Ahoy, squirts! Quint here with another Fantastic Fest review, this one for the indie horror flick It Follows.
It Follows had really strong word of mouth at the fest. Those that had seen it at TIFF got the eyes-lighting-up thing when this one was brought up. Having seen it I now understand why.
The mythology of this movie has the best straight forward and terrifying supernatural hook since maybe A Nightmare on Elm Street. It's a haunting that is transmitted like an STD. Once you have it you can only get rid of it by passing it on to someone else through sex.
The spirit can look like anyone, man or woman, stranger or loved one. Only those who have (or had) this “STD” can see it, but it only goes after the latest in the line. It's as unrelenting as a Terminator and as slow moving as a Romero zombie. It might be slow, but it's smart and we're told all it has to do is touch you once and you die a horrible death.
Writer/Director David Robert Mitchell (The Myth of the American Sleepover) came up with a rather ingenious horror situation. There's no stopping this thing. No exorcism can be performed. It exists in the real world (it doesn't pass through walls or anything), but bullets don't do anything to it. Much like Nightmare On Elm Street, there's a sense of doom all over this movie. You can't stay awake forever, so eventually Freddy will get you. Here you can run, drive or fly all over this world, but the only thing you're doing is buying yourself some time as this thing slowly makes its way to you.
In terms of mythology, this movie gets a Christmas Story-like A++++++++++. The acting is also incredibly strong, thanks mainly to the central performance by The Guest's Maika Monroe. Production design is top notch and the score is a love-it-or-hate-it big throwback to '80s synth stuff.
The only thing that keeps me from full out foaming at the mouth raving about the movie and calling it the new king of horror is the story hits a high point near the end of act 1 and sustains it for about 10 minutes before meandering a bit to an ending that absolutely works, but isn't exactly the most satisfying thing in the world.
Here's the thing: I don't know what I would do different with the ending. I can't come up with anything better, so it's hard for me to really knock the movie, but there's something off about the ebb and flow of the narrative. I will say that the promise of the threat seems to soften as the movie goes on. Specifically, we're told that if this spirt touches you that's it. Game over. You're dead. That is brilliant because it then gives the bearer of the curse good reason to avoid being in crowded places. The more alone your are, the less likely this thing will blend in with the crowd and sneak a death touch on ya'.
However once the film starts languishing a little bit they up the scares by having the entity fuck with this poor girl when it is able to catch her instead of flat out killing her. I think that was a mistake and undercut the quite creative way they kept this girl and her small circle of scared, but supportive friends isolated from the masses. There is no safety in numbers in this fucked up universe.
Regardless, the film is very strong. One of the brilliant touches of the movie is how a story predominantly about a sexually transmitted ghost doesn't slut shame or preach about those crazy teenagers who engage in that filthy sex act. It's not Jason (or his mom) punishing kids for bumping uglies. If anything the movie shows the positive as well as the negative reasons for sleeping with someone. Jay doesn't really love the guy who passes on the curse. He's charming and hot. She doesn't just jump his bones immediately, either. It's a big decision and she doesn't think it through, but she's not a doofy stupid hormone-driven teenager. She's attracted to this guy, so why not?
Jay's not a caricature, but a multi-layered character. She seems to have a history of overlooking the good guys for the dangerous bad boys, but it's never shown as a character flaw, just her personal attraction.
Sex is used as a conduit for saving one's own life by dooming someone else with this curse, but the other side of the coin is that it can also be used a way to protect someone you love from danger. That aspect keeps it from being a simple dangers of sex/STD metaphor.
I may have some pacing issues and wish they would have stuck to their rules a little closer, but this is a very, very smart horror tale that hooked me in immediately and didn't lose me to the end, even though it was my 5th movie that day.
It's an easy recommend to anybody that likes a little more character work and brainpower in their horror stories.
-Eric Vespe
”Quint”
quint@aintitcool.com
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