Review: It Follows

Jay (Maika Monroe) is on a date with Hugh (Jake Weary), and things turn hot and heavy. Unfortunately, after that they turn really fucked up as Jay is drugged and tied up. When she wakes up, Hugh tells her he’s sorry but an entity will now follow her, though invisible to anyone else. If this entity (which can change its appearance for every person it targets) touches Jay, she will die and the entity will once again come after Hugh. In order to get rid of the entity, Jay must have sex with someone else and pass it on to them. Sure enough, Jay does indeed start seeing visions of figures walking towards her that no one else can see. It won’t stop until it has killed her. Luckily for Jay, she has a good group of friends who, although they have no idea what the hell is going on, nonetheless decide to help her find a way to get rid of this demonic, sex-derived chain letter once and for all.

 

A kind of mixture between “Halloween”, “The Virgin Suicides” and “The Grudge”, this 2014 horror film from David Robert Mitchell is actually pretty good, if a bit confusing in terms of its time period. No matter whether it’s taking place in the present or the past, I was impressed by its rather more bleak view of suburbia than the American Pie worldview of “Halloween”. It’s got a bleak, Kurt Cobain-ish, 90s vibe about its setting and characters, and is an effective and moody film (Lead actress Maika Monroe has ‘something’ too, possibly the ‘It Factor’).

 

Its vibe is unlike most other horror films of the last couple of years, and might just be the film “All the Boys Love Mandy Lane” wanted to be, but failed miserably. I wasn’t overly keen on the seemingly deliberately confusing or obscuring opener to the film (that’s one nasty contortion of a person’s leg, however. That’s not supposed to be possible!), but once it gets underway, it’s obvious that writer-director Mitchell and cinematographer Mike Gioulakis know what they’re doing. Shot composition/camera movement are excellent here. If its tone is somewhat “Virgin Suicides”, then the plot definitely mixes “Halloween”-esque  ‘sex=death’ slasher movie with a “Grudge”-like curse (somewhat of a metaphor for a venereal disease) instead of a masked killer. I wasn’t on the same wavelength as “Mandy Lane”, but this one had me feeling very uncomfortable for quite a long time. It’s a very creepy film. And yet, it’s not creepy in the way that most horror films (i.e. The ones that suck) are. It’s a low-key creepiness that for the first 45 minutes doesn’t even utilise the lazy ‘jump scare’ to startle you. It’s an effective tool, but it startles not scares, and when overused it loses any power and just becomes annoying. By not going to the well for three quarters of an hour, I commend Mitchell (in just his second feature film directing gig), as he shows that you can create a creepy film without using ‘jump’ scares all the time. In fact, there’s a lot of moments throughout where a ‘jump’ scare would normally occur, but this ain’t a ‘jump’ scare kinda film.

 

If anything, it’s a mood piece, and instead of musical stings, director Mitchell and Disasterpeace (The credited composer. Don’t ask me, I have no clue) favour oddball Lynchian soundscapes mixed with moments of unsettling silence. A creepy visual about 39 minutes into the film managed to have me yelling out an expletive, without Mitchell needing to resort to a musical sting. Mitchell and Gioulakis damn near had me passing out with one almost 360^O tracking shot as I tried to follow it. It’s a tad showy, but effectively discombobulating. We also get shot compositions that reminded me of the terrifying 1978 version of “Invasion of the Body Snatchers”, where you needed to look at everything in the frame, as there was often something ‘off’ in the background. Another thing this film has that most ordinary horror films (the ones that depend on ‘jump scares’) lack, is that there’s not much ‘down time’ here. Yes, it’s got a slow-moving plot, but it’s pretty damn constantly creepy (up to a point), so you don’t really have time to relax. Something sinister could happen at any moment, as Mitchell plays the audience like a freaking violin.

 

Unfortunately, it’s not all sunshine and roses here, I’m afraid. This is a good film that had a chance to be even better. Sadly, the second half has too many people left alive if you ask me (I know why, they’d need to have sex, and that’d be stupid of them, but it’s still too many characters), and it’s less creepy and more outlandish. Also, why do all the hot young actresses in this swim in one-piece swimsuits? That defies any explanation whatsoever. No, I won’t hear of it. Not listening. The ending (which reminded me of a scene in “Halloween”, but not actually the ending of that film) is pretty good, though. Some might think it’s too subtle, but I liked it.

 

Although its first half is a lot better than its less creepy second half, this is a pretty good effort. It mostly eschews the lame ‘jump scare’ nonsense of most horror films these days, and depends more on mood and low-key unease. The plot is interesting, it looks terrific, and its ending I think works just fine. But I have to agree with Quentin Tarantino that this film could’ve been even better than it is.

 

Rating: B-