Best of the decade: It Follows

A review by Forrest Humphrey

We've gotten a surprising amount of good horror in the last handful of years, and since Im certain someone else will talk about “It Chapter 1” I'm going to talk about what I feel is a strong runner up, 2014's “It Follows”.

The premise and story here is incredibly simple. A high school student named Jay is going about her usual routine when one night she decides to sleep with her new boyfriend Hugh, only the intimacy ends with him knocking her out with a rag soaked in chloroform. She wakes up tied to a chair, where Hugh informs her that, having slept with her, he has passed a mysterious monster on to her. “It” will always appear as a person in white, it will always follow her, and if it catches her, it will kill her.

From there the film shows Jay and her friends attempts to escape the creature or get rid of it as her life becomes increasingly worse due to the danger. Again, a simple premise, but executed to perfection. Since we, the audience, know the “rules” the monster follows (or at least what the characters think are the rules) the film gets its own viewers in on the tense atmosphere. Suddenly, every single person in white who happens to be slowly approaching our heroine might be the monster, or it might just be a random pedestrian. You'll be staring at every part of the background just as intently as our characters. The camera rarely gives it away either, it just leaves you wondering. And speaking of that camera, this whole premise is aided by some excellent cinematography giving us a lovely mix of long tracking shots, and some neat tricks to give scares an extra oomph.

And of those scares, many of them are excellent. There's only one proper jumpscare I can think of, the rest is all atmosphere, tension and a slow burn of dread and paranoia. Also of note is the fantastic retro music score by “Disasterpeace.” A throwback to the 80's, its all the kind of creepy synth you would expect from a John Carpenter film and its perfect. Also of note, while there are no big stars, the actors are all putting in solid work here. The final note will be the theme of the entire piece. As one can likely figure out, a creature that chases and kills people who sleep with others not knowing if its safe makes “It” a dead ringer for STD's, but hen you consider just how horrible many of those diseases are, it makes the message feel necessary, not tacked on to appear deeper.

I do need to stress this is not a fast paced, jumpy horror film. Its a slow, psychological burn that plays on paranoia not unlike another couple horror film from the last decade I love dearly “The VVitch” and “The Ritual.” Both I'd also recommend but if you can find the time, and you're down for the kind of movie I've described, “It Follows” deserves your attention.

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