Sex Kills

It Follows

So I have a question for many of you, anyone remember when horror films were not all about the gore? Movies like Saw and Hostel have drastically changed the face of horror films in recent years, but I still long for the horror films from the 70s and 80s. Films of this era played heavily on people’s psyche and scared audiences with creepy music and flashes of imminent danger. So when I came across a very small horror film called It Follows, it was like having all of my aspirations come true.

Living on the outskirts of Detroit, Michigan,  Jay (Maika Monroe Labor Day) seems to be living a fairly normal life. However, her normal life is shattered when she meets Hugh (Jake Weary). After going on a couple dates with Hugh, Jay consents to sex in the back of Hugh’s car. What Hugh fails to inform Jay of prior to sleeping with him is that he was marked for death by a supernatural being and now has ‘transmitted’ that being onto Jay by having sex with her. Jay, now hunted by a force she can only see, must convince her friends that she isn’t crazy and find a way to stop whatever “it” is.

Well, where do I begin? This is an outstanding throwback to 80s horror films. There isn’t a lot of gore or blood, but the film is creepy nonetheless. The film is also riddled with double meanings and hidden messages. The acting isn’t anything to write home about, but I will give a lot of praise to the director.

As I have said the film isn’t bloody or in your face gross, but the film is eerie because of the music. Taking a lot of influences from John Carpenter (Halloween), director David Robert Mitchell (The Myth of the American Sleepover) does more frightening the audience with the music than he does with anything else. Not since Jaws as a musical score presented doom so perfectly than the music in It Follows.  I think the only other technique that Mitchell uses to scare his audience is his use of the camera. Mitchell uses a lot of wide shots to always give the feeling that ‘something’ is always there or around the corner. Mitchell also does an amazing job at keeping the film engrossed in the 1970s or 80s tone. The audience is never really told when this film takes place. Even though we see newer cars, all the cars the main cast use are older model cars and the technology with the film is extremely limited. One character is shown using a touchscreen reader in the shape of a birth control case, but other than that there is no tech revealed in the film.

The film takes a lot of the ‘rules’ presented in the Scream movies to a whole new level. Premarital sex and the consequences of sex play a huge role in the underlining meaning of the film. Sleeping with someone can be very dangerous and the ‘It’ can be interpreted as a STD. Something that you carry around with you that only you can ‘see’, plus the risks of passing it on to someone else. Or you can take in consideration that ‘It’ is just death itself. The inevitable fact that you can’t ‘out run’ death is prominent in the film as well.

It Follows is a great throwback to the classic slasher horror film. Even looking past the double entendre mixed into the film, this is a hair-raising outing for director David Robert Mitchell. Highly recommend to anyone that is looking for a break from the gore and blood infested horror films being release lately.

The Verdict: See In Theatres