Halloween Horrorfest 2018: IT FOLLOWS (2014)

I actually tried to watch this film on Netflix once before, but sort of stopped bothering about twenty or so minutes in.  I don’t know why; I don’t recall thinking it sucked, I just never went back after watching the opening act.  So when I decided to choose this as the Witney Seibold entry of today’s Special Critically Accclaimed*  Themed Halloween Horrorfest Poll, it was so that I would have an opportunity to try again, an opportunity that would force me to watch it to the end. 

I’m kinda glad I did.  Don’t get me wrong; I’m not willing to declare this a Modern Day Classic like some people have.  I am willing to declare it a subtle, quiet and engaging little film.

One of the reason I like It Follows is because it’s so quiet.  Our cast, led by Maika Monroe, never loses sight of the fact that, as young adults, they’re maybe not equipped to deal with this situation.  They do conduct some research, but only receive the most general and vague of answers--there’s this thing that is transmitted through sexual contact, it follows you, only you can see it, it can appear to be anyone, when it catches you it gets messy and...that’s it.  Their solution seems desperate and half-assed, and it doesn’t necessarily work.  Then they panic and end up doing what was suggested to them in the first place, and even then the danger might not be over (quite the opposite; the final few shots imply they put all this effort in for nothing).  There’s no punch-the-air empowerment moment, no ‘wise man/woman’ with the expository information the protagonists need to defeat the beast, no pithy catch phrase the heroine uses as she vanquish the boogeyman...just a brief respite from feeling besieged.  As such, this film feels a little more real than the usual stuff that qualifies as mainstream horror.

Writer/Director David Robert Mitchell knows he’s making the equivalent of a ghost story, and he paces it deliberately, and it benefits the story.  I felt that the story was taking its time to unfold without ever seeming to drag.  He also takes full advantage of the Detroit setting, so that when our crew ventures into a run-down area of the city in the last act, it feels like they’re journeying to a crumbling gothic realm.  There’s a certain veracity he maintains that bolsters his cast’s performances and helps enhance the feel that This Is Really Happening.

This is an interesting film.  As I said earlier, it’s not this Great Document of Indie Horror, but it is a compelling watch that will provide you with enough entertainment for an hour and three quarters.  I do recommend this film.

You can still head over to my Twitter Page to vote on tomorrow’s Halloween Horrorfest Movie of the Day.  There’s still ten days until this little adventure in crowdsourced movie watching is over, and I’m determined to see it through to the end.  And given that, as of this writing, there’s only one vote in tomorrow’s poll, I encourage you all to participate.

*--if you are not listening to Critically Acclaimed or its sister podcast, Canceled Too Soon, you need to start.  Seibold and his co-host William Bibbiani are fun to listen to, insightful and interesting...and they’re horror-positive.