Horror Recommendation: It Follows (2014)

Posted: by The Editor

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In One Sentence: A sexually transmitted “haunting” finds the recipient under constant pursuit by an entity invisible to all but the effected.

Why You Should Watch: While conforming to some of the almost automatic plot directions that nearly all horror movies take, It Follows still manages to create its own unique identity in the genre.

It Follows documents a group of teens who pass on a curse of sorts through promiscuity that causes an unknown force to always be following them. It can appear out of nowhere and take the shape of anyone, but is invisible to all that are unaffected. Part of the movie’s masterpiece is actually what we don’t know, just how Michael Myers in the original Halloween had almost no backstory. You don’t know why you’re being followed, who the entity has chosen as a host until it’s almost too late, and most importantly: how to stop it.

Led by an eerie, synth-heavy soundtrack (think Stranger Things meets Halloween), all of the movie’s traits seem to circle around this one gloomy aesthetic with lots of lush blues and neon colors, further accentuating the soundtrack and the theme of hopelessness. Some of the shots and camerawork are reminiscent of found-footage films like Slender Man or The Blair Witch Project, which never fail to shoot adrenaline rushes through your veins. And while these might seem like minor details, the directors manage to use all of these little accents to drive their point home.

Favorite Line: “Even though it’s following you I can still see it. It’s not done with me either.”