The horror films of today’s era have been overwhelmingly disappointing, and it has been a long time coming since a truly creepy horror-thriller has made its way onto the big screen, but "It Follows" bucks that trend.
“It Follows” pays homage to a popular urban legend of the late 1980s and early 1990s, one that involves strangers and sex and the threat of AIDS. By playing with that old horror movie trope of sex equalling death, director and writer David Robert Mitchell takes cliches and turns them on their head. He has taken the overly done plot of teens teaming up to defeat some sort of evil force and transformed it into an entirely innovative centerpiece for upcoming flicks to follow.
Avid horror movie buffs are always on the lookout for a fun scare, but “It Follows” goes for a different form of dread and suspense. Nothing is more frightening than a lone figure in the background of a scene, lingering and walking like a regular person. Centered on a small group of teens, “It Follows” pits its protagonists against a mysterious supernatural entity passed from person to person though sexual activity. Here’s the catch: the only way to get rid of the pursuer is to pass it on to someone else.
We follow Jay, who lives in a suburb of Detroit and fantasizes about meeting a cute boy, going on dates and falling in love. Her girlish dreams are soon shattered by an older boy, as she awakens drugged and tied up in a wheelchair after a sex endeavor gone wrong. Her date then informs her of the “it” that follows and that it will never stop until she is either dead or has passed it on to another unsuspecting victim. The rest of the film focuses on Jay’s feeble attempts to gain insight about the follower and to save herself and her friends.
Lacking in blood, guts and gore, this film keys in on the sheer desperation of the characters. Mitchell chose the teenage group for a reason — teens are stupid, clumsy, naive and essentially just clueless. One can actually feel for the people on the screen, which sets "It Follows" apart from the string of recent horror movies that lack character development and consistency. Mitchell also delves into the judgment of sex before marriage and overall promiscuity, which adds a sense of controversy to the film.
Combining a fresh idea, beautiful cinematography and an eerily captivating soundtrack, “It Follows” should enthrall audiences everywhere by chilling them straight to the bone and ending with a simple message: always remember to check behind you.