It Follows (2014)

[K1stpierre]

Discuss

[Kevin Bacon]

It's been an extremely long time since a movie truly scared me. As in, induced true fear in me. Possibly since I was a kid. It's a sensation I didn't re-discover up until the past year and a half or so, when I uncovered the spectacular world of indie horror games, with titles like Slender: The Eight Pages, Outlast, Paranormal, Amnesia: The Dark Descent, PT, and the Five Nights at Freddy's series doing something nothing else has: making me turn it off because I couldn't handle it. I've found that, as an adult, film doesn't possess that ability like it used to when I was younger, which is a weird feeling as a big fan of horror films. More recent movies like The Descent and 1408 managed a certain level of suspense, where Evil Dead or The Crazies remakes provided gory thrills--yet the real standout genre fare as of late has been the likes of The Cabin in the Woods and You're Next that subvert the genre entirely and in the process become clever, violent satire.

 

I took all this into account going into It Follows, which I knew only a few things about: it has a 95% Tomatometer, it stars the lovely Maika Monroe (who you should know from The Guest and if you don't what are you doing watch The Guest already), it's got a bitchin' score, it's a legitimate horror film, and it's going to be a while before I can catch it on demand because it's only playing in a few cities. But, alas, due to popular demand, it's expanded to a wide release and just so happened to end up in my town tonight. So, I grabbed a friend and headed to the theater. There were only a few others in attendance, unsurprisingly, and the trailers were absolutely dreadful with ads for Unfriended and some ridiculous Nicolas Sparks bullriding movie. But then the movie followed, and it was time to see what exactly I was in for.

 

Critics called the movie "terrifying", a claim I was dubious on myself because movies don't terrify me. Did this buck that trend? No. But holy shit, did it induce some anxiety. Without giving away any of the plot, once the plot gets set into motion about 20 minutes in, the movie becomes an unrelenting barrage of tension with very few jumpscares to break it. My friend noted that it was as if they took what made Halloween scary and stripped it down to its very core and ran with it. Whenever there isn't a direct threat onscreen, it's always with us in spirit, certainly lurking somewhere nearby, prone to pop up in any of the many long scenic shots at any given moment, and even if it doesn't, the loud, booming score will have you certain that it will.

 

It goes without saying that director David Robert Mitchell is responsible for much of this, but equal props go to Disasterpiece for the intense retro synth-driven score and the cast--specifically Monroe, who once again nails it and could easily find herself becoming the next big "last girl" going forward or just as easily go in an entirely different direction; either way, her future is bright.

 

There's a respectable chance that with its expansion this becomes a sleeper hit with all the hype in the world behind it, in which case you'll probably see it. Or it could fade away, in which case you should see it anyway because it's a totally unique and wonderfully made horror that you're pretty much certain to have never seen anything like. 9/10

[Deep Wang]

Jesus.

 

I walked out of this movie at 3:15 in the morning.  What is the first thing I see?  The janitor walking towards me from the other end of the hallway.

 

I swear to God I almost shit myself.

 

I'm still creeped the fuck out.

[Vanilla]

Jesus.

 

I walked out of this movie at 3:15 in the morning.  What is the first thing I see?  The janitor walking towards me from the other end of the hallway.

 

I swear to God I almost shit myself.

 

I'm still creeped the fuck out.

 

 

LOL, same thing happened. Screened this with a few friends and just go out. We are all creeped out still. Its pretty scary to walk out into the dark empty parking lot to your car after this film.

 

 

Great little horror film. Best one I've seen in a while

 

9/10

[Jake Gittes]

Dying to see this. 

[Alpha]

Yep, this is on my "Movies I Need to See" list.

[75Live]

I'll he seeing this in a couple hours hopefully

[75Live]

Just got home from a double feature with this being one of the films. I hope I am in the minority but I didn't find it that good and was not scary or creepy or anything.

I did love the 80s vibe and 80s sounding music but literally this is just a story about STDs.

Maybe it was due to the terrible theater experience that made it seem bad so I will most likely give it another try. But my theater mainly laughed the whole time.

Right now I give it a C but that could change on subsequent viewings

[Kevin Bacon]

Yeah it's pretty much impossible to appreciate a movie that relies entirely on its atmosphere when a room full of dipshits is laughing the whole time. Even if you wouldn't have liked it either way, it sounds like the audience ruined the movie.

[The Stingray]

From Classic Convo:

 

So yeah, It Follows delivers on the hype. The movie is eerie as f**k. It draws inspiration from the likes of Halloween, with its slow, long takes (opposed to the quick-cutting often seen in modern horror movies), and the brilliant Carpenter-esque synth score. I also got some Nightmare on Elm Street vibes, with a bunch of kids having to team-up, watch each other's backs, sleep in shifts etc. to protect their friend from getting caught by It. The movie is all about atmosphere; paranoia and dread mixed with some wistfulness and teen angst. And the aforementioned score certainly heightens the mood and terror. My only drawback is that I feel the ending (last 15-20 min or so) is a bit of a letdown and not as strong as the rest of the movie.

