LogFAQs > #965342249

4. It Follows (142 points)

Why I Chose It: Sexuality & horror have intertwined since the genre's very beginning, but It Follows' unique approach to the subject made it an instant relatable hit. By personifying sexual transmission, It Follows was able to capture multiple generations' worth of coming-of-age anxieties thanks to its timeless period and setting, and it paid off with excellent reviews and again, another horror box-office success story.

Lightning Strikes: 3
Plasmabeam: 3
FFDragon: 4
Johnbobb: 4
PrinceKaro: 5
Snake: 5
thesmark: 7
Tom Nook: 7
BetrayedTangy: 8
rockus: 8
Suprak: 8
jcgamer107: 11
red13n: 17
Inviso: 25
fortybelowsummer: 27

Lightning Strikes - It could look like someone you know or it could be a stranger in a crowd.

This is a true horror classic that uses a very simple but interesting premise, the idea of an enemy that slowly walks towards you and kills you if it catches you, to the maximum effect. Every scene in this film seems like it could be hiding something, that the creature is just out of focus. What seems like just a random person or a character we know could turn out to be a horrifying monster, keeping you constantly on edge. The visual filmmaking on display here is superb. This is a film that is both near-perfectly crafted as a film, and extremely scary throughout.

I also really like how this film uses the sense of ambiguity in time period to weave a sense of timelessness in a unique way. Each character represents a different time period in their visual style and appearance, so you dont know when exactly this is taking place. I also enjoyed the social commentary on relationships and STIs - if only they were still called STDs so we could point out that the creature here literally is an STD, a sexually transmitted demon you could say. There isnt really much more for me to say on this film despite the fact that it is excellent. Just a fantastically executed film that is so good I find little else to discuss.

5/5

Biggest scare: The scene where the creature walks through the doorway in the form of a horrifying tall man is one of the single scariest images Ive seen in any recent film.

Plasmbeam - Top-notch terror and tension. The concept of playing Haunted STD Tag is brilliant, and the ghosts never stop being scary because of how relentless they are. Would probably be my #1 if the final act hadnt stumbled.

FFDragon - I left this movie and tried to get everyone I knew to watch it. It does so much while showing so little.

Johnbobb - I think 2014 marked a very pivotal change for the face of horror to come. Movies like this and the Babadook appeared, using monstrous horror as deep-seeded metaphor for very human issues, while never failing to followthrough on the monstrous horror itself for even a moment. It's the apperance of these movies, which found that unique balance between symbolic drama and horrifying thrill, that really set the stage for the emergence of some of the greatest horror directors we've ever seen in the likes of Ari Aster, Robert Eggers, Jordan Peele, etc. What makes It Follows work so well is simultaneously because its threat is real, while simultaneously being so extraordinarily unreal.

PrinceKaro - A shapshifting ghoul follows people around only to turn their sights on whoever they sleep with. It is basically the personification of STDs into the form of a horror monster.

The rules and nuances of the Follower are laid out early on, and the film always abides by them save for a few inconsistencies in how fast the monster takes to get from one place to another. One thing of note is how the film mostly forgoes jumpscares in favor of the grim inevitability of the Follower's slow, relentless advance. Sometimes the audience can even see the ghoul before the characters even notice it.

This is something the doesn't really sound like it would be very good just from the description but it really really is. It takes the tired 'monster kills some kids' scenario and breathes some new life into it.

Snake - Still one of the best ideas of the decade. It Follows is like the best of 70s & 80s films with modern sensibilities - pure dread, an iconic villain, lots of sex, while having sleek performances and an eye for the simple things - setting, soundtrack, wardrobe. It all contributes to this vague anachronistic feel (honestly Im still intrigued by the seashell kindle/phone thing) that contributes to the films off-kilter horror. It Follows carves out its own horror niche with effortlessness timelessness, and its near-universal message of the horrors of unsafe sex, sexual abuse & manipulation, & sexually-transmitted diseases is personified viciously in IT - the scar of trauma, an unnamed feeling, following their victim wherever they go. Yet, its also about the chain of abuse, how victims can often create more victims, either unwittingly or tragically, very purposefully. It Follows messages still haunt and will continue to be relevant for as long as people suck about sex.

Thesmark - One thing I love is that the movie feels strangely out of time, given all the media people are consuming is very old (50s-70s), the retro-suburban feel to the locations and the excellent throwback synth score from Disasterpiece thats a mix between John Carpenter and Tangerine Dream. My guess is that retro-styling is not only evoking the look of old horror movies, but also maybe harkening to a more innocent time which is a running theme through the movie with the characters being nostalgic for an earlier, simpler time when they were kids, which feeds into the whole dangers of young adults having sex/STD metaphor.

I also love the look of David Robert Mitchells films, theyre saturated with color in a world where most studio movies are artificially desaturated; that, and most modern filmmakers think scary movies have to be dark and drab for atmosphere purposes, whereas he runs in the opposite direction to eye-pleasing effect (much like a lot of 70s-80s Italian horror). He also makes several flashier decisions (shot tight which makes sense for reactions/claustrophobia, lots of pans, we get first person shots, etc.), but the color grade is what stands out to me the most.

Tom Nook - The fun of a creative concept and minimalism. Less is more. The movie makes scenes of regular-looking people walking, end up being unsettling. An unstoppable force of death that is slowly moving and can be lurking anywhere. You can keep your eye on it, but never truly live because of the paranoia. This movie can be interpreted as a bunch of things really, which adds to how good it is. Best scene for creepiness was definitely when that tall dude walked through the doorway behind her friend.