It Follows

Movie Name: It Follows
Year of Release: 2014

Director: David Robert Mitchell

Stars: Maika Monroe, Keir Gilchrist, Olivia Luccardi, Lili Sepe, Jake Weary, Daniel Zovatto, Loren Bass
Genre: Horror, Thriller, Mystery

Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 7

Synopsis:
"It Follows" is David Robert Mitchell's sophomore effort, and is a successful horror feature. The film focuses on a high school student, Jai Height, who after a sexual relationship with a young man, is warned she'll start being followed by some entity. Jai initially doesn't believe this story, but these entities eventually start showing up, following her non stop. Her sister and her friends try to help her, and Jai comes to find out that by having intercourse with other people, she can pass this entity onto them. Her increasing shock and fear lead her to make some dramatic choices.

David Robert Mitchell has successfully created a horror film that is intelligent as is enigmatic. The film smartly builds the tension, allowing the viewers to get familiar with the quiet surroundings where the action takes place, giving us insight into the lives of these young people. When the entities appear, they are unexplained, unstoppable and lethal to whomever they find on their path. This is a film that lives from the suggestion of menace, and the tension builds increasingly since the protagonists never know when the entities will appear. It's simultaneously reverential towards the horror films of the late 70s and early 80s, but with a modern aesthetic. There's also a tone in the film that is increasingly distant and cerebral, similar to the early David Cronenberg films of the early 1980s (such as "The Brood" and "Videodrome").  The film benefits from a stunning score from Rich Vreeland, which is very nostalgic of John Carpenter's films, as well as the beautiful cinematography from Mike Gioulakis.  The young cast is uniformly good. A very good surprise worth watching.