'Blu-ray or Bust'
IT FOLLOWS (R, 2015, 100 minutes, NORTHERN LIGHTS
FILMS/DIMENSION)
The people who watch horror films can be a fickle bunch.
There are those purists who want their horror movies to be
serious; there can be no joking and no straying from the typical formula. There
are those that are collectors of awesome deaths. Honestly, who didn’t love
seeing Kevin Bacon get impaled with the speargun by Jason? Or Johnny Depp
getting sucked into his own bed by Freddy? There are those who can tell you the
exact kill order in every single TEXAS CHAINSAW film. Some horror fans hate
gore, others hate CGI, and others cheer on the bad guy.
Then there’s me. I enjoy every stinking type of horror film
there is. The only thing I ask (and I don’t think I’m asking for too much) is
that the movie doesn’t suck. Over the last few years, there are a couple of
films that, to me, stand out as 'Horror Movies That Didn’t Suck'. That list
includes THE CABIN IN THE WOODS, YOU’RE NEXT, and MAGGIE. You will notice that
the last twenty-five PARANORMAL ACITIVITY “movies” are not on the list (because
they all have a suckfactor—yeah, I just made that word up—of three million)(and
six).
You can add IT FOLLOWS to the 'Didn’t Suck List'. In fact,
I’ve got plenty of room for this awesome little doozy on my 'Top Ten Films of
The Year'. A lot of other reviewers compare this to the rules set up by classic
80’s slasher films, the foremost of those rules being that if you are a
teenager, and you have sex, you are dead meat (sorry, Kevin Bacon). While that
is the basic premise here, the story, written by director David Robert
Mitchell, delves much deeper than teenagers spending the majority of the film
running from the slasher. Don't misunderstand, this is what they are doing. The
difference is that the director takes the time to develop these characters. He
gives his actors a chance to explore not just the moral dilemmas that push the
story forward, but also their relationships with each other.
The rules of the film are simple: boy has sex with girl,
tells her he just passed “it” onto her, and tells her to run, and at some point
bang some other dude so she can pass it onto another victim. Otherwise, if “it”
catches up with you, bad things happen to you. Like maybe you get Kevin
Baconed.
“It” takes whatever human shape it desires. Oh, and it
cannot be stopped. It’s like a herpes infected, armor-plated crab from Hell. A
perfect and impervious villain whose sole reason for existence is to kill. And
the greatest trick this film pulls off is that its antagonist WALKS. It does
not run after its prey, it does not rush in for the kill. It is slow,
methodical, and it will keep right on coming at you.
Technically, this is filmmaking perfected. There are long,
slow, sweeping pans which create such a sense of paranoia in the viewer that
you cannot help but see danger in every person walking in the background. The
lighting seems natural in every scene, the music accentuates every scene, and
the attention to every second of the story is continuity heaven (except for one
glaring mix-up with a magazine, but I’m probably the only perv that noticed).
The special features are thin; you get a commentary track
done by film critics (sometimes helpful and informative, other times tediously
inadequate—we know you like the movie, but we’d kinda rather be listening to
the director), and an interview with “Disasterpiece” (responsible for that
totally effective soundtrack) and that’s about it. Therein lies the only
drawback to this Blu-ray release—not enough stuff!
While only Mitchell knows what his next project is, let us
hope it is something as original and effective as this. And while I hope he
sticks with the genre (his voice is too fresh to make this his only foray into
horror), I’ll just be happy to see him do another film... as long as some of
his characters get Kevin Baconed.
Film Grade: A
Special Features: D
Blu-ray Necessary: Hells yes!
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