It Follows (2014)

In my mind It Follows is without a doubt the best horror movie of the decade. Unlike most people I think modern horror is unbelievably underrated so for me to say this is the best of the bunch is extremely high praise.

The concept for this is so genius yet so simple, it’s actually mind blowing that it hasn’t been done before. I can almost guarantee that anyone reading this review at one point or another has been afraid of being followed. As a child I used to sprint down the alleyway next to my house because I was was petrified that Michael Myers was near behind. Speaking of Michael Myers, Halloween was clearly a humongous influence for this film or just 70’s/80’s slashers in general. Everything from the stunning, patient cinematography to the intense synth score were clearly inspired by films of these eras. However it’s not just the technical aspects that took inspiration from these classics, certain scenes were very reminiscent of scenes from those early slashers. Firstly the classroom scene in which our protagonist peaks out the window to spot her antagonist is taken straight out of Halloween. Another of which I noticed was when Jay (our lead) is desperately trying to wake up her neighbour who is at risk of dying, I’ll let you guess which film this reminded me of. 

Now I’ve already mentioned how much I like this concept but how effective was it? To answer that question I can only say it couldn’t have been done better. Most horror films lately have decided that jump scares are the most sufficient way to scare audiences but all a jump scare is is a release of tension. This film doesn’t give you that much needed release of tension instead it just fills you with constant anxiety. Earlier in this review I described the cinematography as patient, my reason for this is that each and every shot is slow and methodical giving you plenty of time to frantically search every precise frame for whatever It is. Also this and the fact that we see the entire film through Jay’s eyes perfectly put you in the shoes of our protagonist and the more attached you feel to a character the more likely you are to fear for them. 

I haven’t even brought up the STD aspect of it. Essentially David Robert Mitchell, who after making this and Under the Silver Lake is rapidly becoming one of my favourite filmmakers, uses the fear of being constantly followed to send a message about teenage recklessness. This adds an enormous amount of depth to what was already a sublime horror film. 

Where I feel this film can easily be faulted is in the characters decisions, many could argue that the characters are dumb and therefore the film is poorly written. However I believe this is the intention of the script. To start with there is a severe lack of adult figures in this film; I believe this is done to show the teenagers have a lack of guidance as well as to show that the focus is firmly on this particular age range. The film is about STDs which we know are caused by recklessness but who’s to say this film is specific to just being about sexual recklessness? We see characters put into situations that they don’t know how to deal with, how can we expect them to constantly make the right decisions? As a teenager myself I for one have made tons of mistakes. Basically what I’m saying is that It Follows is attempting to portray what it’s like being a teenager. 

Overall, It Follows is a truly terrifying experience that has a lot more to say than many people would give it credit for.