Chances are if you want to survive pretty much any slasher film the wisest course of action is to keep your pants on. The familiar patterns of sex-crazed teens meeting a grisly doom in horror movies is given a fresh twist in David Robert Mitchell's buzzed-about horror, It Follow, which has been the talk of genre fanatics since debuting at Cannes last year. While some of the chatter amounts to a great deal of hype, there's no denying the ingenious premise that plays around with genre conventions. It's just a question whether horror enthusiasts will find it scary enough to fit the bill.
The film begins in disturbing and confusing fashion as a young girl races from her suburban home, chased by some kind of spirit. Her grisly fate is basically a giant warning against running in stiletto heels, but before we have time to fully process what just happened we're introduced to another beautiful young woman. Jay (Maika Monroe) is extremely popular with the boys, or so suggests her younger sister Kelly (Lili Sepe), and it's easy to see why. She's gorgeous, fun, and the kind of girl her poor, lovelorn pal Paul (Keir Gilchrist) would love to be with. But she's got a new boyfriend, Hugh (Jake Weary), and after having sex with him for the first time he does worse than become distant like many guys do. Instead he chloroforms then kidnaps her, tying Jay to a chair so he can explain that he has just given her what amounts to a sexually transmitted haunting. Basically, she will be forever followed by some kind of demonic spirit, always seen walking towards her in slow but determined manner. If it reaches her, it will kill her, and it can take any human form it wants, usually one that will cause the most emotional torment. The only way she can help herself is to have sex with another and pass it to them, just as Jay did to her.
Naturally, Jay thinks this is all a bunch of b.s., even as she begins to see strange people following her in places they shouldn't be. At first it doesn't seem like a big deal because the entity moves so slowly, but the steady persistence of it is what can be so unnerving. But that's about as far as Mitchell takes it as the film rarely aims for outright scares. Much of the time is spent with Jay, Kelly, Paul, well-read buddy Yara (Olivia Lucardi), and the sexy neighbor boy Greg (Daniel Zovatto) as they lounge around waiting for something terrible to happen. It takes some convincing, like the entity's physical assault on Jay and Paul, for them to believe any of this is real but even afterwards they seem at a loss to do anything about it. The slow pace of it will turn many off but the nerve-racking, surreal cinematography by Michael Gioulakis is enough to cause a mental breakdown. Rarely has the long camera shot been used to such great atmospheric effect, and when paired with Rich Vreeland's fantastic ear-splitting score it makes one wish there weren't so many lulls in the action.
Fortunately the strength of the concept and the aesthetic touches are more than enough to carry it through. The idea at it's core is simple genius and explores all of the ways sex can be a nightmare in and of itself. One could easily draw parallels between the haunting and the spread of STDs, but also the social stigma that follows when one's sexual endeavors become common knowledge. That reputation can follow and spread to others like a disease, with no real cure in sight. Mitchell touches upon these themes expertly but doesn't always seem to have the entity completely figured out. Is it real or some kind of phantom? Ultimately the plan they hatch to defeat it is divorced from the paranormal realm and thus is completely unsatisfying.
With moody atmospherics, an ingenious premise, but shaky execution as a true horror, It Follows is a lot like sex; even when it's kind of bad it's still pretty good.
Rating: 3 out of 5
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