Teenager Jay (Maika Monroe) is thrilled when she and boyfriend
Hugh (Jake Weary) decide to ‘go all the way’. But soon after, Hugh explains to
her that he has infected her with some invisible parasite, and before long Jay
is visited by apparitions that stalk her every waking moment, visible only to
her. And the only way out? To ‘pass it on’ to someone else.
Even before the film begins, the concept itself has
introduced a variety of ideas ripe for exploitation; the teenage fear of ill-devised
promiscuity and the unrelenting fear of seeing something no-one else can. Until
something comes along that really works, you don’t fully realise just how bad
the past year of horror cinema has been: an infection of found-footage schlock
and demon possession have plagued us for far too long, and It Follows gives the genre a much-needed shock to the system.
Unlike the edge-of-your seat cattle-prod antics of
jump-scare marathons, It Follows emanates
a creeping sense of paranoia that settles into your gut and refuses to go away.
Rather than searching empty sections of the screen for an upcoming scare, the
people inhabiting the frame are all suspect: does that school student, old lady
or laughing child just happen to be walking in this direction or are they the
next attacker? The unbearable paranoia builds and builds in the background as
the foreground is populated by believable characters, people that you get to
know and – more importantly – fear for before the tension is finally released
in a thrilling climax that will leave your breath caught in your throat.
Director David Robert Mitchell’s frame of reference is clear
to see: the idyllic suburbs seems lifted right from the reels of Halloween, and the synth-heavy score
calls to mind a Jeff Wayne concept album by way of John Carpenter. The wandering
apparitions and deserted streets pay homage to Invasion of the Body-Snatchers whilst the scopophilic, salacious
focus on young lovers is part Peeping Tom
and part Under the Skin.
Though a great deal will try to convince you otherwise, the
film is not a revolutionary masterpiece, but I’m willing to forgive occasional
self-indulgence for the simple but joyous reason that it actually scared me. It
Follows is a spine-tingling aura of paranoia wrapped in a tribute to the
horror masters. David Robert Mitchell, we shall watch your career with great
interest.