 

All in all, It Follows is beautiful, haunting and unsettling, a modern horror classic in my opinion, and arguably the best teen slasher since Scream.

 

9/10

 

PS: If you're looking for blood and gore, look elsewhere. This isn't that type of slasher. It's more about the dread of being constantly followed by something unknown and sinister.

Edited March 28, 2015 by The Stingray

[RobinHood26]

From the first shot, its on. Whats amazing is how well the concept works and it actually may even be scarier in the day. It also was great because at times with this whole group of friends it felt like a teen adventure movie in a way. 

 

B+ (89)

[Jessie]

Im waiting on Baumers review before seeing this. Please don't be another Babadook.

[The Stingray]

Im waiting on Baumers review before seeing this. Please don't be another Babadook.

 

I'm pretty sure B wont like it, and neither will you.

[Vanilla]

I think Baumer will like it. I'm awaiting his review as well. Lol

[Blankments]

Holy shit. I never see horror movies. I hate horror movies. After seeing this, I think I might just hate what the genre has become generally. Absolutely loved it. The dynamic of the friends was awesome, and Paul was an awesome character, but really they were all great, except the poetry girl, who was my only eh part of the movie. It was just terrifying; it's a fucked up movie with awesome production value and knowledge of what the genre has brought before it.* The cinematography and direction are on point and the score is ridiculously good. This will be high up on my list at the end of the year; a fantastic indie movie with an unusual idea that works perfectly, and exceeds in a genre I typically despise? Yep, it's a winner. A+

 

 

*Anyone else notice the Nightmare on Elm Street reconstruction?

Edited March 31, 2015 by Blankments

[JohnnyGossamer]

Holy shit. I never see horror movies. I hate horror movies. After seeing this, I think I might just hate what the genre has become generally. Absolutely loved it. The dynamic of the friends was awesome, and Paul was an awesome character, but really they were all great, except the poetry girl, who was my only eh part of the movie. It was just terrifying; it's a fucked up movie with awesome production value and knowledge of what the genre has brought before it.* The cinematography and direction are on point and the score is ridiculously good. This will be high up on my list at the end of the year; a fantastic indie movie with an unusual idea that works perfectly, and exceeds in a genre I typically despise? Yep, it's a winner. A+

 

 

*Anyone else notice the Nightmare on Elm Street reconstruction?

You never see horror movies? Come on, Blank... A plethora of fascinating horror flicks released in the past 5 to 10 years. Now that you've seen It Follows, just of the top of my head, check out:

House Of The Devil

Kill List

Babadook

Sightseers

A Field In England

Conjuring

Cabin In The Woods

Guest

You're Next

[The Stingray]

A gold star/like to you for namechecking House of the Devil. I adore that movie.

[Asyulus]

F, this movie is horrible, Way overrated.

[JohnnyGossamer]

Disappointed to say that I was disappointed. Fantastic concept. But, in the end, the reality created by Mitchell never pulled me in. Just too erratic.

 

While I loved the staging, the palpable dread infused by the It, I'm growing weary of these pseudo-retro 80s horror films that occur in some nightmarish dream state to excuse the plethora of anachronisms within the unreality. It's like West and now Mitchell want to make the movie that Carpenter or whomever didn't make in the 80s. West is more consistent within his films' realities while Mitchell has a more compelling concept.

 

Young horror directors with a thin, albeit compelling concept, that just wanna ape their favorite director rather than revise said filmmaker(s) strength to create something twisted, pressing, relevant and timely. Same bullshit with Super 8. These movies don't have to be timeless. But, West, Abrams, Mitchell, etc. are desperate to infuse so many out place objects, etc. to hammer than notion home. Of course Abrams sets 8 in when ET was set instead of now. And, of course, it makes it incredibly easy avoid dealing with modern tech in horror flicks. Well, of course, unless it conveniently serves the plot. Personally, I find it very frustrating. I mean, this nightmare come to life could've easily been just as if not more terrifying if set in recent past or present. Or, if Mitchell was more consistent within the reality he creates.

 

Mitchell's not talented enough to create a consistent alternate creepiverse a la Cronenberg, Lynch, etc. He's not fresh like Carpenter with the synth music and long tracking shots. And, aside from some sharp cuts, beautiful framing, fine acting, etc... There's not much here. Not unlike much of Ti West's output, this is a 30 minute horror Twilight Zone stretched out to 90 minutes.

 

That said, creeped me the fuck out and paid some excellent homage. Some truly gorgeous shots too. And, Maika and Co. are all very good in their roles. But, greedily, with these new crop of horror directors, I just wish there was more to it than all homage and not much else. B-

Edited April 2, 2015 by JohnnyGossamer

[AniNate]

It's got a cool concept and Mitchell does a bang-up job trying to imitate Kubrick's Shining stylings, but I don't think they really showed enough of what the Follower could do for it to feel especially threatening. Plus that ending is just one of the biggest ass-pulls I've ever seen; the writer clearly couldn't figure out a plausible way to dispose of his supposedly impervious supernatural being, and the unearned ambiguity of the final scene just makes it worse.

Edited April 3, 2015 by tribefan695