It Follows
2015 looks to be the year that horror rears its ugly head and begins to shock us again. That’s not to say that over the past year or so it hasn’t been sowing the seeds. What with Adam Wingard’s action packed and slick films You’re Next and The Guest showcase an keen eye for genre films and have thrilled audiences to no end.
But that’s human horror; villains with a taste for blood and flesh. A troubled mind-set against their own species as pulp and gristle slams against the screen. What about supernatural horror? A bunch of remakes and sequels swaddled with their own repetition and clichés. Yawn. It’s when fresh eyed filmmakers of te genre come forward to borrow techniques from the films they grew up with whilst similarly bellowing with their own voice.
David Robert Mitchell does just that with the alluring and unforgettable It Follows. Borrowing from Wingards’ punchy The Guest, he places the doe-faced yet absorbing Maika Monroe as lead actress Jay. In the haze of a Detroit Summer, college student Jay is happily dating the rugged Hugh in a series of successive dates leading to a sticky fumble in the backseat of his car. Unfortunately, the act passes on a fiendish ghoul that stalks it’s victims in a slow stroll – imitating a range of peculiar characters and close ones. The idea, very opposite to the virginal trappings of previous horror movies (don’t have sex or you’ll die), is that you have to continue the fucking chain by gifting it to a sexual partner. Only, if it catches up and kills a victim, the thing goes right back up the ladder to whomever started it.
Monroe’s performance as the stalked Jay is powerful, a heightened reminder that stripping your characters safety net away slowly is more
effective then delving straight into panic. Her unsure glances and double takes and more extreme cries for help are all done with an air of believability and urgency. Monroe is able to handle the plague and as Jay becomes more catatonic with her plight, she is still utterly absorbing. Her supporting cast are this too, and engaged with Jay’s distress – they never linger too much on the “I don’t believe her” mentality so prevalent in supernatural flicks. Instead, her sister Kelly, childhood friends Paul, Yara and Greg all spring to attention. The collective become these allies, strongly portrayed by Keir Gilchrist, Olivia Luccardi and Daniel Zovatto and neither is abandoned entirely to serve Jay’s story. Rather they gel to form this, actually thinking, team in order to defeat it.
Mitchell directs his horror with an astute understanding of how to manipulate an audience’s psyche. Rather than extrapolate screams by jump techniques, he places the spectre in corners of frames and allows it to creep rather than rush for the fright. The aspect of doubt lingers, haunting you like some usher standing behind you in a darkened screening (thanks Cineworld Haymarket, thanks). Though there are climatic moments, Mitchell allows enough room for tension and knows when to peel the experience back and allow it to simmer. This simmering, of course, makes the film succulent and unforgettable – residing in your mind long after viewing as the drawl footsteps of a ghost seem only seconds away from you.
It should also be noted that Mitchell’s writing gives depth and backstory to the characters without relying on overbearing monologues or hammering home our sympathy. An alcoholic mother and an absent (or dead) father are intricately weaved and abused by the supernatural force, giving us more reason to empathise with Jay, her sister and friends. The subtleties of the script are part of its strength, winding us down this road and making sure we never lose sight that something is following the group.
Utilising the Detroit landscape, the suburban backdrop definitely feels like they are honouring the classic slasher flicks of the eighties such as Halloween whilst one scene mirrors
a young floppy haired Johnny Depp exploding in a sea of blood in Nightmare on Elm Street (which may, or may not be a spoiler). Mitchell has clearly studied not only the nuances of horror but knows exactly what makes audiences tick with fear and cautiously tingles dread across your skin. Enhanced by a synth score by Rich Vreeland and embellished by the delectable soft cinematography of Mike Gioulakis, It Follows is a genuine horror movie.
And certainly one you’ll not forget in a hurry.