It Follows (2015) ★★★☆

The horror genre has been lacking for quite some time, occasionally revitalized by a new filmmaker or a specific vision that is so striking it requires the world to stop and take note. It Follows is one of the few movies as an adult I've viewed and inspired such an endless sense of dread. Set against the backdrop of suburbia, our film revolves around a group of teens and specifically one girl, Jay(Maika Monroe). After sleeping with her date, Jay is kidnapped and relocated to a remote part of town where she is haunted and stalked by a fully naked woman. We learn that this stalker has been passed onto Jay through sleeping with her date and the only way to rid herself of it is by sleeping with someone else. This ghoul can resemble a total stranger or someone that the person loves, whatever will help it get near its prey. So we have somewhat of the conventional "rules" of horror films that these are the parameters by which the story or plot is told. I've never been a fan of this because it seems to inhibit creativity, but in this case it is done so expertly and with nuance, it's quite refreshing and engrossing. The filmmaker does a great job with the score, electronic music filling the scenes with dread and terror, ramping up the frenzied nature and tone of the picture. The film is beautifully and expertly shot, set during autumn, we see the rich detail in the changing of the seasons. 

The lighting is gorgeous in almost every scene, and the shooting environments are so varied and different. Shots in the pool, in the sun, by the beach, a school and inside of various houses. It really speaks to the craft of filmmaking and how skilled some of the young directors working today truly are. One of the more notable visual cues from the film is not being able to place the story in a specific timeframe or decade. The clothes, houses, cars could all be anywhere from the late 80's up until today, which gives it a sort of classic appeal and aesthetic. It Follows does a wonderful job reeling you into the absolute dread and mania of the haunting, setting up an inescapable scenario where no matter what, it will come for you. There's an inevitability to the horror here, something you can't really stop, something that will keep coming no matter what. You can delay, but you're just delaying the inevitable. Which may sound unsexy and and not scary, but it's executed so effectively captured through the score, camera work, and genuine horror on the face of Maika Monroe(who really has to carry the picture, acting wise) that it ends up working. The achievement is in captivating the audience, keeping them from looking away, the balance of the super quiet moments and the frenzied terror of the haunting.

It Follows is probably one of the best horror films of the last ten or fifteen years, with absolutely gorgeous cinematography, sure handed camera work, and a truly inspirationally terrifying story. It does fall short in the wrapping up of the plot. The film keeps us engaged nearly three quarters of the way through and runs out of gas near the pool scene. This is where the story is wrapped up and given some sort of conclusion. We don't really get that per se, so we're contemplatively haunted by the notion we may be visited. It is an interesting narrative though, what would you do to survive? Would you just keep affecting people with the hope that you can outrun time? Or would you face that horrible oncoming train, knowing you would never wish this on another being? That's why the film is so good, because it stays with us...continuously haunts us. The execution was nearly perfect, but that pool scene was a mess. Three out of four stars.