Nothing Can Stop the Horror

It Follows takes the standard horror tropes—horny teenagers and stalking killers—and ups the ante. Sex is dangerous for everyone, virgin or not, and nothing—nothing—can stop the killer.

That's part of what makes it so creepy. The killer, whether it's a monster, an evil force, or something that just is, will not stop until you're dead. It takes the form of any person around you. Your friends and family can't see it. It walks toward you at all times. And you're helpless.

Writer and director David Robert Mitchell expands on this rather simple premise by using Detroit and it suburbs as the backdrop of a place with no hope, and no hope of rescue. It's desolate, and the 'burbs are depressing.

The cast is uniformly solid, with Maika Moore leading the pack as Jay, one of the afflicted. She had sex with Hugh (Jake Weary), and he passed on the monster to her. The way this affliction works is that Jay is stalked; when she's dead, the monster then goes back and stalks Hugh. If he dies, the monster goes back to the person who gave it to him.

One could view this film as a parable about infectious diseases, AIDS in particular, but It Follows doesn't aim that high. It just wants to scare the shit out of you, and it largely succeeds.

Santa Fe Reporter