It Follows (5/5, Very Good)

We are experiencing a new boom with indie horror films. They shine by their originality whilst telling stories that gets scarier. Horror films faced a decade of decay. New emerging directors decided that it wouldn't be that way. It Follows is part of these new films.

Beautiful Jay (Maika Monroe) is living what any teenager should have at her 19-years old: sharing a flat with her childhood friends, going to school, dating a handsome man. However she will soon embrace the horror. After what it seemed to be an innocent sexual intercourse, she is starting to have visions about a figure that is following her. Only those who 'have it' can see 'it'. The best way to let this 'thing' not kill you is to pass 'it' through, but how? 

Directorial debut by David Robert Mitchell is one of the best we have seen in years. He is able to bring up our deepest fears without hurrying up and without being predictable. That is great quality coming from the horror genre. If uncertainty is part of the viewing experience, then the director achieved it. Horror films is the science of having to deal with the uncertainty: when is this evil going to hit? When is it going to show up? What is going to happen to the characters in the film? Mitchell is heavily influenced by the horror cinema of the 1970s such as with George A. Romero and John Carpenter. Shots that are similar to Night of the Living Dead, music with a John Carpenter touch. What a feast! 

It is very interesting to see as well that this curse is only sexually transmitted. Could it be an allegory for the current diseases in our society? It gives a new perspective to the horror genre. Sex is dangerous for the greedy teenagers of modern society. The film definitely has a certain level of pessimism regarding sex but also does not assume a specific stand. We can interpret everything that Jay is experiencing in our own way. This already gives depth to a script that are rare to find especially after the decadence of horror era with Saw and Paranormal Activity.

Once more, independent films show us they are a plethora of creativity. It gives a new impulse to a film industry that is always seeking new trends. It Follows is a new experience: there is no gore, there is no cheesy dialogues, there are no boring characters. They all have something to give and to think about. Let us say thank you David Mitchell and Maika Monroe for making us feel scared and tense in a lonely cinema room in Cineworld Haymarket. See it if you dare.