It Follows

I do admire writer/director David Robert Mitchell's 2014 IT FOLLOWS enough to overlook that the hype surrounding it did not match my viewing experience.  Honestly, I nitpicked the hell out of it while it played, but almost immediately afterward realized that I had seen something pretty thoughtful and shrewd.  It's a horror film, one that pays tribute liberally to the late '70s/'80s type, but in many ways it's more of a psychotherapy session disguised as a horror film.  Mitchell's themes are unmistakable here, and ones explored in countless films before it.  The director manages to have it all, imperfectly.

Jamie (Maika Monroe)  is an attractive college student who is dating Hugh (Jake Weary).  There's something odd about him.  He sees people Jamie does not, for one.  They go all the way on their second date.  Post coitum, it doesn't turn out as planned as Jamie will find herself in restraints after being chloroformed by her beau, who informs her that she has now been infected with something that will cause her to see people who aren't visible to others.  An entity that will take many forms, even of people she knows.  Hugh dumps her in front of her house and disappears.

Jamie, her sister, and other friends try to track down Hugh.  They eventually succeed, and once again the odd guy explains the infection.  The only way to get rid of "it" is to pass it on.  Neighbor Greg (Daniel Zovatto) and Paul (Keir Gilchrist), with whom Jamie shared her first kiss years ago, are possible candidates.  But what kind of friend would cause others to suffer her increasingly disturbing visions of people stalking her? Even if you are getting laid?

I've probably made IT FOLLOWS sound sleazy and ridiculous.  It is neither.  It takes its story line quite seriously, and only feels self-important in a few individual moments.  There is one big laugh after everyone finds Hugh, but I couldn't tell if it was intentional or not. I didn't find it particularly scary, but definitely creepy and unnerving.  Mitchell has a good eye and feel for horror, and while his film almost always reminds us of something earlier (namely John Carpenter's HALLOWEEN and even ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13) he creates an atmosphere all his own.

The most obvious subtext involves sexually transmitted diseases, and as that sort of cautionary tale I guess the film maintains interest.  There are all sorts of sexual references - note Yara's (Olivia Luccardi) cell phone, for one.  But as an examination of letting go of childhood and nostalgia, I think the movie succeeds far greater.  The case was solidified during the climax, where an attempt is made to lure the entity into a swimming pool and electrocute it with old appliances (fans, lamps, typewriters, all appearing as if from the 1960s or earlier).  A pretty potent and effective symbol in a movie full of them.  Recall the movies the kids watch on TV, even on a black and white set atop a dead color TV!  The cars.  The above ground pool.  All artifacts of my childhood.   Mitchell's too, I'm sure.  He described his film as being born of dream logic, where the fantastic can occur without logic.  But when a character flees a pursuer and seeks comfort on a swing in the park, it's hard to miss what IT FOLLOWS is trying to convey.

P.S. The music by Disasterpiece is inspired by Carpenter's electronic scores, and works quite well.