It Follows

An old-school picture. It works on so many aspects (characters, dialogues, music, building-up of suspense and fear) newer horror films often fail to properly handle. How could I not appreciate this flick? A pity the creators haven’t played a bit more with the pursuers’ look, but apart from that, I’m delighted with all the rest. Interestingly, D. R. Mitchell managed to create this wonderful horror film without any jump scare – and with a brilliantly built-up atmosphere! [KVIFF 2014] (06/19/2018)

The theme of the film is imaginative and original (yet simple). I like how the director decided not to follow the path of bloody butchery or annoying jump scares and instead shot a horror film in the traditional sense, which is scary due to its atmosphere and shots of a slowly approaching character. The film could have been even scarier and better if it had been at least a little intelligent! The characters in the film act like idiots and their attempts to kill the enemy are ridiculous (what did they want to achieve in that pool scene?). I wonder what would happen if they went to another continent? The premise of the film is excellent and extremely scary, but it does not guarantee exceptionally high-quality horror. (07/08/2014)

Two decades of my favorite genre on one plate. Intense music and street Steadicams of the early Carpenter, sometimes escalating into giallo-like psychedelics, working with the mystery of a hidden horror like a modern version of The Ring, while preserving the narrative logic and believable behavior of the characters. Moreover, the horror is spread by sex between attractive teenagers led by a pretty, delicate blonde, and is not a form of pleasure, but an act of guilty suffering. In addition, we get to enjoy the dark setting of the ghost-town parts of Detroit. It Follows is a delicacy for genre connoisseurs that could have been the best horror-movie event of the decade had the brilliant blend of historical directions been crowned by a visionary outlining of a new path. ****1/2 (04/20/2015)

Brilliant minimalism. How sumptuous a genre horror film can look when it sets two simple rules that it sticks to dutifully from start to finish! David Robert Mitchell has won my great fondness, mainly because he has managed to make one hell of a genre entry for two million using a specific retro-analog atmosphere and a homogenous script. And that the soundtrack is very reminiscent of Carpenter's classics or Argento's giallo pieces is probably no coincidence. (03/06/2020)

(49th KVIFF) I’m very happy after the screening at KVIFF. Seeing a good horror movie on a big screen, in a theatre full of people who, considering the circumnstances (the late hour and the booze), behaved well and weren’t a nuisance is not something you see very often. Objectively, I could complain about it being somewhat repetitive, most of the film consists of either how they try to catch the scary spirit or of how they go from one place to another, but these complaints are very well compensated by a premise that is original and entertaining for the genre, the likeable characters (finally, teenage protagonists in a horror movie that aren’t dull chess pieces, but nice young people, and you don’t want anything bad happening to them) and how effective it is overall – the opening sequence already gave me chills, and that feeling repeated itself during the entire 100 minute run. But what’s most valuable is that most of those scenes take place during the day. The climax at the swimming pool and the scene on the beach are some of the moments I will remember at the end of this film year. I was expecting something dirtier given the theme, and more sexually explicit, but It Follows is very lame in this aspect. As the producer said, in some sense it is actually a “pretty” film – the sun shines, the music is nice and the characters love each other. Only that they are followed by a horrifying spirit. (07/08/2014)