I have been ranting for some time now about how lazy horror filmmakers have become lately. It comes down to shock (Boo! Movies) and sustained dread. Anyone can make a "Boo!" film. You just need some halfway convincing prosthetic makeup and for a killer to jump out at an opportune moment. Thrilling, to be sure, but not very scary. Now, sustaining an atmosphere of dread, that takes real talent because it forces you to do more with less. Hitchcock once said the scariest thing in the world is an open door, because your mind can make up a thousand things more scary than any filmmaker can conjur. It is this sustained dread that It Follows is trying to tap.
The plot is fairly straightforward. There is a ghost following a specific person that can take the shape of anyone. It will continually walk toward its intended victim and eventually kill him or her. The only way to get rid of the ghost is to have sex with another person and pass it on to them. The problem is that if that person dies before passing it on, the ghost will return to the previous person, killing all down the line until it gets to the source.
I have actually been waiting for this film for some time now. It has been making its way through the festivals, gathering kudos wherever it goes. The most common description I have heard is "freaky," and it does live up to that. It relies on the eerie image to produce its frights, not blood. This is much harder to do, especially with today's "seen it all" audience. Some have said due to the sexual nature of the film, it is a thinly veiled metaphor for venereal disease, particularly AIDS or HPV, since you have to "pass it on." Now, I don't know if that is the case. It would be an interesting question for the director or screenwriter. I think it may be stretching the metaphor too much. I think it was just supposed to be a scary flick.
Films like this give me hope for horror, because it shows there are people still willing to work at it, to make something genuinely scary. It Follows takes its cues from other great atmospheric horror movies from: I Walked With A Zombie, Night of the Hunter, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Psycho, Halloween (both of them), The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Silence of the Lambs, Suspiria, Night of the Living Dead, Assault on Precinct 13, The Exorcist, Signs, Poltergeist, to Se7en. While some are bloodier than others, they all share the trait of increasing dread and paranoia throughout the film. A good horror movie should make you feel more and more uncomfortable without necessarily ending on a high note. It Follows tries to follow in these footsteps pretty successfully. And while I did find some scenes pretty creepy, I was a bit let down. Now this could be because I've seen a lot of these films and have become a bit inured to their effects, but I have to give credit where credit is due, and this is a superior film. One of the things I particularly liked about it was it conjured up older, better horror flicks for me with the storytelling, down to the synthesizer soundtrack. All of it conjures up those great films from the late 70's-early 80's. It made me a bit nostalgic. I applaud it simply because it tries to be better, and not just some cynical cash grab for a quick buck. This film is worth your while if you want to be creeped out.
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