Okay, so I saw 'It Follows' back on April 16th and again a few weeks later. Unfortunately during that month I was in preproduction for a short film I directed in June and even though I was able to film a youtube review I didn't have time to to write one. But, 'It Follows' is out on homevideo in Australia (where I live) this week so I thought why not write a review now.
You can watch my youtube review HERE!!!
People originally told stories as ways explaining the world around us and the dangers we should avoid. It Follows is very much rooted in the primal instinct of survival and fear with a very simple yet brilliant concept that every horror filmmaker will be jealous of. David Robert Mitchell's sophomore effort has been taking the world by storm since it premièred out of competition at Cannes last year. I had been anticipating it for quite some time and after I saw it I knew it was something special and have seen it multiple times now.
With 'It Follows' director David Robert Mitchell throws us and its protagonist Jay (Maika Monroe) into urban legend like story. There is a "disease" that passes on a type of haunting when you have sex with someone, it's not contagious as it can only be passed to one person and once you've passed it on you're safe...for the time. The haunting is a being that will follow you but only in a straight line at the pace of a slow walk (almost a tongue-cheek-jab at other horror films) and once it catches up to you it kills you and is then passed back to the person who gave it to you. The only way to get rid of it is either to go on the run or pass it on.
Now at first critics and viewers nicknamed this film the STD movie but I believe that's false. For it to be about STDs would mean that the sex in this film would be considered a sin I do not believe that's the case as they don't portray it as a sin like in the films Friday the 13th or Halloween (though Halloween definitely influenced the film). I believe this film is a coming of age film about the dangerous world of uncertainty that young adults find themselves in as they grow up and how there are people out to get them wherever they go. But the great thing is that films like this can have many different readings and can be very polarizing as well but that was makes films like this so fascinating and special.
David Robert Mitchell perfectly captured John Carpenter's style and aesthetic perfectly with this film and not only does it add to its visual beauty but it also adds to its horrifically creepy atmosphere. Mike Gioulakis's cinematography is absolutely gorgeous and very much in the style of a Carpenter film along with Rich Vreeland's (Disasterpeace) score which I must own! Miaka Monroe's performance is absolutely mesmerizing and as much as I like every aspect of this film I don't think it could have worked without her giving credibility to everything you see. this is by far and away one the of the best horror films I've seen in years and there is a reason why it has grown a huge following (pun intended).
Now, as much as I like this film it isn't perfect. This film has a few rough edges, some from budgetary reasons and others from patchy storytelling and weak performance moments. This film was made for two million dollars and for a film that price it has better production value than it should. Unfortunately there is some iffy CGI and there are a few times when the dialogue and several plot points that seem rather heavy-handed or childish. But I kind think the rough edges add a bit of character to the film, if everything was flawless it would lose some that. In the end it's a fantastically atmospheric horror film from a budding auteur and I really look forward to what David Robert Mitchell does next.
4 1/2 stars out of 5 stars.
Thanks for reading.
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