It Follows

One of the weaker cinema visits this year. I didn't research anything about It Follows beforehand, I didn't even watch the trailer, so I had no expectations, but it's not a very scary horror experience, much less an orgasmic one. On the plus side, there is a fairly original theme and a decent soundtrack that is solidly thumping in places, but I can find a lot more minuses here. The biggest downside is the ending, which explains absolutely nothing, says absolutely nothing, it just pisses me off. Then there’s the visuals, the film literally looks like a Czech film, it has no visual or make-up effects, there’s only normal people – even the negative ones – only without clothes. Moreover, the landscape, the furniture, everything looks purely Czech, from which I deduced, that the film was not at all demanding to make, any skilled Czech director could have made a similar thing without any problem, probably only the soundtrack would not have been so impressive. The film is also quite long, in places it looks more like a drama, there are only about three good atmospheric scenes and to make matters worse, there is also the absence of jump scares. (only the scene in a swimming pool was a pleasure). An attempt to set a new direction, but for me rather unsuccessful. 55% (04/30/2015)

The Christian fundamentalist right in the USA once again came up with a plan on how to strike a deadly blow to sin, and they realized that they should use more modern methods when addressing the young generation. So they paid David Mitchell and he crafted a script on how one's first sexual experience can unleash the worst demons and destroy those who wanted to have some fun and sin a little bit. It's definitely not clever or impressive to me. There are much better films in this genre, so why waste time with this? Overall impression: 25%. (04/23/2017)

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)

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)

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)