It Follows tells the story of Jay Heights a typical 19 year old girl, whom is burdened after a sexual encounter, with the prospect of being hunted down and killed by a supernatural shape-shifter that is only visible to those afflicted by the ‘curse’.
It is then down to her and her childhood friends to try and stop the creature. There is, however, a way for them to lose the creature, albeit temporarily. They can pass on the ‘curse’ to another by sleeping with them but this only prolongs the inevitable as once the creature has killed that person it will set its sights on them once again.
Initially It Follows reminded me of many of Stephen King’s works; that iconic small town America setting with a relatable protagonist. The sleepy suburban setting lends itself well to the slow build, creeping horror of It Follows.
Jay Heights and her friends are a fairly inoffensive bunch. There isn’t much to dislike but they never really do anything to make you like them either. I understand that films do not have the luxury of time to develop characters as fully as some would like but other horror films have managed it well in the past. For example, Alien and The Thing both manage to get you invested in the wellbeing of Ripley and Macready. We feel for these characters as they fight tooth and nail against impossible odds whereas the characters in It Follows don’t even have so much as a can-do attitude, let alone a survival instinct.
When I said ‘creeping horror’ earlier, I really meant it; the creature never goes faster than walking speed. Couple this with its only form of attack, which seems to be sexing you to death, and being slowly chased by a rather cack-handed allegory for sexually transmitted infections doesn’t seem that scary, let’s face it, in terms of horror monsters these kids got off lightly. In fact it seemed almost too much like an extended opening to Supernatural and I half expected to see the Winchester brothers burst through a door and save the day.
Despite a rubbish monster the film stands out in one regard, which is its excellent 80’s synth style soundtrack reminiscent of John Carpenter’s own style. It adds a gorgeously eerie tone to the scenes not featuring the creature, helping to build that much needed tension only for it to be broken by (mercifully) infrequent jump scares which is a needless shame. Don’t get me wrong now, I think jump scares, when they are done well, are great for a laugh but good and lasting horror doesn’t need jump scares; all good horror needs to do is plant a thought or an idea in your mind that causes you to reassess everyday things in a more sinister light. Sadly, It Follows falls short in that regard as well.
Despite these few flaws It Follows is an enjoyable, if unremarkable, horror film.
