CONNOR BURTON
Special to The Leader
“It Follows” has recently received a wide release after positive critical responses and box office success in its initial limited release. It’s been a surprise hit and is one of the better horror movies to come out in a long time.
After a strange sexual encounter, a girl becomes haunted by visions of a nightmarish figure following her. She and her friends try to find out what it is and how to stop it. It’s best to go into watching “It Follows” with a vague idea of the plot because watching it all unfold is an unsettling and terrifying experience.
“It Follows” has a really interesting and original concept that stands out amongst the sea of supernatural horror films that have come out in the last decade. The thing that follows is truly creepy and can take many forms.
The haunting is basically a supernatural sexually transmitted disease, and the writers do some really unsettling and interesting things with the concept. It doesn’t aim to be exploitative; instead it’s suspenseful and focuses on atmosphere to be unsettling.
The reason “It Follows” works so well is because it doesn’t rely on cheap thrills or jump scares like many supernatural horror films these days. It builds tension and suspense and finds ways to get under your skin. It’s one of the most effective and original horror films to come out in a while.
“It Follows” features a soundtrack that sets the mood perfectly. The score effectively creates a really creepy atmosphere in the film. It has a classic horror feel to it and seems inspired by some ‘80s horror film scores.
The cast of “It Follows” does a really good job of creating characters you’re interested in. The lead actress, Maika Monroe, shows she is a great actress when it comes to horror films. She was also recently in the film “The Guest,” which was also a surprise hit and a fun horror/action/comedy movie.
It’s rare these days to see a good horror movie be released. There have been too many horror movies to come out in recent years that rely on cheap scares and aren’t actually scary or effective. The last really great horror film to come out was “Sinister” or “The Conjuring.” Most everything in between has been fairly disappointing.
“It Follows” is a great surprise and a truly great horror film.