A young woman is followed by a relentless. supernatural entity after a sexual encounter.
That's it. That's the plot of the movie. You can go shave your back hair now!
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| OMG! That dress is terrible. |
It Follows is a great example of a movie that's beautifully done... but is terrible at the same time. The movie has a retro vibe to it. Everything in the movie looks like it was purchased from Goodwill. Leftover props from the late 80's to 90's are strewn throughout the movie, but it's not necessarily trying to be retro or "cool". It's very subtle.
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| Gurl! Have respect for yourself! Make him take you to a La Quinta at least! |
Every review I've read for this movie keeps calling it a "Modern Horror Story!" I agree. It is a very new sort of story. The story is about a young girl having sex with a dude who, afterwards, informs her of a strange entity that will follow her and try to kill her until she passes it on to someone else by fucking them. It's like a walking STD that will kill you, and by walking I literally mean walking. This thing never speeds up. It chases this girl relentlessly, but it doesn't run, jump or skip... it walks. It's very unsettling because it's almost like it's not in a hurry to kill her. It knows it will eventually have her and it savors each step it takes toward her annihilation. I kind of imagine it saying: "Bitch, I don't even need to run, I'm gonna get yo ass eventually!"
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| Granny wants your soul. |
The camera work is fantastic and the director knows how to create an atmosphere of dread and unease. Mitchell is extremely talented at dialing up the suspense or flat-lining it on a moments notice. He creates this very tense progression that just builds and builds, sometimes it pays off, other times it doesn't. Yes, there are some lame jump scares thrown in, but they weren't annoying. The movie mainly relies of the slow build of terror and the constant state of tension. The monster doesn't suddenly pop out from behind a tree and go "BOO!" No, you see this monster coming from a mile away and it's intense.
A refreshing aspect of this film was the supporting characters. In so many horror films the friends don't believe the main protagonist when something fucked is happening. The frustrated begs and pleas for belief are not in this film. The friends are totally supportive and willing to help out however they can. Though they can't see whatever is following her, they believe her and are totally ride or die bitches, even going as far to help her come up with ways to kill it.
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| "Yeah we think you cray, but we'll totes support you!" |
Another thing to point out is this movie is VERY surreal. It's littered with David Lynch-type imagery throughout. It's kind of like Twin Peaks on steroids. It ain't fucking around. Sometimes this is done with a very light touch, other times it's thrown in your face like a hot cup of coffee. For instance: There's a scene where this entity takes the form of a disheveled teenage girl, wearing only one tube sock and peeing herself. What was the point? Why was she peeing herself? Things like this seem to only be thrown in for the sake of fuckery and have no real point.
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| You be straight up trippin'. |
While this movie wasn't the worst, it needed a few tweaks. It Follows takes itself far too seriously. It's about a walking STD coming to kill you! Can we have a little camp thrown in? I know STD's are serious and all that, but I mean.... come on! Let's have a little fun with it! It's almost like the movie takes it's theme to the point of extreme. It's as if the write/director is sitting next to you, poking and prodding you throughout saying: "See what I did? See what I did? This represents the real fear young people have of STD's I just made it more literal! See? See?" I FUCKING GET IT!
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| Oh hai! |
The movie can get a bit pretentious at times, trying to connect things and have deep meanings or some other bullshit. It's not done well. It's obvious in it's trying to make some spiritual sense of everything, but in the end it falls flat and just adds more time and tediousness to the already sprawling story line. There are times I just want to shake the director and yell "GET TO THE POINT! END THIS ALREADY!" At the same time... this is the directors SECOND movie. I'm cutting some slack, plus I appreciate he wrote and directed the movie. Mad props to you sir.
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| OMG! It really does follow! |
I've read other reviews of this movie, and many are disappointed that you never find out what this thing that follows is. We never do find out the origin of the monster(entity? Ghost? Mutant?), or exactly what it is. It's left a mystery. I know I'm the odd man out here, but I'm fine with it. I would have been extremely disappointed if they had that whole series of cliche' scenes where they go to a university/paranormal investigator/retired professor/psychic/whatever and everything is explained from an ancient book that somehow this person of knowledge has. I'm extremely glad we didn't have those scene because A) It would have made the movie MUCH longer and B) It didn't need it.
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| "Hey y'all! I'm just an evil naked entity crossing train tracks!" |
Besides the superb production and original plot, the aspect of leaving the audience in a shroud of mystery is the strongest aspect this film has going for it. Knowing what It is would just ruin the illusion. It's kinda like the show Lost, once you know whats in the hatch, you just don't care anymore.
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| Let's all go into the foreboding house! YAY! |
With all that being said and to end on a positive note, I'm extremely impressed by this movie. I think It Follows has opened the door for more horror films like this to be made. For far too long, the genre of horror has seems to have been an after-thought by studios. There has been no real art or effort put into them. They've just been a quick way to make money. It Follows shows hope for the genre. Yes, a horror film can be well done and aesthetically pleasing. Yes, you can make a horror movie that relies on tension and true terror more than cheap jump scares and buckets of blood thrown at the camera. Maybe some filmmakers will finally see the light and start making horror a serious genre again instead of the punchline it's been over the past few years. I truly hope It Follows is a start of a revolution where filmmakers see that horror audiences want well thought-out story lines and artful production more than 3D, gimmicky gore and torture porn.
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| BITCH! I done told you I didn't want a doggie door! |
