can do to survive is pass it down the line. The premise sounds ripe for some real cheese but nope. Mitchell presents IT FOLLOWS with full seriousness and it works so incredibly well. The death count is low in this movie because it isn't about the kills. It's about the constant nagging fear and paranoia of the victim. They're forced to constantly keep one eye over their shoulder and if you suspect someone in the crowd isn't what they appear, you run. The spirit/demon/ghost/whatever will attempt to disguise itself if it means getting close enough to its victim. And the best part? Mitchell never bothers explaining what "It" is. I can't state how much I love that It is left a mystery. From start to finish, we waste no time speculating on what it is. We just ride along with Jay and her friends as they scramble to figure out how to save her; granted she could just pass it off but that's no guarantee. If "It" manages to kill its next victim, it just reverts back to the previous. Then there's the whole "willingly giving an unsuspecting victim a death sentence" thing that (understandably) bothers her.
IT FOLLOWS feels as much a psychological thriller as it is a horror film. Like I said, it wasn't the slasher I was anticipating so we spend the majority of the movie with Jay, watching how she handles her bleak situation. She starts the film so bright-eyed and hopeful. She relaxes in the pool, playfully shooing away neighborhood kids peeping through the fence, and kids around with her sister and their friends. Her life appears incredibly simple and happy. Then it all changes and she is absolutely traumatized. She takes to locking herself away, barricading doors and trusting no one. Nowhere is safe. But her friends are there for her through the whole of it, even if her story sounds more than a little insane. IT FOLLOWS has obvious allusions to the inherent dangers in sex (particularly STDs) but I feel as if there could be even more layers that I haven't picked up on. This is a movie that almost demands multiple viewings, as you're bound to discover more each time. There's a recurring theme of water (what with constant use of pools and lakes) but I haven't figured out the significance behind it yet. It's one of those elements ripe for post-viewing discussion. IT FOLLOWS is tense, haunting, and it would stick with me long after it finished. I have few complaints about the film but the one major misstep that bothers me each time is the final act, when Jay and her friends devise a harebrained scheme to put an end to It. But it's a minor quibble that doesn't detract from my glowing praise for the film, and I really recommend anyone that's considering IT FOLLOWS should give it the time.