IT FOLLOWS Has a Sexually Transmitted Demon - Sundance 2015 Review
One of my main goals for the Sundance Film Festival this year is to see all of the horror movies that they have to offer. If you've been an avid reader of the site over the years, then you know I'm a huge horror movie buff.
It Follows was the first horror movie that I've seen so far. I heard a lot of great things about it before seeing it, I liked what I saw in the trailers, and lots of people have said it's one of the scariest movies they've seen in years. So the hype was built!
Well, the people who said those things must not watch that many horror movies because this one wasn't as terrifying as people made it out to be. I was way excited for this movie, but it ultimately let me down.
The concept for the film was awesome, and the idea behind it was freakin' brilliant, I just did not think that it was executed properly. The movie literally revolves around a sexually transmitted demon that follows the people who it becomes attached to, and its purpose is to kill them. The demon can look like anyone, and it just slowly walks and follows the person it's attached to. It's a pretty frightening concept, and it had some genuinely creepy moments that I enjoyed, but it's not a very terrifying flick. It seems like it would be pretty easy to evade the demon if you were always paying attention. But since the story follows a bunch of stupid teenagers who don't pay attention, the demon is always catching up to them, and they are, of course, scared for their lives. The only way they can get rid of the monster is to have sex with someone else. Having sex passes the demon on to that other person, but if the demon kills that person, it comes right back to its previous target.
Like I said, I loved the concept and it could have been a brilliant horror movie. It started out really strong, the opening scene was energetic, scary, fun, and I thought we were in for an amazing movie. But as the movie went on and the characters just got more and more ridiculously stupid, it lost me. Then it came to the climactic ending, which wasn't very climactic at all. The characters came up with the most absurd way to try and kill this thing, and they didn't think it through very well. I didn't care for how the movie ended because it didn't really have an ending. There was absolutely no closure. I know how I would have ended the movie, and it's a lot more satisfying than what we got. I won't spoil anything for you, but if you're a horror fan you'll probably roll your eyes.
Another problem the movie had was its pacing. Even though it had a strong beginning, it became really drawn out and slow. At one point the demon went away for way too long. They should have kept the energy and fear level up, but it lost that about halfway through the film and didn't really pull me back in after that.
On top the the concept, I really liked the music used in the film, the tone, and the way it was shot. You were always looking in the background of the film to see if anything was coming, and it was always fun when you caught something. It had a very John Carpenter type vibe to it that I appreciated, but I'm sure it would have been much better had Carpenter directed it. The movie definitely would have worked much better as a short film.
In the end, I didn't hate the movie, but I didn't love it either. I was expecting more, and I came out of it a little disappointed. That's my fault for buying into the hype I was hearing. I just have to remember that not everyone is as big a horror movie fan as I am, and people get scared a lot easier than I do.
The movie already has a release date of March 3rd, 2015, so you'll have the opportunity to see it in theaters if you want to. I would say go see it just to experience the concept, but be ready for a weak ending.
The movie was directed by David Robert Mitchell and stars Maika Monroe, Keir Gilchrist, Daniel Zovatto, Jake Weary, Olivia Luccardi, and Lili Sepe, all of whom did a fine job. Here's the official film description:
As 19-year-old Jay's summer—spent hanging with friends, lounging in a backyard pool—nears an end, her unperturbed suburban existence is about to be horrifyingly upended. After sleeping with a new boyfriend, she's suddenly pursued, slowly but persistently, by a malevolent supernatural presence that takes the form of different people. Hoping to buy time and devise a plan, Jay and her friends escape to a beach house. But it's coming.
Premiering in Cannes and aptly reviewed as a "teen horror movie like you've never seen it before," David Robert Mitchell's It Follows is one of the most original indie films in years and an unrelentingly creepy experience that pairs edge-of-your-seat suspense with a beautifully poetic exploration of teenage sexual anxiety, yearning, and jealousy. His unnerving, dreamlike aesthetic—its long takes, eerily deliberate zooms and harrowing electronic score by Disasterpeace—lingers precariously over innocuous suburban tableaus and plays brilliantly with off-screen space, mercilessly baiting us with the edges of the frame. Perfect fodder for horror and allegory, the film’s unseen psychosexual menace may be sluggish, but slow and steady wins the race.