The IT FOLLOWS heat is on..
The upcoming horror movie, much anticipated, is being heralded by some reviews as not only the best of 2015 but also the best in a long while..
A Samuel Zimmerman review on SHOCK TIL YOU DROP sets the stage:
How they converge is, brilliantly, in this aforementioned post-coital curse, one which carries the everlasting anxieties over where your lover’s been before, but pushes farther into all of life’s stresses. Where am I? Where will I go? Who will I become? There’s a deliberate dread in “It’s” rules. Once you’ve got “it,” there it is, walking slowly, assuredly your way. This is where Mitchell has fun composing wide, confident frames— your eyes engaged, always under attack, searching for “It.” At more reprieving moments, he acknowledges the absurdity of the accursed characters and elicits huge laughs. When more explicitly a threat, the director and cinematographer Mike Gioulakis still employ symmetrical, centered stunning visuals. This time, they’re less paranoid and more confrontational, immediately assaulting. Sometimes, “It” is in your face. Others, it’s throwing electrical appliances at it.
As the review goes on–in my humble opinion–it shares too much of the premise and gives a little too much away of the ending, you may want to shield yourself from the final paragraph that spoils without warning. But the essence of the Zimmerman story yields the result that this film is going to be a bit different. There is a message here.. one that may need to be explored with a deep mental journey.
The plot would be laughable in a movie that doesn’t script it very well, but it seems that IT FOLLOWS makes it work. A entity, paranormal and foreboding in nature, is spread through teenage lust and sex. There is something similar when compared to 80s slasher flicks–such as JASON and FREDDY ruining the lives of the sinning children who act out teenage passion in pre-marital sex. But IT FOLLOWS brings a new darker presence to it: The shadow is cast on the woman by this sexual entity, this curse which is handed down through the false love that happens when you’re a tender teen tot not yet experienced with what love really means..
A DIGITAL SPY look at the movie jokes that you may never look at swimming pools or sex the same again. Again, even with this DIGITAL SPY review, author Ben Rawson-Jones gives some spoilers (this time we were warned, though) .. He writes,
This strange affliction can only be picked up and passed on through sex, which throws up some fascinating dilemmas. Digital Spy caught up with the movie’s writer-director David Robert Mitchell to find out what inspired the tale, whether a franchise is on the cards and how tricky some of the key plot twists were to pull off…
DIGITAL SPY goes on to interview Mitchell, who says some interesting things about his horror flick that could, including the fact he had a nightmare since youth of entity following him .. the sexual allegory was added to IT FOLLOWS. Mitchell also downplays the idea of a sequel, joking that “IT’S STILL FOLLOWING” just doesn’t sound right..
Reviews for the film have been overwhelmingly great–something that does not happen for movies, but especially for those of the horror genre too often. Even the old grey lady has positive words to say, with a Mekado Murphy interview of the star of the film in the NEW YORK TIMES: Maika Monroe.
Monroe is already being called the 21st century scream queen–a champion role that many stars of the 20th century still hold dear to their hearts, even after their careers moved on from horror..
iDigitalTimes says it’s a horror movie like you’ve never seen..
Roger Moore says it’s a dead teenager movie that gives teenagers a deep idea to ponder..
Another review calls the movie horror boiled down to its bones…
Review that says the movie is ‘made with love,’ not something said often about horror flicks..
The site ROTTEN TOMATOES has the movie with 98% positive–something else that rarely happens for horror.
The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive for Mitchell and Murphy..
The ideas presented in the film seem to force questions over sexual morality and the often false safety of suburbia–and even, some say, a certain GATSY like vision of the collapse of the American dream.
This movie has a lot to offer.. a deep meaning, jumps and scares, and perhaps, just perhaps, a brand new scream queen for a new generation that needs horror movies to make a difference again.
Follow it FOLLOWS now.. The world has been watching it, and on Friday the 13th, it’s going to get a limited release–that could equal a big sensation and sleeper hit of 2015.
