IT FOLLOWS ME HOME

There is a creature. It is passed around through sexual intercourse, and once it is passed onto you it will slowly follow you, taking the form of a complete stranger or someone you know or love, whatever will help it get closer to you. You and others previously infected are the only ones who can see it and once it reaches you, you will die.  It does not run, It just walks slowly towards you. You can run, but eventually it will find you.  The only way to get rid of it is to have sex with someone and pass it onto them. However, if it kills them then you re-inherit it's curse.  Jay (Maika Monroe) finds she is the latest target of the creature after she has sex with Hugh (Jake Weary). She thought they were in love, but the reality is that Hugh just wanted to pass the curse on to someone else as quickly as possible. Now it's her problem, and with the help of her sister Kelly (Lili Sepe), and their friends  Paul (Keir Gilchrist), Greg (Daniel Zovatto), and Yara (Olivia Luccardi) she's going to try to make it out alive.

The plot to It Follows is beautifully simple, different and terrifying. It is it's simplicity that allows so much terror to take root during the course of the movie. I also really appreciate that the film has smarts.  It's not uncommon to run into horror films these days that lack brains, or that had little thought put into them (like Ouija, for example). It Follows stands apart from the crowd because it is indeed quite smart, very scary, and it's clear a great deal of thought was put into the film.

The cast is pretty strong, with the standouts being Maika Monroe, Keir Gilchrist, and Jake Weary. The chemistry among the group of friends in the film is strong and believable. Maika Monroe's first big role was in The Guest, and I'd dare say she is even better in this film. Monroe is downright gorgeous, and she really nails the role of your normal, average young adult. She effectively conveys pure terror throughout the film, and it's hard not to sympathize with the poor girls' plight. I'd say that Monroe is quickly becoming a horror pro. While I kind of hated her character in The Guest (She's not a bad character, but the reason things play out the way they do in The Guest is kind of directly her fault), I absolutely adore her here.

In any other film, the character of Hugh would be a real bad guy, but the way It Follows handles his character is just great. He's not a bad guy, in fact he really does like Jay and wants her to survive the curse (partly because he doesn't want the curse to revert back to him). His actions are kind of despicable, but understandable and he emerges as a surprisingly likable character. Jake Weary plays the role just about perfectly, and I'd say he is a large reason why the character is as good as he is.

Paul is quite possibly my favorite character in the film. He is kind of a dork that has had a thing for Jay since they were both young. At first glimpse, he appears to just be your typical dorky best friend character, but he actually proves to be pretty effective. He is very helpful and takes a more active approach when it comes to assisting Jay with her situation. I really dug him, and Keir Gilchrist makes the role not just likable, but one of the more memorable characters in a horror flick in recent years.

Another one of the most memorable things about this film is easily the creature. The creature of the title is rich with potential. It feels as if it has it's own mythology and history, although we are never given any further info on it (We don't even know if it has a name or not...I'd like to think not, but who knows really?) and honestly we don't need to know every little detail about it. The creature partly derives some of it's terrifying power from the fact that we know just about nothing about it, leaving us to fill in the blanks on our own.

Besides the great casting, memorable characters, and unique concept, It Follows also has some real gorgeous cinematography. From it's opening shot of a tree-lined suburban street (I assume it's supposed to be somewhere up north, the setting really gives off a Halloween-y type vibe...as in the John Carpenter film) to it's chilling but simple final shot, the cinematography is always impressive. A lot of the areas are kind of empty, adding to the creeping tension and terror this film nails so expertly. Mike Gioulakis was in charge of the cinematography, and he clearly has an expert eye for the stuff as some of the images in It Follows will chill you, terrify you, and likely stay with you.

Every good horror film worth it's spit, should have a memorable score to assist in it's scares. It Follows is no exception. The score is done by Disasterpeace (God, I love that name!), and it's awesome in it's synth 70's/80's-esque ways. From the very little I could dig up, Disasterpiece appears to consist of one man, named Rich Vreeland. He doesn't appear to have done much, but MAN this is one way for him and his one man band to breakout. The score for this film is perfection! The score perfectly compliments the film, and helps up the tension, suspense, and terror felt during It Follows. I hope he's hired to do more horror films, because he seems to know what he's doing. I was definitely impressed.

It Follows was written and directed by David Robert Mitchell, and he excels at both. The direction is superb, and the script is pretty smart. What most impressed me though, is the unique concept of the film. It's a relief to find that there are still original horror ideas that we haven't seen before. At times it can feel like movies have run out of ideas, and It Follows proves that there are still original, unique, and interesting films and concepts to be made.

It Follows is really a sexual horror film, some may even call it a parable or metaphor of sorts (I suppose if one really wanted to find a message within, it would be: Be careful who you sleep with). It manages to make the act of sex, and nudity itself terrifying (often the creature will be fully nude when it stalks it's victim. Yes there is a good deal of graphic nudity in this film, both male and female). The film definitely succeeds at making the viewer look at sex in a completely new way.

It Follows is just about perfect, this is the kind of film Cabin In The Woods wanted audiences to demand. It's a breath of fresh air in the otherwise somewhat stale horror movie offerings of the last few years. It Follows is easily the best American horror film I've seen in years. It's a film of slow, atmospheric terror that crawls under your skin and stays there. It followed me home, and I have a feeling it may do the same for you too.

5 STARS