Film Review: It Follows

Director: David Robert Mitchell

Cast: Maika Monroe, Keir Gilchrist, Olivia Luccardi

There was a point when horror films started to become stale and repetitive, where high body count, lots of blood and guts rely on attracting the audience. It was never the same as the classic retro horror films again. They just seemed audiences these days have lower attention span than before. It Follows, on the other hand, reinvented and resurrected that genre and I was overly impressed of how this indie horror film borrowed elements that made the genre so watchable and admired in the first place.

The concept itself is a unique original idea that hasn't been surfaced in modern horrors yet it sounds very familiar. Films like "The Entity" and "Poltergeist" were just shouting in my head, but this was something I have never seen before. But this idea of a teenage girl being followed by a different entity of some sort after being passed on by a guy after having sex, is like a homage to pretty much every teenage horror film. It is very strange to think the monster is some sort of STD-type of disease and it is a mystery the way it attacks the group, we never got to know any background of it, how it started or how it fully works. The characters are always thin, which is usually a convention to a horror film, there was just nothing new here. They always do illogical things that make you question their stupidity, but this never bothered me because it is something we have already seen before and this was done so many times that it becomes more entertaining. There is a sense of coming-of-age drama, as these group of teenagers pretty much just wants to get laid, fall in love and hang out. But as always, they do such non-sensical actions that you just don't feel sympathy for any of these characters. Also, its setting is so convoluted you can't tell if it is set in the 80s and just have some inaccurate facts, or it is set today with a retro feel because it still looks quite modern. But I can see what they were trying to achieve and it felt like this was purposely done ambiguous so it helps it becoming a timeless classic in the future.

The very first shot "follows" a young girl, half-naked and terrified. It had that perverse, voyeur sense and it was a continuous shot that lasted for more than two minutes. That grasped me straight away. The overall cinematography of this film was so artistic and nostalgic at the same time. There were shots that was so modern; long takes of establishing shots that gives a creepy vibe, while you see these slow zoom shots that was familiar to 70s films, to intensify that vulnerability to the characters. It felt like watching a John Carpenter film. There were also 360 degree shots that shows the "thing" slowly creeping their way. That's what makes the thing terrifying. Most shots make it look like it creeps on you, you see it very far away, and it makes you more aware and looking out for it. Most shots were symmetrical it was just done with perfection, and while some shakiness just extends its uneasiness. What grabs me the most though is its terrifying retro soundtrack. Once the synths kicks in, you start to notice how it is similar to films like "Halloween" it is done with great effect and it is always bone-chilling every time it does. The overall atmosphere is very disturbing from the startling wind at the start, to the striking synths to the end credits.

I can understand that some audiences will find it difficult to watch through it because of its slow pace, but this is why it works so well. The film slowly creeps up on you, and you would think the build up would end to a satisfying conclusion, but you would still feel anxious like the characters, assuming they might still be following you.

Conclusion: Don't expect a revolutionary film, because its story and characters are no different from other conventional horror films, but what makes this stands out is that its original concept, retro setting, stunning cinematography, nostalgic soundtrack and its overall pace disguises its faults and resurrects the 80s horror genre.

8/10

In Limited Theaters now