It Follows
Film Review by Kam Williams

Jay (Maika Moore) had no reason to consider the worst possible consequence the night she impulsively decided to have sex with her boyfriend Hugh (Jake Weary) for the very first time. After all, she found the moonlit lakefront setting romantic enough, even if that meant doing it in the back of his car.

Nevertheless, the carefree 19 year-old was in for a rude awakening, a fate far worse than an STD or an unplanned pregnancy. For, while basking in the afterglow of spent passion, Hugh sneaks up from behind and knocks out the girl he’s just made love to by covering her face with a cloth dipped in chloroform.

When Jay comes to, she finds herself bound and gagged in a strange basement. Hugh proceeds to explain that she’s just been used by him, but not for a thrill. Rather, he had been followed by a demonic force that could only be eluded by having sex with a partner. Before freeing her, he urges her to sleep with someone else in order to pass on the curse before the ghost has a chance to kill her.

Although initially skeptical, it doesn’t take long for the sudden appearance of apparitions to convince terrified Jay that something supernatural is indeed afoot. And the more she’s in fear for her life, she more she actually has to consider seduction for the sake of survival. For instance, there’s Paul (Keir Gilchrist), the nerdy neighbor who has had a crush on her since childhood.

That novel scenario is established at the point of departure of It Follows, a harrowing horror flick written and directed by David Robert Mitchell. The movie marks the sophomore offering from the innovative director, who first made a splash five years ago with The Myth of the American Sleepover.

However, It Follows is a truly groundbreaking thriller that it would be a crime to spoil in a review. Suffice to say it’s as much of a mindbender as the equally-inscrutable Memento (2000).

A creepy, counterintuitive fright fest that puts a perverse spin on the meaning of getting lucky.

Excellent (4 stars)

Rated R for sexuality, profanity, graphic nudity and disturbing violence

Running time: 101 minutes

Distributor: Radius-TWC

To see a trailer for It Follows, visit:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tyMi1Hn32I