Sexually Transmitted Poltergeists and 80s Electronica!
I remember the night I first watched It Follows. I had no plans on watching it prior to that. I mean…come on! A sexually transmitted poltergeist? Sounds like a gratuitous, B-rated teen slasher from the 90s. Sure, A+ for originality, but I had little faith in the execution. I passed judgment prematurely—I wasn’t going to waste my time on drivel. But an increasing number of compelling reviews and posts flooded my social media feed. The film appeared to have merit, much to my surprise. But I still wasn’t entirely sold. People often love themselves a stinker. The only thing worse than watching a bad film is doing so after reading rave reviews, and who needs one more reason to doubt society’s collective intellect?
I read review after review, some written by horror writers whose opinion I respect. I hemmed and hawed, grumbled like a chety old hag about how bad it was going to be, but then I heard something that hooked me. Word on the street was the film had an awesome score. Anyone who knows me can attest to my being a complete sucker for a good horror soundtrack, and besides, all the other cool kids were doing it. So, in the words of Kevin McCallister: I decided to give it a whirl. We put the kiddos to bed, huddled on the couch, and the film opened with a quaint, quiet suburban street—the kind of place you call home, where bad things don’t happen. A visibly distressed, scantily clad teenage girl haphazardly traverses the street, running from an ambiguous force unseen by everyone but her. Her father tries to intervene, offering assistance, but even he can’t rescue her from whatever it is that follows. Queue one of the films heavier-hitting pieces of music, and you’ve immediately upped the tension. This isn’t always the best move for a film. Slow-burns are sometimes the most emotionally impactful, stress-inducing rides. And you certainly don’t want to blow your cinematic load too early. But in this case, the film hit hard immediately, pulling no punches regarding the lethality of our unrelenting antagonist, all without letting us see a damn thing.
One of my first observations was the nearly unrecognizable cast. We often go into films expecting to see a familiar face or two, and rightfully so. Hollywood isn’t big on casting newcomers, particularly in leading roles. While Maika Monroe (our protagonist) wasn’t exactly a newcomer, she certainly wasn’t (and isn’t) a household name, nor is the remainder of the cast. Sure, it’s a risky move, but probably a necessary one, considering they made the film for $1.3 million—a huge number to us mere humans, but pennies according to the industry. None of the cast members were union, and the film was shot entirely in Michigan in order to save on taxes. A shoestring budget that hit hard, as is so often the case, and a gaggle of new faces that kept the film feeling fresh. Look at the first Paranormal Activity. Love it or hate it, you have to applaud creator Oren Peli’s ingenuity. Shot for an easy $15 grand, it raked in $193 million at the box office. Clearly, there’s something to be said for relying on good acting, a simple premise, and ingenuity. Hollywood juggernauts might be a spectacle to watch, but the magic often gets lost in the gargantuan budgets and all that brilliant technology.
My appreciation for our cast of relative unknowns extends to the characters, as well. They were written far more realistically than most. The majority of films featuring teenagers depict them as a bunch of Mr. World-Wides, partying like the elite, with access to any and all indulgences they desire. They’re beautiful, rich, powerful. Gods and Goddesses of the school campus, equipped with witty, highly-developed vocabularies, and an understanding of things most 30-somethings haven’t grasped. In short: they’re written like adults. As for me, most the kids I knew in school (even in Los Angeles, where everyone’s meant to be cool), were rather…average. Don’t get me wrong, we were funny and unique and amazing in our own way, but we were also awkward and strange—sometimes quiet and to ourselves, sometimes not. I was the loudest wild child of the bunch, and still I was nothing like your average movie teen. The characters in It Follows are every-day teens living in every-day America. No cheerleaders, no jocks, no glamorization. Just a group of American kids muddling through. Tantalizing? Not really. But more accurate a representation of teen life than is depicted in other films? Indeed.
Immediately, the film wasn’t formulaic. What adds to the film’s unique quality is the thoughtfulness of the cinematography. While other teen horror flicks are doing it dirty—gettin’ in, gettin’ out, and wam-bam thank you, mam—It Follows takes time, with an awareness too often left on the back burner. I wouldn’t go so far as to say it’s beautifully shot, but it’s thoughtfully and artistically shot, capturing scenes that contribute to the film’s powerful tension. Pair that with an amazing soundtrack reminiscent of the retro, electronic scores John Carpenter brought to his 80s films, and you’ve got an unusual treat for the senses. But that’s only part of the equation.
The film shines in several areas, but where it really takes hold is the story-telling. Hands down, It Follows is one of the most stress-inducing films I’ve ever seen. Never was I scared, but the tension was taut, my palms sweaty throughout, which is what happens when you’re in the hands of a skilled storyteller. That rather silly premise turned to ominous tension in the blink of an eye with one eerie scene in which our protagonist has just “contracted” this incurable set of circumstances, and the dashing young man who infected her is offering her the framework for survival. What does follow (pun-intended) is chilling. Monsters are scary, demons are awful, and vampires suck, but the relentless entity that plagues our protagonist is terrifying. Because of the semi-ambiguous nature of our baddie, we’re left vulnerable, with only a base understanding: It will always follow, it will always blend in, and it’s got no personality. No funny Krueger quips to break the tension. Just one singular goal: destruction. Much like my favorite villain Michael Myers, the villain in It Follows is a bit of a machine. No emotions, no messy complications. It just kills. That’s a concept far more chilling to humans than messy details and justifications for violence. As a species, we can’t easily wrap our heads around senseless killing. It breaks the social confines we’ve established for ourselves. If we color within the lines and behave, our lives will unfold with ease. After all, that’s what ideological constructs would have us believe. There’s no room in there for unjustifiable, random, senseless violence. Only…that’s not true, and that’s why the notion of mindless destruction scares us so. There’s no reasoning with it, no rationalizing. It just is.
The fresh cast, the fantastic cinematography, the top-notch score, and the story’s simplicity offer an art-house indie film with palpable tension and a unique vibe that sold the concept. It’s not a perfect film. It certainly lacks in areas. The film could’ve offered more character development, and I can’t claim to love the ending. I found the climactic scenes to be far less tense than the remainder of the film, but driving an ending from third base to home plate is something few filmmakers seem capable of doing with finesse. But—and it’s a big but—let’s be brutally honest: this film was meant to fail. An unknown cast, a tiny budget, and a premise that’s turned off everyone I’ve tried to talk into watching it. It had no reason to be as good as it was. Instead, it cleaned up at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival, was picked up by a distributor, and has received critical acclaim.
It Follows, directed by (another relatively unknown talent) David Robert Mitchell, accomplished what few films can with mere scraps. It took a seemingly simple concept, chewed it up, spat it out, and delivered a product so nerve-rattling that it held audiences captive throughout, all without relying on tropes and gore. It Follows isn’t perfect, but it’s certainly one of the best, most inventive horror films in recent history, and I can only hope more filmmakers sit up straight and pay attention to the trend we horror lovers have been pushing for, for so long. Horror isn’t inherently bad. It’s not low-brow by nature, nor is it incapable of producing rich, bold, intelligent material. Wonderful recent additions like Hereditary, The Haunting of Hill House and Bly Manor, Penny Dreadful, Get Out, The Babadook, and many more have flipped horror on its back, exposing its meaty, beautifully horrific underbelly. Horror has so much to offer, and I truly believe the best is yet to come. It Follows might not be the absolute best, but it’s contributed to the evolution of horror in a really badass way, and it’s certainly worth a watch over pizza and a bag of movie candy.
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