It Follows – Film Review
Do
you know what’s extremely rare in contemporary cinema? Avoiding clichés in
horror films. It’s almost impossible to steer clear of the over-used tropes and
tired aesthetics constantly recycled in modern horror films – but alas, let me
present to you the best horror film of the last five years – It Follows.
Directed
by David Robert Mitchell, It Follows is the story about Jay, a teenager who
finds herself haunted and followed by a terrifying entity after having sex with
her suitor, Hugh. Soon, Jay must avoid this entity before it reaches her, and indefinitely,
kills her. No matter where Jay is, the thing is walking toward her, at a
determined-pace and with violent conviction.
It
Follows is utterly unique and entrancing, the gritty eighties synth-pop
soundtrack creates a brooding atmosphere that’s darkness is impossible to
avoid. The landscape of the film is the decrepit Detroit, abandoned buildings
and overgrown yards set the tone of this horrific story and mental decline of
the characters.
Throughout
the film there are tiny details that any film-lover will swoon over. Like the
over-bitten nails of the girls in the film, or their bra-straps hanging on
their shoulders as they get dressed for a date – but not to mention the pink
sea-shell shaped e-reader that one of the characters is constantly reading from
– it’s the perfect contrast to the gothic matter of the film.
The
scenes are naturalistic and simplistic, and a lot is left to the imagination of
the audience, but what is presented to us it completely terrifying. I think
that those are the most successful and most terrifying of films, the ones that
you need to imagine what happens when the camera stops rolling, or even before
the camera started rolling in the first place.
There’s
a lot to be said about It Follows, but impossible not to spoil if I go into too
much detail of narrative. Let me just tell you that this film is original,
nostalgic, fun, and overall – terrifying.
I give It Follows five pink sea-shell shaped e-readers out of five.
Article by. James C Murray