It Follows

2014 supernatural horror movie

Rating: 15/20

Plot: After banging a guy in a car, a young lady discovers that a curse has been passed to her. Creepy people slowly follow her around, and she and her friends try to figure out a way to get rid of the curse.

Cory recommended this, probably knowing that I enjoy my horror movies most when there's a subtext. This one--whether it's really about sexually-transmitted diseases or social stigma or guilt or whatever--is probably a little too obviously about something else. It's especially obvious if it's STD's. Regardless, there's an intelligence to the horror, alluding to T.S. Eliot's Prufrock and Dostoevsky's The Idiot. Of course, there's also a fart gag ("I have an idea." "What?" [Farts audibly] "It got away.") and scenes where characters watch The Giant Claw and Killers from Space, classic bad movies.

I enjoyed the flick, one elevated a bit more by its style. The scares are certainly there. The monster or however you want to refer to the menacing presence lurks in a memorable way, as quietly iconic as the gal coming out of the television set in The Ring. I wonder about the significance of the different forms the stalking creature took. An old woman, a naked lady, a very tall man with no eyes. If I suffered from a curse like this, I'd have to go with the naked lady for obvious reasons. I mean, if you're going to die, you might as well die while enjoying the sight of a naked woman, right? I wonder if I'm missing something with the shape-shifting qualities of the thing.

I also liked how they made the story timeless. A heavy synth score gave this an 80's flavor, but the vehicles used and the houses' decor were all over the place. This could have taken place in the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, or 21st Century, probably not a coincidence at all since sex has been taking place during all those decades. Speaking of the synths, the score for this was really amazing--creepy and dated while not being dated at all. Unfortunately, it was put together by some guy who calls himself Disasterpeace.

There's also some nice visual flair, most notably in a pair of scenes featuring long, rotating shots. The opening is a real knockout, and another scene taking place at a school makes you hold your breath. Things do threaten to get a little redundant after a while, and I was never sure whether I cared for any of the characters, but those are minor quibbles. This is a cool little horror film that I would definitely watch again.

I might have docked this a point (completely unfairly) because I know they're going to more than likely make sequels that aren't nearly as good. Get ready for It Follows 2: The Itching and It Follows 3: Why Does It Hurt When I Pee?