It Follows Review

So I just watch It Follows. A movie with scariest ambling I’ve ever seen.
It Follows is an indie horror movie that proves that less is more. The basic premise is a girl named Jay gets a sexually transmitted curse. After having sex with a guy she begins to be chased by some sort of monster. The monster can look like different people, but it’s always noticeable because it’s constantly walking towards its victim. It doesn’t run but no matter where the person is, the monster is making a beeline directly for them. I love a clever horror movie premise. Props to anybody who is able to come up with a unique horror movie monster. The idea of a sexually transmitted curse is already a cool take on the old trope that having sex in a horror movie means death. On top of that giving the monster a distinct look and feel is just icing on the cake. 
The slow ambling walk of the monster proves you don’t need jump scares to be scary. The tensest moments of the film are when the audience sees the monster coming, but the character doesn’t. Even in the background or out of focus the audience is trained to fear anyone walking toward the character.
Of course it doesn’t matter how cool or scary your movie monster is if you don’t care about its potential victims. Luckily It Follows does a great job making its characters relatable. Jay is believable as a lower middle class girl in Detroit. The movie never explicitly calls out her troubles, but they are there. It’s implied her dad isn’t around, her mother is always drinking during the day, at one point a neighbor casually calls her family a mess. That stuff is never the focus, but it’s constantly in the background giving the character depth. You feel for her and you don’t want her or her friends to die.
To top it off the backdrop to everything helps add tension to the proceedings. There’s something strange about the setting to this movie. The time period seems to be modern day, but elements are off. At one point the characters are watching a black and white movie on an old tube tv while one of them reads an article on a clamshell smart device. The cars are vintage, but pristine. The score has the synthy feel of a John Carpenter score (made before Stranger Things put that sound back in vogue.) These anachronisms all seem like they are intentionally used to add to the feeling of unease.
It Follows probably won’t appeal to everybody. Like its monster the movie is slow and methodical. The scares aren’t in your face, they’re atmospheric. The ending isn’t definitive, it’s open to interpretation. Personally I thought it was one of the best horror movies in recent years. I give It Follows 43 out of 49 wheelchairs.